Restaurants in Town and Country

No matter the time of day or night, the kitchen staff at Gingham’s Restaurant churns out any meal—be it breakfast for dinner or lunch at 2 a.m. —that their customers crave. Famous buttermilk pancakes speckled with everything from blueberries to bits of bacon hush grumbling stomachs, as the friendly wait staff shuffles around bottomless pots of Ronnoco coffee and homemade dinner rolls. Chefs scramble farm-fresh eggs into nine different omelets, masterfully fry chicken, and drown homestyle meatloaf in rich gravy. The eatery doesn’t forget about dessert, satiating the child that nests in everyone’s molars with ice-cream sundaes and cherry crisps.

Memorialized in paint, ancient Greeks dressed in flowing togas dance beneath the arches on the walls at Momos Greek Restaurant. At adjacent tables and pillow-lined booths, dining companions share small plates of Mediterranean cuisine, such as the pan-seared bay scallops in tomato-garlic pesto. Other small plates include traditional lamb gyros with feta cheese and tzatziki sauce and grilled shish kebabs. The focal point of the main dining area is a flickering fireplace bearing a tile mosaic of a satyr peaking from behind a tree, impatiently waiting for a beautiful sunbathing woman to dive into the river so that he can steal her bowl of hummus. Nearby, bartenders serve drafts and bottles of domestic, imported, and craft brews; mix shakers filled with seven signature martinis; and decant glasses of the traditional Greek liqueur ouzo known for its herbal and anise flavors.

Stepping into De Palm Tree Restaurant is like stumbling into a portal and ending up in the Caribbean. Exposed-brick walls give way to decorative support beams that end on a vibrant crimson ceiling, recalling a beachside cabana fanned by ocean breezes. Flecks of culture spread across the walls as well, from a framed collection of Jamaican dollars and a national flag to portraits of Bob Marley and metallic replicas of tribal art. But as in Jamaica, the community at De Palm Tree Restaurant forms around the food.

Feasts of fragrant, spicy curries, flaky fish, and hearty bean stews follow frosty glasses of ginger beer and freshly squeezed fruit juices. The menu’s rum cakes, stuffed pastries, seafood, and plantains reflect the lush, tropical landscape of Jamaica, with its abundant fruit trees, teeming oceans, and waving fields of jerk-chicken plants. Well-known dishes such as tender jerk pork or curry chicken anchor the offerings, whereas exotic island delicacies such as akees and saltfish, oxtail stew, or spicy pickled escovitch fish tempt adventurous diners.

A little over a decade after John and Anna Mineo's 1958 arrival in St. Louis, they chose to open a quaint 12-table restaurant to carry on the culinary traditions of their native Sicily. More than 40 years later, John Mineo's Italian Restaurant stands in the same spot, sporting an addition that allows the dining room to seat 180 guests, as well as a handful of new family photos decorating the walls. Tuxedo-wearing servers move from table to table, carrying Sicilian-inspired dishes such as tenderloin Napolitana as well as steaming bowls of freshly made pasta covered in bright sauces.

The chefs at Lucky Sushi House reach beyond the borders of their eatery's name by serving a menu that not only features sushi, but also Japanese teriyaki dishes and Chinese staples such as orange chicken. Behind the sushi bar, chefs stack morsels of eel nigiri and roll combinations of crab, avocado, and tuna into cozy cocoons of rice. While admiring the decorative fans on the walls or peering into the restaurant's aquarium to check for messages in bottles, patrons can also crunch into squid-tempura rolls, split a plate of pot stickers, and swig Harbin Lager imported from China.

In 1983, Bar Italia opened as a tiny café dishing up gelato and drinks just east of Euclid Avenue. Today, it's a multilevel Italian restaurant just west of Euclid Avenue. It hasn't moved very far, but now its chefs toss pasta with seafood, season and grill Black Angus steaks, and flame pork tenderloin with brandy before finishing it in a light cream sauce. They also whip up vegan and gluten-free plates, and they still serve housemade gelato created with all-natural ingredients.

Diners can order wine by the glass, bottle, or bathtub to enjoy in the dining room, by the bar, or outside on the sidewalk area, which is pet friendly. Inside the eatery’s entertainment venue, Luna Lounge, white leather couches bask in the glow of colored mood lighting and flickering candles. On Thursday nights, global tunes from the DJ pump through the sound system.