10 St. Louis Restaurants With Fabulous Food at Great Prices

Snarf’s

Usually, entering a chain restaurant is a sure way to make us want to exit the food chain. Not Snarf’s (multiple locations, including 374 South Grand Boulevard, 314-833-4828). Yes, it's a chain — you can find others in Texas, Colorado and Illinois, though founder Jimmy Seidel is a St. Louis native who moved West. (His brother-in-law Matty Aronson owns the St. Louis locations, so it feels a bit more localized in that way.) More importantly, Snarf's consistently delivers quality meals for a respectable price. Ordering a seven-inch sandwich with a drink and chips will generally put you under $9, despite immense portions and quality ingredients. The classic Italian sub is packed so tightly with meat that it could be used as a floatation device if you were eating it during a shipwreck. Even better, Snarf's sells ice cream for a post-meal treat, or a “dessert” as it's more commonly called. For a sandwich place, Snarf's fills you up at a very affordable and economical rate.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Silverberg

Pizza Head

Located in the heart of South Grand, Pizza Head (3196 South Grand Boulevard, 314- 266-5200) is a dimly lit and low-staffed pizza joint that happens to have the best New York-style slices in town. You can grab a slice a la carte, or pony up and go for an entire pizza. The options here even stretch to include a vegan pepperoni slice, which, unlike many vegan pizzas before it, does not leave the chalky taste of depression in your mouth. It's also a cool place. Just as there are coffeeshop authors (Knausgaard, Kierkegaard, Proust, etcetera) whom you make a point to read when you’re in public, this is a coffee shop restaurant, one where a good part of the reason to go here is to be seen here. The city offers other, cheaper options for pizza, but they're mostly part of the fast-food family. The few additional dollars you spend here are equally offset by both the superior taste and the superior aesthetic.

Photo courtesy of Mabel Suen

U-City Grill

Serving Korean food at a great low price, U-City Grill (6696 Enright Avenue, University City; 314-721-3073) is one of the most fun and satisfying places to grab a bite in the city. This is where a desperate and hungry diner can wander in with $7 wadded up in his fist and be filled up to the brink of combustion. An order of bulgoki chicken (or beef or pork) will cost well under $10 — and the portions are incredibly healthy. (While an extra “Korean hot sauce” will cost you, it's only a quarter.) What's striking about the food here is how fresh everything, particularly the vegetables, tastes. Even the fried egg, which is served atop the pork bokumbop, tastes as if it has just been pried from the chicken. The menu is limited, which is a testament to its quality. Places like Cheesecake Factory have 450 things on the menu, but everything ends up tasting relatively the same. A specialty restaurant that primarily serves one type of food can be life-changing. This is one of those places, and you’ll have enough money for gas to get home after.

Photo courtesy of RFT archives

Fortune Express

This restaurant remains one of the most criminally underrated places in St. Louis, as well as one of the most hidden. The outside is completely inauspicious, allowing Fortune Express (6738 Chippewa Street, 314-351-9988) to blend completely into the surrounding backdrop of low-density commercial buildings, likely missed by many who drive by. Their loss. Fortune Express is my pick for the best cheap Chinese food in the city. Getting what appears to be a shovel-full of pork-fried rice and an order of crab Rangoons will only run you up to about $8. This is also one of those places that isn’t restrictive on its sauce allowance — staffers will give you as many packets of sweet and sour as you need, no questions asked. If you douse even the most rancid piece of meat with enough sauce it will become edible (see: the history of mustard), but the chicken and beef here is top quality. You will leave here happy, and more than likely with an extra reserve of sauce for next time.

Photo courtesy of heidieatsalot / Instagram

Al Tarboush Deli

With more than twenty years under its belt, Al Tarboush (602 Westgate Avenue, University City; 314-725-1944) remains a gold standard for inexpensive Middle Eastern food in St. Louis. Sitting in one of the small tables that face the window, listening to the pleasant banter between customers and cook, you may feel this is one of the most defiantly urban landscapes to be found in St. Louis, perhaps the place where Laurie Lee felt “the unease of arriving at night in an unknown city." It also has kick-ass shawarma. You’ll only have to pay about $8 for a full sandwich covered in meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and, most importantly, hot sauce. The lamb gyros are another solid choice — as long as the meal is followed by Al Tarboush's almond baklava, which is less than $3. The staff is always friendly, but not overly friendly, which can be the plague of small diners. At Al Tarboush, they won’t crowd you, the sandwiches are spicy, and there are many napkins readily available.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Fenske

House of India

As soon as you walk into House of India (8501 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-567-6850) you are immediately gripped by the smell of coriander. By the time your nasal system has adjusted to the spice in the air, your (free!) papadum has arrived at the table. Papadum is a very thin, fried dough, basically a frisbee you can eat. As is the unspoken rule in many family-run Indian places, the spice levels available include mild, medium and hot, along with the option not listed on the menu: Indian hot. The waiter may look around and lower his voice before offering this. You must accept the proposition. As soon as the food arrives, you can feel the heat coming from the kitchen. The best possible order is as follows: chicken tikka masala, garlic naan on the side, with gulab jamun, or fried milk balls, for dessert. While this could end up costing around $14 a person, the volume of food is just so immense that it feels like quite a bargain. It isn’t uncommon to leave here with a few boxes of leftovers. If your stomach can handle the additional heat, you'll have paid for your meals for the next few days.

Photo courtesy of RFT archives

Just Chicken

Just Chicken (5942 Delmar Boulevard, 314-726-3303) barely fits the definition of hole in the wall, as there are barely even walls here. Located just east of the Loop, the eatery is a small box-shaped structure surrounded by vacant lots and a small church. Usually the two same guys are in here, one working the register, one cooking the chicken right in front of you. You can get your chicken regular or spicy, and the spicy chicken is among the hottest in the city. It is essentially fresh chicken coated in cayenne pepper. The first time I ate it tears flowed indiscriminately from my eyes, the most I had cried since I first saw the part of Good Will Hunting where we find out why Will’s been yelling at everyone the entire movie. Also, don’t let the name fool you — the restaurant also has drinks and fries. Oh, and it even serves waffles, to complete the chicken-and-waffles menu item. A word of advice — order ahead of time by calling in. Otherwise, you might be looking at killing a fair amount of time with your two new Just Chicken friends. Still it’s worth the wait; this is among the city's best fried chicken.

Photo courtesy of reececups / Instagram

Carl’s Drive In

Everyone knows that the culinary chain of command ascends from pizza to fried chicken to burgers. Burgers reign supreme not because of their taste, though that plays a large role, but because of their compactness. You can do anything with them; you can drive while you eat them or even co-sign a loan. They are some of the most functional food items out there. This is why the influx of gentrified restaurants selling burgers the size (and price) of air-conditioning units is troubling. You won’t find that at Carl’s Drive In (9033 Manchester Road, Brentwood; 314- 961-9652); the burgers appear as they would have in the glory days of drive-ins, before the only scenario in which you might see that word was proceeded by “Diners” and followed by “Dives." The burgers are filling, taste great and cost just about $6 each. Onion rings and fries are offered as sides, and are fried immaculately. In true drive-in fashion, there are even milkshakes here, which will fill you up even closer to oblivion, especially after your third order of onion rings sets in.

Photo courtesy of RFT archives

Village Bar

In the bustling heart of west county, most food sources seem to have either a drive-through or hundreds of menus that say Chili’s inside them. Village Bar (12247 Manchester Road, Des Peres; 314-821-4532) is different. Inside are dozens of gigantic televisions, making it look more like a situation room than a restaurant, and all are vertiginously blaring either Fox News or Cardinals baseball (the two blend surprisingly well). Once your equilibrium balances out again, you are ready to look at the menu. The burgers are great, the waffle fries are seasoned, but what makes the place stand out are the wings. Only one flavor, buffalo, is offered. They come out a shocking orange, and look like they will melt your eyebrows if you get too close. They're also by far the most flavorful wings in St. Louis, and most importantly, the price is right.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Fenske

Tiffany’s Original Diner

Tiffany’s Original Diner (7402 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-644-0929) seems less like a legendary local haunt and more like the diner where Johnny McQueen sees himself in the bubbles of his drink in Odd Man Out. A cash-only spot, Tiffany’s checks all of the boxes on the classic diner list: a coin-operated jukebox, a TV constantly airing Night Court and a few sleepy people groggily sipping their coffee, some of whom are there so often they seem more like installations than customers. Most importantly, the kitchen is right in front of the bar, so germaphobes can be sure that the food is mostly clean and prepared well. The usual order is a burger and a shake, which never adds up to too much and is always filling. Tiffany's is open all day and night, but don’t bother going in the afternoon. This is a place that exists for the midnight to 6 a.m. crowd — and it plays the role to perfection.

Photo courtesy of RFT archives