My "Favorite" St. Louis Food

My colleague Amy asked me, "As a 'foodie,' what do you think the best place to eat in St. Louis is?"

It's a cop-out I told her, but it depends, 'cause I'm an eclectic foodie

Roberto works his dining room

Tom's Top Ten (not really, except #10 really IS my favorite)

1.) Breakfast, the Boardwalk in Webster; Courtesy Diner or White Castle on Broadway when the blues bars are closing

2.) Mexican, Arcelia's in Lafayette; Lily's on Kingshighway; various taquerias on Cherokee and other spots

3.) Eclectic American, Iron Barley on Virginia; Big Sky, Webster; whatever Mike Holmes is doing lately

4.) Sushi, Nobu on Olive (U City?); Ichiban on Olive, Creve Coeur

5.) Chinese, Royal Chinese Barbecue on Olive in U City; Hunan Wok on Brentwood

6.) Pub Food, Square One, Lafayette Square; St. Louis Brewery Taproom, Downtown

7.) Fish, Old Warson Country Club (OK, I'm cheating because I published a club magazine for 18 years, but Aiden Murphy's a master chef and nobody does it better), Blue Water Grill, Kirkwood

9.) Italian, Trattoria Marcella* (see below)

10.) And my FAVORITE place to eat is in South County on Lindbergh. Roberto's Trattoria has incredible food, welcoming service, and the bonus that my son-in-law does the pastas and sauces. Great Story:Roberto is the son of a fisherman, born and raised in Italy and had a hole-in-the-wall near Gravois and Makenzie. He grew it and moved down to a bigger location at Lindbergh and Baptist Church Road. The only thing that Roberto loves more than food is women. He has ex-wives and kids spread from Italy to Affton. So he lost the restaurant in a divorce, worked for other folks, then his ORIGINAL hole-in-the-wall opened up and he started over. Three years later he is in a different location in the SAME shopping center at Baptist Church and Lindbergh. I have NEVER had a meal that was even slightly off. If you go there, ask for Sterling as your waiter if you make reservations. Sterling, who taught my son-in-law how to fly fish, is a former sous chef and his table service is amazing, but never cloying.

"So," I said to her, "sorry you asked?"