Looking for the *best* restaurant in St. Loius....can anyone help? I'll be spending a weekend there and I'm looking to entertain friends and family @ an impressive joint.

TIA.

I haven't been there in years - but, when I was in college in St Louis, the best palce in town was Tony's - downtown, near the stadium IIRC. (The last time I was there was about 11 years ago, so it may have changed). Avoid the cheesy places on the hill like the plague.

http://www.saucecafe.com/tonys/

Whatever you do....sneak away for a short while and find your way to Ted Drewe's Frozen Custard. Their 'concretes' rock!!!!

MLV and I will second that one. Always a requirement whenever I visited her in St Louis.

Are they open in the winter?

The sketchy downtown location (the original) is closed in the winter, but the custard is available in the supermarket. Not the same, mind you, as the concretes, tho.
Mmmm. It almost makes me miss St Louis. Nah, not really.

Bump. Anything new to add to this thread? Going in December.

I had a decent meal at Truffles but found the food at Monarch only so-so. Monarch did have SQN Just for the Love of It on the list for $180 but I'm sure it's gone by now.

I've also had decent meals at Blue Water Grill and Remy's but their wine lists are only fair.

Bottom line: haven't been to a restaurant in St. Louis yet that really rocked me.

Trattoria Marcella, Niche, King Louie's, Sidney Street Cafe...let me know what type of food you're interested in or if you have any specific questions. I'm in several groups that get together on a regular basis. You're always free to join us if we have something going on.

Thanks. Will be popping in for 24 hours next week on business. I expect that my hosts will want to take me to dinner, so I figured it would be a good idea to have some ideas in my head.

Ended up trying "An American Place". I had enjoyed Larry Forgione's similarly named place in NYC back in the early 90s. Having seen that it was voted St. Louis' "Best New Restaurant" in 2005, I thought I would give it a try. I did not find this restaurant compelling in any way.

First, a word about the room. Highest "Decor" score in the city according to Zagat. Well, I guess it just isn't my style. The restaurant is plopped down incongruously in a 1917 hotel lobby with 40 foot ceilings. The tables just don't seem to belong there. Almost like a banquet hall set in a majestic lobby.

Service was OK, despite getting off to a horrid start. When I asked for a wine list (dining alone), I was brought the beer list, and wines by the glass list. When I said: "You must have misunderstood. I asked for the Wine List", the server tried to correct me and insisted that I had it. So I asked him where the bottles of wine were, and he said (and I'm not kidding): "Oh. You want the Wiiiinnnneee List." I told him that I was quite certain that that is what I asked for. When he returned with the real list the second time, (the first time he brought me an empty leather-bound folder!), he made a point to tell me that the half bottles were on the left. Loser!

Oysters were excellent.
A course of "Gnocchi" with smoked chicken was a bit bizarre. Where I come from, gnocchi are thumb-sized pastas hand rolled and cut made from potato flour, although the starch can vary. This gnocchi was a single round hockey puck sized pan seared mash potato cake. Tasty, but not a gnocchi by any definition that I am familiar with. The smoked chicken was very good.

Main course was a disaster. Tried "Quail Stuffed with Jumbo Lump Crab Meat Stuffing". Lets start from the inside and work out. Lump Crab? Lump? If there was a lump in that stuffing, you would have needed a mammogram to find it because self-examination in the shower would never have done the trick. I think I detected three or four hair-width shreds of what looked like crab meat. No taste whatsoever. The quail itself (there were two) was boned out except for the drumsticks. It had only been pan-seared for about 10 seconds, which was not nearly enough tme to crisp up the outside. The flesh was flabby and fatty. All in all, this was a very poorly executed dish.

Dessert of Heirloom Hawaiian Chocolate Praline Tart was tasty.

Ordered a 2002 Veraison "Stagecoach" Cabernet which was retrieved from a refrigerated unit standing on the restaurant floor. Wine service was very good with the exception of the fact that all wines are served in Burgundy glasses. At this price, proper-shaped stems should be mandatory.

Bottom line is that based on what I ordered, if he had cooked like this in New York, Larry Forgione would never have succeeded in the business. Since I didn't get an opportunity to try a wide range of dishes, I won't go as far as to say that the place should be avoided, but caution is advised.

I've eaten there only once (in December 2004), and have felt no desire to go back. Based on discussions with those in the industry, I wouldn't be surprised if it closes sometime in the next year.

How about a wine bar with music (probably Blues) in St. Louis? I'll be there with a friend at the end of the month!