MIDWEST
The St. Louis Michelin Guide: Restaurants Inspectors Shouldn’t Miss
By Eric Barton | Nov. 11, 2025
Sado
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and has reviewed restaurants for two decades. He married a St. Louis native and travels regularly to South County. Email him here.
Michelin keeps adding new places across the States: Florida, Atlanta, North Carolina, Texas, Chicago—each became part of the guide.
But Missouri remains a blank space. No Bibs, no stars, no cryptic inspector notes, just a state full of restaurants cooking at a level that would stand up in any of those markets.
So I ate around St. Louis. I looked for the things Michelin inspectors seek out: consistency across repeat visits, a clear point of view on the plate, technique that doesn’t shout, and value that matches what lands on the table.
If the inspectors ever come to Missouri, these are the places I’d expect to see in their notebook first. Consider this the unofficial Michelin Guide to St. Louis.
Balkan Treat Box
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
It started as a food truck, and it still feels like one—just with a better roof and a wood-fired oven. The cevapi is essential, the pide is non-negotiable, and everything else is gravy. Whatever they’re putting in a pide on the day you go, order it, like this one pictured above: smoked beef belly, red chimichurri, kajmak, and fried shallots.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Michelin doesn’t often honor casual spots, but this one deserves it for flawless execution and soulful, regional cooking.
Bar Moro
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Ben Poremba’s latest spot is the kind of restaurant you try once and immediately start making excuses to return. The Spanish wine list is stacked, the Andalusian conservas feel borderline smuggled, and the house-made vermouth is dangerously drinkable. I once came in for a glass of sherry and stayed for three courses and a debate about anchovies.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Flavor-forward dishes and an obsessively curated menu make Bar Moro a sleeper hit in the fine dining category.
Casa Don Alfonso
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Yes, it’s inside the Ritz, but don’t let that scare you. This is southern Italian food that feels sun-drenched and generous, with portions big enough to restore faith and maybe circulation. Bonus: Chef Eduardo Marquez holds private pizza-making classes.
Why Michelin should pay attention: This is refined Italian cuisine done with precision and hospitality that feels genuinely special.
Expat BBQ
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
This is what happens when Gerard Craft decides he’s bored with normal barbecue. At Expat, the brisket gets dusted in something vaguely Middle Eastern, and the chicken wings come lacquered in jerk sauce that actually has some heat. There’s a bottle of yellow curry barbecue sauce on the table that shouldn’t work—and yet you’ll end up slathering it on everything short of your napkin. It’s barbecue for people who’ve been to Thailand, or at least watched Bourdain go.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Craft is treating barbecue the same way he treats fine dining—ingredient-focused, technique-heavy, and entirely unwilling to stick to a script.
Indo
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
This is where Nick Bognar first broke our brains, combining Thai spice with Japanese restraint. Dishes like kanpachi with nam jim and coconut rice with curry broth blur the line between raw bar and revelation. The lighting’s moody, the music’s cool, and yes, you’ll want to order extra to-go.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Indo’s creativity, precise execution, and distinct culinary identity make it a no-brainer for a Bib Gourmand or a star.
Louie
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
It’s Italian, but not in the red-sauce-joint way. Instead, Louie serves plates like gnocco fritto with prosciutto that arrive with a kind of quiet swagger. I had a Pugliese-style burrata here that made me rethink the concept of an appetizer.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Louie delivers rustic Italian food with the elegance and consistency of a polished European bistro.
Nudo House
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
The red curry ramen here doesn’t ask for your opinion. It’s bold, spicy, unapologetic—and somehow balanced. The pho is equally solid, but I’ve been known to skip it just to get two bowls of ramen instead.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Nudo delivers complex, comforting noodle dishes that are every bit as layered and technical as their upscale counterparts.
Mainlander
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Chef Blake Askew’s cult supper club is back in the CWE with the same mid-century spirit: a reservation-only, monthly changing prix fixe that reads intimate and chef-led. Plates thread Taiwanese accents through retro Americana—think mushroom-egg pancakes, rainbow-trout toast, walleye with scallion-ginger-garlic jam, maybe pumpkin-quark cake donuts to close—in a gratuity-free room that runs like a tight show. It remains one of the toughest tickets in town, and the creative swing is matched by month-to-month consistency.
Why Michelin should pay attention: An immersive, narrative-driven experience with disciplined pacing and a singular voice.
Pappy’s Smokehouse
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
You’ll wait in line. You’ll sweat through your shirt. And when those ribs hit your tray—smoked for hours, finished with a whisper of sauce—you’ll remember why we put up with barbecue lines in the first place. This is the classic, and some classics don’t need updating.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Technique, timing, and pitmaster precision—Pappy’s is as exacting as any fine-dining kitchen, just with more smoke.
Planter’s House
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
A cocktail bar with food good enough to land it on this list. The cheeseburger is the unsung hero, but it’s the drinks—classics, twists, and some truly weird experiments—that make it a must. I came for a negroni and ended up with a mezcal drink served in a hollowed-out book.
Why Michelin should pay attention: The cocktail program here rivals New York’s best, and the food backs it up with smart, satisfying plates.
Robin
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Chef Alec Schingel’s hode to Midwestern dishes runs on a four-course prix fixe and an entirely original point of view: porridge bread to start, then precise plates that make “comfort” feel composed. The much-talked-about “hot dish” comes as a rich mushroom soup capped with crunchy wild rice; mains swing from a golden pork schnitzel over braised cabbage and apple to a blushing duck breast with shelling beans. Desserts rotate, but the kitchen finishes with the same quiet confidence that carries the savory courses.
Why Michelin should pay attention: A consistent, seasonally tuned format with clear identity and technical execution.
Sado
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Nick Bognar’s second act is more mature, more elegant, and more dangerous for your credit card. The sushi omakase equals what you'd find in New York or Tokyo, with bites like wagyu nigiri and Japanese uni that feel almost illicit. I had a martini here once that made me cancel the rest of my night.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Technique, sourcing, and balance—Sado checks all the boxes of a serious sushi restaurant operating at an elite level.
Sidney Street Café
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Kevin Nashan’s been doing refined American cuisine here long before it became a thing again. The tasting menu still delivers, and the service remains as precise as ever. This is your celebration spot, your “I got the job” dinner, or your “I didn’t, but I’m going to eat like I did” consolation.
Why Michelin should pay attention: It’s a benchmark of consistency and technique, with longevity that proves its culinary merit.
Union Loafers
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
There’s pizza, and then there’s this: crust with actual structure, tomato sauce that tastes like it was coaxed from summer, and cheese applied like a finishing move. The daytime menu leans bakery—salads, sandwiches, fresh loaves—but everything tastes like it was made by someone who genuinely cares about gluten.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Union Loafers nails every element of flavor, fermentation, and balance—it’s a masterclass in simplicity.
Vicia
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Michael and Tara Gallina built this place around vegetables, but it’s not a rabbit-food temple. Think charred carrots with labneh that somehow feel more indulgent than steak. Sit at the counter if you can; it’s the best place to watch a kitchen that runs with the precision of a Swiss watch and the calm of a yoga retreat.
Why Michelin should pay attention: Ingredient-driven cuisine doesn’t get more seasonal, thoughtful, or refined than this.
Wright’s Tavern
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
It’s a steakhouse, yes, but one that feels edited rather than bloated. There’s no 60-page menu or gold leaf on your filet, just sharp technique and confidence. The prime rib is absurdly good, and the baked potato arrives like a luxury SUV—fully loaded, slightly ridiculous, and exactly what you want.
Why Michelin should pay attention: This is classic American steakhouse dining elevated with modern technique and pitch-perfect execution.
