The 20 Most Beautiful Restaurants in St. Louis

Bar Les Freres
(7637 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton; 314-725-8880)

"The tiny dining room looks like the secret club room of an Edwardian manor, the refuge of the lost, mad uncle the Crawleys will discover in the sixth season of Downton Abbey. The walls are the bottomless red of a femme fatale's kiss. Deer antlers, sixteen pairs of them, loom above the bar. Framed paintings crowd the other walls. These are facsimiles of classical portraits, mostly, but scattered among them are a few contemporary doodles — humorous send-ups of the portrait as art."
- Ian Froeb

Photo credit: Jennifer Silverberg

The Benevolent King
(7268 Manchester Road; 314-899-0440)

"The Benevolent King is sultry. Black paint covers the ceiling and three walls, with the fourth mirrored from floor to ceiling. Candlelight dances in the reflection and across the gilded décor. Small bistro tables, surrounded by black-and-white wicker chairs, evoke a Moroccan beachside cafe, while the shiny tiled floor and bar-tops give off a swanky vintage feel. You half expect to see Humphrey Bogart himself welcoming you inside. It's the sort of place to take your date if you, how should I say it, want the evening to end on a very high note."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Planter's House
(1000 Mississippi Avenue; 314-696-6203)

"Named after the 19th-century iconic St. Louis hotel, Planter's House is the first bar St. Louis cocktail godfather Ted Kilgore can call his own (along with wife Jamie and Ted Charak, formerly the bar manager at Brasserie by Niche). The three have set quite the scene: exposed brick, swanky red leather seating, gilded chandeliers — it's the epitome of speakeasy chic. Whereas the main bar area has a vintage masculine vibe, the Bullock Room, Planter's House's bar within a bar, is more like a dining salon, complete with ornate wallpaper and gold-rimmed drinkware."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Jennifer Silverberg

Juniper
(360 North Boyle Avenue; 314-329-7696)

"To call Juniper cozy is an understatement. The interior looks as if Brooklyn hipsters rehabbed a barn in Kentucky bluegrass country. Exposed brick, lofted ceilings and built-in bookshelves set an inviting scene while vintage refrigerators and centerpieces of cotton blossoms and juniper sprigs add a touch of whimsy. It's the kind of place that necessitates craft cocktails and smoked meat, both of which are in abundant supply."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Jennifer Silverberg

Boundary
(7036 Clayton Avenue; 314-932-7818)

"Boundary is a make-under of the former Basso space, though you'd never guess that by looking at it. The room is strikingly handsome and sultry — the kind of place you'd find James Bond sipping a martini after a day of fox hunting. The signature glass wine wall is still there, but instead of separating the bar from the dining room, the bar now wraps around it, while the room's former vibrant red tones have been muted in favor of dark wood and leather. Booth seating has been replaced with semicircle banquettes that face outward, and an eye-popping kelly green leather double-sided couch adds two rows of seating in the middle of the room."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Cinder House
(999 North Second Street, 314-881-5759)

"Cinder House is drop-dead gorgeous. Divided into separate restaurant and lounge spaces, it's outfitted in leather and velvet in hues of tan and sapphire blue, turquoise and earth-tone marble and craggy, driftwood-style sculptures. Architectural Digest recently named it the most beautiful bar in Missouri. It could be a plain white box, however, and earn that distinction based on the view alone: Occupying the hotel's eighth floor, Cinder House has a southern-facing, bird's eye view of the Arch. It's one of the best views in the city. When the sun goes down, light sparkles off the windows. As you look out across the outdoor patio's glittering fire and water features, you feel like you are in a diamond-encrusted dream."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Louie
(706 De Mun Avenue, Clayton; 314-300-8188)

"At Louie, Matt McGuire has created the sort of restaurant where everyone wants to eat — a factor that makes it an incredibly difficult reservation to score. The small, shotgun dining room, simply appointed with wooden tables, exposed ductwork and a wall of striking, floral-print wallpaper, fills quickly. That's why McGuire decided to reserve its sizable bar for walk-in diners, something only a hospitality veteran can pull off without offending thirsty would-be imbibers."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Sara Graham

Yellowbelly
(4659 Lindell Boulevard. No phone)

"Located in the new, ultra-sleek Citizen Park building on the corner of Lindell and Euclid, the restaurant has the feel of a boutique hotel in present-day Waikiki. Floor-to-ceiling glass on two sides of the restaurant fills the open, L-shaped room with light. Industrial metal accents pair with blonde wood, black leather and a shiny, white marble-topped bar to create a modern scene. Alone, these details could provide the canvas for any restaurant. Here, however, they are imbued with a distinctive point of view by prominent features including turquoise tile, a wall-sized mural in shades of blue, white and yellow, and a handful of well-placed plants that evoke palm trees."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co.
(1831 Sidney Street; 314-772-8858)

"The Peacemaker hype is real. Throngs of hungry patrons wait in hour-plus lines (the restaurant does not take reservations for parties under six), hoping for a spot in one of the aqua, periwinkle and light green chairs set around rustic wooden tables. There are striking photos of the actual fishermen who are responsible for bringing Peacemaker the fruits de mer; Nashan's friend traveled to Maine to photograph the gruff-looking bunch. Sure, it's not exactly locavore eating, but once the food arrives, no one is complaining."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Nancy Stiles

Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar
(1004 Locust Street; 314-241-8141)

"You enter into the bar, a space that is awesome in the original sense of the word: Light fixtures like oversize birds' nests are suspended from the ceiling. So, too, precariously, or so it seems when a breezes sways them, are racks of wine glasses. The bar itself is a handsome wooden structure, high shelves stocked with beer, wine and liquor bottles. There is the obligatory flat-screen TV in one corner, but this is unobtrusive, even during a Cards game."
- Ian Froeb

Photo credit: Jennifer Silverberg

Olio
(1634 Tower Grove Avenue; 314-932-1088)

"Olio's transformation from a 90-year-old Standard Oil gas station into an inviting wine bar is even more dramatic than Elaia's renovation. The refurbished façade of red and white tiles frames tall windows and the garage bay. The warmly lighted interior features exposed brick, with weathered wooden shelves adding yet more character. You can sit at the bar (which includes Olio's own, very small kitchen), at a counter that lines the front windows or in one of the freestanding tables in the garage bay."
- Ian Froeb

Photo credit: Jennifer Silverberg

Sardella
(7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-773-7755)

"The space is stunningly beautiful, outfitted to look like the Amalfi Coast kitchen of your dreams. Blue and white Mediterranean-inspired tiles cover the walls, vibrant orange banquettes provide seating and jars of preserved citrus sit next to succulents and cookbooks on shelves throughout the room. As a nod to its namesake (sardella is an Italian fish sauce), colorful sardine cans decorate the wall above the open kitchen. The room is so airy you can't help but exhale as you walk inside."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

La Patisserie Choquette
(1626 Tower Grove Avenue; 314-932-7935)

"The 1,800-square-foot boutique tea room comes in pure white bathed in daylight and elegantly embellished with chandeliers, gilded mirrors and subtle accents of gold and turquoise. Wooden benches with decorative pillows, a cushioned armchair and petite tables provide a relaxing respite for weary Francophiles. On any given day, the shop's marble counter tops will contain at least twenty items to pick and choose from."
- Mabel Suen

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Sheesh Restaurant
(3226 South Grand Boulevard; 314-833-4321)

"If the sunlight from the windows facing South Grand catches one of the tables at Sheesh Restaurant just right, you are likely to be blinded. Fashioned from ornate copper from base to top, the round, low-profile stunners are the first thing you notice. Then you notice the chairs, squat, angular and decked with red and black Turkish fabrics. The same fabric hangs from the walls, as do some colorful, Turkish-inspired paintings and an abstract black and white print of the Bosphorus. And the copper is not limited to the tables. Décor, platters, pitchers, serving dishes — even the flatware, cups and plates given to every diner are made from the stuff. If King Midas' powers worked in copper rather than gold, you'd swear he'd touched just about every corner of this showpiece of a restaurant."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Vicia
(4260 Forest Park Avenue, 314-553-9239)

"It feels like a contemporary farmhouse, with whitewashed exposed brick, pale wooden tables and white-framed windows that separate the bar from the dining room. Contemporary, plant-themed artwork — including a stunning black and white painting of echinacea and three-dimensional branches that hang from the ceiling at the back of the bar — give life to the space. The restaurant has two cooking spaces: a large wood-fired hearth that sits to the back of the massive covered patio and an indoor kitchen, which is partially separated from the dining room by a glass window. Through the clear partition, diners watch cooks gather around a central hub, where they seem to be in a perpetual state of discussion."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Stone Soup Cottage
(5809 Highway N, Cottleville; 636-244-2233)

"The setting is part of the mystique. Stone Soup Cottage sits at the end of a gravel road on a quaint farm in Cottleville, not so far from the strip malls off the Page Extension but far enough away from the city to feel almost like another reality. Inside, the feel is just as magical, one part rustic farmhouse and two parts French country manor, with floor-to-ceiling silk drapes and candlelight dancing off the gilded antique Persian cooking vessels in chef Carl McConnell's collection."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Carmen Troesser

Katie's Pizza & Pasta
(9568 Manchester Road, Rock Hill; 314-942-6555)

"One has to hand it to Katie Lee — her eye for design is so acute that she was able to take a cookie-cutter storefront in a boring suburban strip mall and turn it into a cozy dining spot. Vintage tables and chairs dot the shotgun-style dining room, which gets its subdued warm glow from several mismatched light fixtures. The wooden bar is bookended by two floor-to-ceiling "living walls" sprouting green plants. Classic Italian films play from a humongous television that hangs behind the bar, and the huge open kitchen imbues the scene with energy."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Jennifer Silverberg

The Frisco Barroom
(8110 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves; 314-455-1090)

"The Frisco Barroom is a large space, taking up the building that used to house the Natural Way grocer. Barr and Hall-Barr's knack for design is apparent in the space; the restaurant is positively handsome, outfitted in exposed brick, black slate paint, wrought-iron chandeliers and a black tin ceiling. The downstairs consists of two rooms: one containing the bar, as well as a generous number of booths and tables, and the other the main dining room. The building also has a nice-sized upstairs, set up with a lounge area that looks like someone's well-appointed living room and an additional room for seating. There is also a rooftop patio and a ground-floor patio out back that is centered around an inviting fireplace."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Olive + Oak
(120 West Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-736-1370)

"The storefront, a former boutique, exudes a relaxed elegance that mixes polished white subway tiles with gray-blue tufted banquettes. Rustic, light-colored wood tables dot the space, and two modern tree sculptures — with copper olive and oak leaves, of course — greet guests upon arrival. The most prominent décor, however, is the wall of black-and-white family photographs. Combined with a few subtle pieces of heart-shaped artwork, it reminds you that calling this a labor of love is no mere lip service."
- Cheryl Baehr

Photo credit: Mabel Suen

Brennan's Work & Leisure
(3015 Locust Street, 314-620-3969)

FROM OUR PREVIEW: "Like its sister spot, this Brennan's won't just be serving food and drinks. Bocce is already on site, and a custom shuffleboard table (by Goebel & Co. Furniture) is underway. The space also boasts 'custom backgammon and chess boards,' by artist and graphic designer David Rygiol, and 'a listening room featuring dozens of new and classic albums on vinyl, a turntable with new and vintage headphones.' If that all sounds a bit posh and clubby, well, the new space is in fact something of a club, with members of Brennan's coworking space BHIVE enjoying access to office-style amenities."
- Sarah Fenske

Photo credit: RJ Hartbeck