Places to Eat in St Louis.

Café Natasha on South Grand (Middle Eastern),
Pho Grand on South Grand (Vietnamese),
Gelateria Del Leone on South Grand (Desserts/Ice Cream),
City Diner on South Grand (Late night food),
Olympia Kebob House & Taverna in Dogtown (Greek),
McGurk's Irish Pub
Schlafly Tap Room
Dressel's Public House
Chris' Pancake House
Mango (Tapas)
Also check out The Grove area and City Museum (Which is not what you think of as a museum)

This guy knows what he's talking about!

St. Louis native here.

Neighborhoods:
The Loop in University City (affectionately, "U City") for cool independent shops
The Central West End for more upscale cool.
Clayton, upscale, urban professional. I use the term "urban" loosely. Generally good food and nice central location if you're choosing a hotel. (If you can stay at the Seven Gables, they have freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.)
The Hill for Italian, but sorry, I can't remember the name of the best restaurant.
Pass on Laclede's Landing. Nothing too special there.

Food:
Ted Drewes frozen custard, a must. Seek it out.
Toasted ravioli, a must. Not sure why you can't find this everywhere in the world. It's so good.
Bar Italia, I second the vote for this
Blueberry Hill, great rock and roll themed bar in U City. Go for the ambiance and decor. (Plus they serve the aforementioned toasted ravioli) They card everyone. Everyone.
Fitz's Rootbeer, across the street from Blueberry Hill
Schafly's Tap Room, the sticky toffee pudding is to die for. I hear the beer is pretty good too.
Imo's is a tough one. I think you might need to be raised on it to appreciate the crispy gooeyness. Cracker-thin crust and provel is not for everyone.
Crown Candy, good old fashioned ice cream joint, but a bit out of the way.
Steak and Shake for fast food, outstanding french fries, crispy-thin burger patties.
Lion's Choice, more tasty fast food, paper-thin shaved roast beef.
Amaghetti's for their "special" sandwich.

I could go on and on. Clearly not the healthiest options, but oh so tasty. Worth the extra 10 mile run. :happy:

I almost forgot! Tis the season for fish fries! Find yourself a neighborhood church and order a basket of freshly fried fish made by the parish.

Have fun!

yeah gotta be honest, especially as of late I'd avoid the Landing... ESPECIALLY after dark (2 murders in 2 weekends... yeah thanks but no thanks) Pappys is WELL worth the wait you'll have for it, Second on Crown Candy (go for the BLT, it's LOADDDDEDDDDD in Bacon). Depending on where your staying (downtown, West county, Clayton, etc... Mike Shannons would be great as well, also if you looking for more fresher foods, the Soulard Farmers Market, and YES if your going to be there over Friday you have got to enjoy one of the dozens, no more like hundreds of local fish fries going on across the metro.

I definitely second (of sixth at this point...) Pappy's. Last time I was there was on a Sunday mid afternoon and there was hardly any wait.

I really suggest Baileys' Range, partly for the burgers, but primarily for their alcoholic milkshakes. They make their own ice cream in house, and it's delicious. And, perhaps most importantly, they come in pint glasses. Who's gonna turn down a pint of maker's mark, candied bacon, and salted caramel ice cream? Or tequila and three chili chocolate ice cream?

And then go to City Museum and work off the calories by playing on all the awesome structures and go down the ten-story slide.

Ok, I clearly need to hit up St. Louis again soon.

Went to Momoyama's for sushi this week. It was really good. But that's on the outskirts, in Chesterfield.