St. Louisans have an extraordinary number of peculiar edible enthusiasms, reflecting a River City personality that is mostly Midwestern but with a shot of the South and the spice of ethnic heritage that still defines its neighborhoods. Unique St. Louis dishes include Americanized versions of old-world fare, such as Italianate toasted ravioli and the Chinese-restaurant St. Paul sandwich, which is egg foo yung on white bread, its name’s origin a mystery. Some of the city’s specialties are so obscure that they are barely known elsewhere: gooey butter cake, slingers, Provel-topped bar pizza. In addition, there is great barbecue, where many menus feature snoots and ears; divine caramel cake; and definitive custard at Ted Drewes, which invented the Concrete — a milk shake so thick that it is handed to the customer upside down to demonstrate its density.
America's distinctive regional dishes are often associated with cities: the creamy grits of Charleston, the pig sandwich of Memphis, Buffalo wings, Cincinnati five-way chili, San Diego fish tacos, Chicago...
If Dr. Seuss had been a restaurant reviewer, he would have liked soda fountains best, for they are where Pink Elephant punch and rootbeer Black Cows line up alongside...
What a yummy trip it is to eat one's way from Chicago to L.A. along old Route 66! This tour of 21 excellent stops along the way includes some...
In 1946, when Bobby and Cynthia Troup drove their Buick convertible from the East to the West coast in hopes of finding a future writing songs, Cynthia suggested to...
Is there another dish as diverse as pizza? It can be an utterly simple tomato pie – nothing but sauce on crust – or it can be a multi-meat...
Great Soft Serve There is so much inferior soft-serve ice cream (aerated, chemically-flavored), that soft-serve in general has a bad reputation among ice cream lovers. But there are exceptions, soft-serve...
One day to taste St. Louis's best Roadfood? Not counting the enigmatic St. Paul (an egg foo yung sandwich sold in Chinese restaurants), toasted ravioli (which has gone national),...
Twelve champion chocolatiers, from the Oregon coast to downeast Maine.
Of the hundred five-star barbecue parlors around the U.S.A. this dozen is the crème de la crème. .
Although ice cream tends to be more butterfatty, frozen custard tastes richer because it traditionally is made with egg yolks. Even when eggs are not part of the formula,...
Fried chicken is popular all across America and so different everywhere that it is not possible to say what city, state, or region does it best. While the process...
When barbecue migrated up the Mississippi from its homes in the Deep South and in Texas, it took on a new personality -- similar to what happened to the...
