Chicago boasts a renowned culinary scene, celebrated for dishes like deep-dish pizza and Italian beef. Yet, beyond the well-trodden gastronomic paths, many cities harbor unique food traditions waiting to be explored. Recently, our culinary journey led us to St. Louis, a city brimming with distinctive eats cherished by locals, often found in unassuming, family-run establishments – the true heart of any city’s food culture. These aren’t the creations of Michelin-starred kitchens, but rather the everyday flavors that define St. Louis and offer a genuine taste of its people. Let’s dive into the must-try foods of St. Louis, each with its own story and local flair.
The Irresistible Fried Ravioli
Fried ravioli, affectionately known as “fried ravs” or “T-ravs,” is a quintessential St. Louis appetizer that’s surprisingly simple to recreate at home. The beauty of this dish lies in its humble ingredients and straightforward preparation: simply bread and fry store-bought ravioli. Don’t be misled by the term “toasted ravioli”; almost all versions are deep-fried to golden perfection, achieving a delightful crispy exterior.
This beloved bar snack is so easy to make that culinary expertise isn’t required – even a bartender can whip them up between pouring beers. Typically filled with meat, though variations exist, these ravioli squares are traditionally sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and served with a side of marinara sauce for dipping. Like many iconic regional foods, the exact origin of fried ravioli is shrouded in local lore, with various St. Louis bars and restaurants vying for the title of originator. Taking a bite of a fried rav might remind Chicagoans of pizza puffs, a larger, similar fried delight. Regardless of its origins, fried ravioli is undeniably perfect pub fare.
St. Louis Pizza: A Unique Slice of the Midwest
For pizza aficionados, especially those from Chicago, St. Louis-style pizza presents a fascinating contrast to the Windy City’s celebrated deep-dish and tavern-style pies. Chicagoans often express a fondness for tavern-style pizza, appreciating its thin, cracker-like crust. St. Louis pizza shares this characteristic, boasting a yeast-free crust that’s exceptionally thin and crispy. While both styles are cut into squares, St. Louis squares are often a bit larger. The sauce, similar to some Chicago versions, leans towards the sweeter side, offering a familiar note to Midwestern palates.
However, the defining feature of St. Louis pizza is Provel cheese. While used moderately, which is appreciated by many, Provel is a processed cheese blend of Swiss, cheddar, and provolone, specifically crafted by Kraft Heinz for St. Louis pizza makers. While mozzarella is preferred by some for its less sticky texture, Provel’s superior melting quality is undeniable, often likened to American cheese in its meltiness.
Taste, of course, is subjective. For those who grew up with St. Louis style pizza, it’s likely a cherished taste of home. Imo’s Pizza, a regional chain with around 100 locations, claims to be the originator of this distinctive style. Given Chicago’s diverse pizza landscape, which includes Neapolitan, Detroit, and New York styles, it’s only a matter of time before St. Louis pizza finds its place in the Chicago food scene, offering another unique Italian-American pizza variation.
Frozen Custard Concrete: St. Louis’s Gravity-Defying Dessert
Why “concrete”? Because just like pavement, St. Louis’s frozen custard concrete is dense and solid, blended with a variety of mix-ins such as nuts, fruits, and candies. Popularized by institutions like Ted Drewes, which may be its birthplace, the concrete is a brilliant twist on traditional sundaes. Instead of toppings merely sitting on top, they are thoroughly mixed throughout the custard, ensuring a burst of flavor in every spoonful.
Served in a simple paper cup, the concrete’s thickness is so impressive that servers at Ted Drewes are known to playfully invert the cup, demonstrating its gravity-defying nature as they hand it through the service window. The customization options are endless, with Ted Drewes offering signature combinations like the Big Apple concrete, featuring apple pie and vanilla custard, or the Lewis and Clark, a blend of granola, Reese’s peanut butter cup crumbles, and pretzels. For a classic experience, try the Mildred, a simple yet satisfying mix of butterscotch and pecans.
Interestingly, St. Louis also has a connection to the ice cream cone itself. While some locals believe the ice cream cone debuted at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, historical evidence points to Italo Marchiony, an Italian immigrant in New York City, who patented the cone in 1903 and may have introduced it as early as 1896.
Gooey Butter Cake: A Sweet St. Louis Staple
Gooey butter cake is a deeply ingrained part of St. Louis’s baking heritage. Made with simple ingredients like cake flour, butter, sugar, and eggs, this cake is characteristically dense, typically under an inch in height, and generously dusted with powdered sugar. It boasts a delightful, slightly thicker crust than one might expect. Legend has it that, much like fried ravioli’s accidental origin story, gooey butter cake was created by a baking mishap – a fortunate miscalculation in butter and flour proportions. While similar to chess or “jes” cake in texture, gooey butter cake’s whimsical name likely contributes to its enduring popularity.
Variations like “ooey gooey butter cake,” incorporating cream cheese, have emerged, and the gooey butter flavor has even expanded into beverages and frozen desserts, such as Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams’ Gooey Butter Cake ice cream. Mentioning gooey butter cake to anyone in St. Louis, from restaurant servers to locals on the street, often evokes a nostalgic, almost reverent reaction, highlighting its deep cultural significance. These local favorites become part of a city’s identity, much like stinky tofu in Taiwan or fried grasshoppers in Oaxaca – culinary touchstones that deserve respect and appreciation, even if they aren’t to everyone’s personal taste.
St. Louis-Style Ribs: A Barbecue Tradition
While Texas is synonymous with brisket and Chicago with rib tips, St. Louis proudly claims St. Louis-style ribs as its barbecue signature. These are spareribs, cut from the lower section of the hog, known for being meatier and fattier than baby back ribs, typically with eleven to thirteen bones per rack. Chicago rib tips are actually a byproduct of trimming spareribs to create the clean, rectangular St. Louis cut. You’re unlikely to find “St. Louis ribs” on a Chicago barbecue menu, as the term isn’t widely recognized outside of St. Louis.
The preparation of spareribs in St. Louis also differs from Chicago barbecue traditions. St. Louis ribs are generously coated in a sauce often made with ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and other spices. While Chicago ribs are usually smoked, St. Louis ribs might be smoked and then grilled over an open flame. The pitmaster frequently brushes on barbecue sauce during grilling, caramelizing the sugars and creating a sweet, sticky glaze, reminiscent of the baby back ribs at Chicago’s Twin Anchors. St. Louis-style ribs often have a chewier texture compared to spareribs found in Chicago.
Pork steaks, another St. Louis barbecue staple, are rumored to have originated at Schnucks, a local grocery chain. However, this claim is debated, although pork steaks are undeniably popular throughout St. Louis and are a must-try for barbecue enthusiasts.
Red Hot Riplets: The Spicy Chip of St. Louis
Found in nearly every St. Louis convenience and liquor store, Red Hot Riplets are ridged potato chips infused with St. Louis’s signature Red Hot Riplet Sauce. While the sauce itself might be harder to find in restaurants and markets, it’s readily available online, along with a surprising array of Red Hot Riplet merchandise, from T-shirts to shower curtains.
Produced by Old Vienna, a St. Louis snack company, Red Hot Riplets gained national attention in 2003 when Esquire magazine named them among the “Best Potato Chips You’ve Never Tasted.” Unfortunately for Californians, Old Vienna doesn’t ship to California due to Proposition 65 regulations regarding acrylamide, a chemical formed during high-temperature cooking of potato chips. California required either reduced acrylamide levels or a warning label, which Old Vienna chose not to implement, making Red Hot Riplets unavailable in the state.
The “Hot Riplet” flavor is also used in other snack foods like popcorn and pork rinds. While not overwhelmingly spicy, the flavor is distinctly savory and enjoyable, making Red Hot Riplets a uniquely St. Louis snack experience.
Gerber Sandwich: A Deli Creation with a Dash of Controversy
If you’re imagining a baby food sandwich with the name “Gerber,” think again. The Gerber sandwich is a St. Louis deli staple: a section of French or Italian bread slathered with garlic butter, layered with ham and Provel cheese (the same cheese found on St. Louis pizza), sprinkled with paprika, and then toasted. Ruma’s Deli, with multiple locations in St. Louis, is widely credited as the originator of the Gerber sandwich.
In its simplest form, the Gerber sandwich is a relatively basic creation. One might find a version with just ham and Provel on lightly garlic-seasoned French bread, perhaps even missing the paprika. Similar to Chicago’s Jim Shoe sandwich, the Gerber seems like a spontaneous creation by a deli counter worker using readily available ingredients to make something new and satisfying.
Interestingly, in 2003, the Riverfront Times humorously dubbed Provel on a Gerber sandwich at DBs as the “best use of the worst cheese.” Ruma’s Deli, claiming to have invented the sandwich in 1973 and named it after a neighbor, engaged in a minor “Gerber-gate” controversy, sending cease-and-desist letters to DBs and another restaurant for alleged copyright infringement. Despite any behind-the-scenes legal disputes, the Gerber sandwich remains a widely available and beloved St. Louis deli offering.
Snoots: Exploring Nose-to-Tail Dining in St. Louis
Snoots are a true St. Louis culinary revelation. While the idea of cooking and eating a hog’s nose might not be unique to St. Louis, the city has become the place to experience this unique cut of offal. In line with the nose-to-tail eating trend, St. Louis offers a prime opportunity to sample this often-overlooked part of the animal. (As a side note, Chicago’s Purple Pig once offered outstanding pig tails, though they seem to be off the menu now.)
Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods has included St. Louis snoots among his top ten favorite barbecue dishes, and restaurateur Danny Meyer, originally from St. Louis and known for Gramercy Tavern and Shake Shack, introduced them to enthusiastic New Yorkers. Snoots are often compared to pork rinds, typically drenched in barbecue sauce, and offer a spicy, crunchy, and rich flavor profile. They are undeniably delicious and worth trying, even in third helpings.
Despite their seemingly decadent nature, snoots are surprisingly lean. The Missouri Department of Agriculture reportedly rated snoots as having forty-three percent protein and only two percent fat. So, while they might feel indulgent, they are a relatively protein-rich and lower-fat barbecue option.
St. Louis Slinger: Diner Food at its Finest
The St. Louis Slinger is the epitome of classic diner fare. Typically consisting of two eggs, hash browns, a ground beef patty, and a generous ladle of chili, all topped with shredded cheese and raw onions, the Slinger is a hearty and indulgent dish. At Courtesy Diner, a St. Louis institution with multiple locations, a server confirmed that the Slinger, much like Chicago’s Akutagawa (scrambled eggs with Asian flavors), is considered “drunk food” – the perfect late-night meal after enjoying St. Louis’s own Anheuser-Busch beers. Legend has it that some have even attempted to eat six Slingers in one sitting, with varying degrees of success.
While similar “slingers” exist in other diners, including Chicago’s Diner Grill, the St. Louis version proudly carries the city’s name. Be warned, the Slinger is a substantial meal; sharing might be advisable. While Chicago’s Diner Grill once awarded a certificate for finishing their version, now, as the owner states, you simply get the bill – a testament to the Slinger’s formidable size and richness.
St. Paul Sandwich: An Egg Foo Young Creation
Ironically named after a city in Minnesota, the St. Paul sandwich was actually invented in St. Louis. It’s essentially an egg foo young patty nestled between two slices of white bread, dressed with pickles, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise (condiments may vary slightly depending on the location). Found primarily in St. Louis Chinese restaurants, the St. Paul sandwich offers a unique Chinese-American culinary crossover. As the saying goes, “the worse the neighborhood, the better the Chinese restaurants,” and this holds true for finding an authentic St. Paul sandwich.
Unlike in Chicago, where St. Paul sandwiches are rarely seen on Chinese restaurant menus, they are a St. Louis staple. Some even enjoy making them at home, ordering extra egg foo young patties to repurpose into sandwiches the next day. While enjoyable, the St. Paul sandwich in St. Louis can sometimes be dry. Traditionally, egg foo young is served with a savory brown gravy, and while gravy on a St. Paul sandwich appears to be uncommon in St. Louis, it might be a welcome addition to combat the dryness. As the New York Times noted in May, egg foo young should be “smothered in a savory gravy.” Perhaps St. Louis should consider embracing gravy on their St. Paul sandwiches to elevate this unique creation.
Mayfair Salad Dressing: A World’s Fair Original
Mayfair salad dressing originated at the now-closed Mayfair Hotel in St. Louis. This distinctive dressing, now available in grocery stores and served in some St. Louis restaurants and bars, was introduced at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Like Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition, the St. Louis World’s Fair served as a launchpad for many region-specific foods.
Mayfair dressing is surprisingly simple to make at home, consisting of a blend of chopped celery, garlic, and onion, along with anchovies, Dijon mustard, black pepper, lemon juice, and mayonnaise. While a salad with Mayfair dressing can be found in upscale St. Louis establishments, homemade versions, using high-quality mayonnaise and fresh ingredients, can easily surpass restaurant renditions. It’s a harmonious blend of flavors that’s worth exploring in your own kitchen.
Budweiser: St. Louis’s King of Beers
Finally, no culinary exploration of St. Louis is complete without mentioning Budweiser. Introduced in St. Louis in 1876 by Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest brewer, Budweiser is a global icon. This light lager, while not boasting complex flavors, is undeniably refreshing, especially in St. Louis’s humid summers. Almost every dish highlighted here, with the possible exception of gooey butter cake, pairs perfectly with this approachable, almost neutral-flavored beer – a true St. Louis original.
By David Hammond, Dining and Drinking Editor for foods.edu.vn.
