WhereÌý•Ìý7266 Manchester Road, MaplewoodÌý• 314-644-1790; Ìý• Dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)Ìý• $$$-$$$$
Editor's Pick Spotlight
Where to find the best Italian food in St. Louis, from Ian Froeb’s STL 100
Check out where to get the best ItalianÌýfood in St. Louis, according to Ian Froeb's STL 100, a list of the best restaurants in St. Louis.
"Consistent excellence is a given at a Jim Fiala restaurant, but the highest praise Acero has received over its 18 years is its lack of imitators. For all of St. Louis’ Italian restaurants, no one has even tried to copy Acero’s rustic luxury, from such signature dishes as the ethereal gnocco fritto with prosciutto di Parma (a.k.a. the meat doughnuts) and the now iconic raviolo cradling a fresh, golden egg yolk to hearty, but precisely composed seasonal dishes like halibut and mussels in a tomato-Calabrian chile fumet."
"Bormio delivers a thrillingly different take on Italian cuisine. Pork glazed in Ricola — yes, as in that Ricola — lends Wayne Sieve’s elegant, herbaceous cooking a Swiss accent, while he puts an Italian spin on sauerbraten with a bed of creamy polenta."
WhereÌý•Ìý5105 Westwood Drive, Suite A, St. PetersÌý• 636-244-0874; Ìý•ÌýDinner Wednesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Tuesday)Ìý• $$$
"For those of us who love the Hill and a classic fine-dining meal, Charlie Gitto’s is an ideal keeper of tradition. Gitto’s appeals to those seeking homey lasagna or housemade fettucine in an alfredo sauce creamier than egg nog and those dreaming of rustic bucatini all’Amatriciana that could have been delivered directly from Italy."
Read more aboutÌýCharlie Gitto’s here.
Charlie Gitto’s on the Hill
WhereÌý•Ìý5226 Shaw AvenueÌý• 314-772-8898; Ìý• Dinner dailyÌý• $$$-$$$$
Charlie Gitto’s at Hollywood Casino
WhereÌý•Ìý777 Casino Center, Maryland HeightsÌý• 314-770-7663; Ìý• Dinner dailyÌý• $$$-$$$$
"A recent visit needed neither pizza nor pasta to improve delicata squash in a light tempura batter or a crackling piece of chicken Parmigiano stuffed with fontina and prosciutto di Parma, jolted with Calabrian chiles and kissed by wildflower honey."
Read more aboutÌýKatie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria here.
WhereÌý•ÌýMultiple area locations, including 751 Clark AvenueÌý•Ìý314-942-2416; Ìý•ÌýLunch and dinner daily, brunch Saturday-Sunday (all locations)Ìý• $$$-$$$$
"The appeal of chef Sean Turner’s menu is as consistent as the warmth of the restaurant’s embrace. That menu has hardly changed over Louie’s seven years, and the few additions during that time, like the grilled Spanish octopus with chickpeas, soppressata and Calabrian chiles, fit seamlessly alongside the unaffected pleasures of the roast chicken with rapini, the pork chop with chermoula and shishito peppers and the wood-fired pizza."
Last year: No. 8
WhereÌý•Ìý706 DeMun Avenue, ClaytonÌý• 314-300-8188; Ìý•ÌýDinner Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday)Ìý•Ìý$$$-$$$$
"At its best, Madrina infuses new energy into such familiar dishes veal Parmesan and especially chicken marsala as overwhelming on the plate as a thick steak. As sommelier Alisha Blackwell-Calvert might tell you, the classic Italian-restaurant formula can still age as well as fine wine."
WhereÌý•Ìý101 West Lockwood Avenue, Webster GrovesÌý• 314-963-1976; Ìý•ÌýDinner Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday)Ìý• $$$$
"I’m singling out Napoli Bros. Pizza and Pasta because, while its menu features some elegant pastas in the Napoli tradition (cacio e pepe gnocchi), here the Pietosos have brought something new to St. Louis. The pizza is New Haven, Connecticut-style: very thin crust pies blistered crisp in a 550-degree coal-fired oven."
Read more aboutÌýNapoli Bros. Pizza and Pasta here.
WhereÌý•Ìý17084 North Outer Road, Suite 205, ChesterfieldÌý• 636-200-6300; Ìý• Lunch and dinner dailyÌý• $$-$$$
"For proof that Noto Italian Restaurant can do more than the metro area’s best Neapolitan pizza, just head to the lower level of its St. Peters building. Here Kendele and Wayne Sieve have opened Bormio, exploring the cuisine of Italy’s north, where it mingles with Swiss and German fare (see the Rest of the Best)."
Read more aboutÌýNoto Italian Restaurant here.
Last year: No. 17
WhereÌý•Ìý5105 Westwood Drive, St. PetersÌý• 636-317-1143; Ìý• Dinner Wednesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Tuesday)Ìý• $$$
"Chef Mike Risk can overwhelm you with a dish known simply as the Chicken: a plate-spanning breaded and seared cutlet topped with blistered blobs of mozzarella and set in a vodka cream sauce that still tastes of ripe tomato. He can also sneak up on you with the unshowy luxury of braised beef short ribs and fettucine in a silky buffalo-butter sauce."
Read more aboutÌýO+O Pizza here.
WhereÌý•Ìý102 West Lockwood Avenue, Webster GrovesÌý• 314-721-5422; Ìý• Dinner dailyÌý• $$-$$$
"Pastaria nailed its menu of pasta and wood-fired pizza from day one in Clayton: delicate pistachio ravioli and hearty bucatini all’ Amatriciana, charry pizzas both classic and signature (with Salume Beddu’s nduja or Allen Benton’s country ham), all of it even more impressive for the restaurant’s high volume."
Read more aboutÌýPastaria here.
WhereÌý•Ìý7734 Forsyth Boulevard, ClaytonÌý• 314-862-6603; Ìý• Dinner daily, brunch SundayÌý• $$-$$$
"This Chesterfield restaurant inspires big emotions alongside big appetites, lamb chops like a rack of Thor’s hammers and shrimp you mistake for lobster tail rolling through the rollicking dining room on carts. The comparisons grow outsized, but the cooking is as precise as the briny snap of each caper berry strewn over those lamb chops or the colossal shrimp in the gamberone scampi."
Read more aboutÌýPaul Manno’s Restaurant here.
WhereÌý•Ìý75 Forum Shopping Center, ChesterfieldÌý• 314-878-1274; Ìý• Dinner Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday)Ìý• $$$-$$$$
Ian Froeb | Post-Dispatch
Restaurant critic
ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ partner Feast Magazine has guides for a variety of suburbs, including Brentwood and Webster Groves, and city neighborhoods.
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