The 32 Essential St. Louis Restaurants

"With its cracker crust and provel topping, St. Louis-style pizza is an essential part of the diet of anyone born in the 314. But some of the best slices in town don’t adhere to the local style. Union Loafers in Botanical Heights is a bakery at heart, crafting old-world, naturally leavened loaves, but they are also a full-service restaurant making pizzas in a sort of gray area between the chew and pull of New York and the bubbly, blistered char of a Neapolitan. The pepperoni with Calabrian chilis features perfect little cups of pepperoni, and the mushroom pizza with pickled shallots and foxglove will convert mushroom haters. During the day, a selection of sandwiches on Loafers’ bread are available along with soups and salads, including the little gem with fine herbs and shallots, which could smack down every other salad you’ve eaten in the past." - Holly Fann