In parts of the restaurant industry, business is starting to bounce back a bit. Capacity remains much lower than it was pre-pandemic in most dining rooms. And many diners only want to eat out if they can eat outside.
But new places continue to open in the St. Louis region — often with extensive safety protocols. And they’re offering new items for local food lovers and ways for patrons to get their favorite dishes. Sauce Magazine featured 10 new restaurants for this month’s Hit List. The magazine staff also shared information about various food-service concepts that existing restaurants are implementing, such as ghost kitchens and walk-up windows.
Ghost kitchens are when chefs either split part of a restaurant’s kitchen to operate a new menu, or when a separate space is rented out to serve carry-out food. The rise of COVID-19 has prompted many restaurants to start preparing food in ghost kitchens to accommodate a changing industry.
Sauce Magazine executive editor Meera Nagarajan joined Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air to share what she recommends checking out in October.
On this month’s Hit List:
At Aubergine Café (550 N. Seventh St., St. Louis), Sauce recommends trying the:
- Mixed mushroom and basil with a sunny-side-up egg
- Tum Yum Fried Rice
Wing Ding Dong (920 Olive St., St. Louis) is a ghost kitchen operating out of the downtown Bailey’s Range. Sauce recommends trying:
- Smoked wings with your choice of sauces, including Alabama white, Buffalo, ranch and Carolina mustard
- Spicy chicken sandwich
- Creamy mac and cheese with fried tater tots
At Vegan Deli & Butcher (524 S. Main St., St. Charles), Sauce recommends trying:
- Meatball sub, made with well-seasoned soy-based meatballs, marinara and vegan Parmesan cheese on a toasted hoagie
- Plant-based turkey club on toasted wheatberry bread
In Brentwood, at Motor Town Pizza (8388 Musick Memorial Dr.), Sauce recommends trying:
- Spicy-sweet El Dorado with Chihuahua cheese, jalapeno, pineapple and locally made Hungry Planet plant-based chorizo
- The Model P pepperoni pizza .
- The kale mobile salad
Sauce recommends the following at Florissant’s Made. by Lia (610 Rue St. Francois):
- Chocolate chip banana bread
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Vegan carrot doughnut
- Two-layer mini cakes
At Love at First Bite (10479 St. Charles Rock Rd., St. Ann), Sauce recommends trying:
- The Lobster On My Spuds loaded fries
- Vegan St. Paul sandwich
- Hot wing-style cauliflower bites
In Rock Hill, at Hangar Kitchen + Bar (9528 Manchester Rd.), Sauce recommends trying:
- Singapore Slush
- Roasted beets salad
- That’s My Jam sliders
- Short rib tacos
Don’t miss the following at Fire Chicken in Overland (10200 Page Ave.):
- Chicken gangjung with teriyaki or a spicy-sweet gochujang sauce
- Mandu, deep-fried Korean pork dumplings
At Bijoux (13014 Manchester Rd., Des Peres), Sauce recommends trying:
- Hand-painted chocolate bonbons
- Roasted nut-caramel bonbon with pistachios, almonds, walnuts and pecans
- Lemon-rhubarb bonbon with lemon caramel and white chocolate-rhubarb filling
- Honeycomb toffee
- Salted nutty toffee
And Chillax (714 W. Pearce Blvd.), in Wentzville, offers:
- Domestics from Two Pitchers Brewing Co. and Prairie Artisan Ales
- Local breweries like Rockwell Beer Co
- 30 beers on tap
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
