Doro wat with lentils, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and bread at Meskerem Ethiopian Cuisine
Crispy salt-and-pepper calamari at Mai Lee
Burrito with beans, lettuce, tomato and jalapeños at Mi Tierra Bonita Fittingly, the Meskerem Combo platter brings beef and vegetarian dishes together atop the restaurant’s injera. St. Louis doesn’t boast a robust array of Ethiopian or other eastern African restaurants, but for over a decade now we have been fortunate to have Atsede Wondem and Henok Gerbi’s Meskerem. Summer in Dubai sandwich at Medina Mediterranean Grill Del Trompo at Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience
Mai Lee CHINESE, VIETNAMESE
What more do I — or any other food writer — need to tell you about Mai Lee? You know the story. The Trans come to St. Louis as refugees from Vietnam. Lee Tran opens a Chinese restaurant and gradually introduces Vietnamese dishes. Mai Lee becomes a hit and not only survives but thrives after moving to an unlikely new home on the ground floor of a parking garage behind a big-box shopping plaza. The food remains topnotch: soups, noodles and stir-fries, meat and seafood, Vietnamese and Chinese. Mai Lee’s success helps the next generation, Lee Tran’s son Qui, introduce a pho and ramen restaurant, Nudo House. Yes, the Trans’ story is as American as the Constitution. Now, to take a big slurp of Mai Lee’s signature pho broth and check the national news. LAST YEAR’S RANKING Rest of the Best • OPENED 1985 • PRICING Under $30 WHERE 8396 Musick Memorial Drive, Brentwood • MORE INFO 314-645-2835, maileestl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner TuesdaySunday (closed Monday)
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PRICING Under $30
Mayo Ketchup CUBAN, DOMINICAN, PUERTO RICAN
Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience MEXICAN
The name Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience might be a mouthful, but it is fitting for the new restaurant from the family behind the late Señor Pique, led by Angel JimenezGutiérrez and his mother, María Gutiérrez Molina. Dishes here unfold as family histories: a fried bean tamale like those Jimenez-Gutiérrez would buy from a subway vendor on the way to visit his grandmother; a
Jibarito sandwich at Mayo Ketchup fish taco inspired by the fried-fish vendors his father would take him to see in the Tacuba area of Mexico City; a soup that nods to street corn but also to the popcorn seasonings at Mexico City movie theaters. The dishes are delicious without context, but inviting a conversation with Malinche’s staff about any or all of what
you order turns a visit here into a memorable, yes, experience. LAST YEAR’S RANKING New • OPENED 2019 • PRICING Under $30 WHERE 15939 Manchester Road, Ellisville • MORE INFO 636-220-8514, malinchestl. com • HOURS Dinner daily, lunch Saturday-Sunday (closed Tuesday)
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After pop-up events and a residency at Alpha Brewing Co., Mandy “Plantain Girl” Estrella has found a permanent home for her cooking at Mayo Ketchup in Lafayette Square. The counter-service restaurant focuses on the fare of Puerto Rico (hence the name, the beloved Puerto Rican condiment, served here in regular and spicy versions), the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Estrella’s cooking showcases attention to detail (traditional Cuban bread, with lard in the dough, for the Cuban sandwich) and layered flavors (the pernil, forktender and slow-roasted pork seasoned with citrus, oregano and cumin over arroz con gandules). As you would expect from Estrella’s nickname, plantains appear across the menu: appetizers, sides and garnishes with maduros or tostones, the planks of twice-fried green plantain for the jibarito sandwich. LAST YEAR’S RANKING New • OPENED 2019 •
WHERE 2001 Park Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314696-2699, plantaingirl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday (closes at 5 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday)
Medina Mediterranean Grill
LAST YEAR’S RANKING Rest of the Best • OPENED 2007 • PRICING Under $30
melting pot — whatever you call it, it persists. LAST YEAR’S RANKING Rest of the Best • OPENED 2015 • PRICING Under $15 WHERE 1327 Washington Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-241-1356, medinagrill.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily (closes at 5 p.m. Sunday) WHERE 5 Maryland Plaza, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314240-5301, medinagrill.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily (closes at 5 p.m. Sunday)
MIDDLE EASTERN, SANDWICHES
In my ideal St. Louis, Medina Mediterranean Grill would be as common as Bread Co. Ibrahim Ead’s fast-casual concept was fine-tuned from the outset: excellent beef or chicken shawarma tucked into a pita (the Original Palestine) or served over salad; in a sandwich with pepper jack cheese, tomato and a chipotle tahini (the Summer in Dubai); or with onion, roasted red pepper, provolone and a pesto tahini (the Juicy Jerusalem). The key to Medina’s success is that, for all its fast-casual trappings, it is a deeply personal restaurant, bringing together Ead’s upbringing in St. Louis and in his family’s native Palestine. Mashup culture, fusion, the
Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant ETHIOPIAN
I can think of few other establishments on this list besides Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant that I would recommend as avidly to meat lovers and vegetarians alike. This South Grand staple offers an impressive, diverse slate of beef dishes, from raw kitfo to berbere-seasoned tibs wat to the dried beef of kwanta firfir. Meskerem’s vegetarian entrees display a similar variety of choices, including lentils, chickpeas and collard greens (miser, shiro and gomen wat, respectively).
WHERE 3210 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-772-4442, meskeremstl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily
Mi Tierra Bonita MEXICAN
Whenever a good restaurant expands or relocates, you worry it will lose some of its charm or the quality will fall off as the kitchen struggles to keep up with larger crowds or a bigger menu. In 2018, Juan Sanchez relocated tiny Mi Tierra Tienda y Taqueria a very short distance but expanded it from a tiny taqueria into a sprawling restaurant with a bar and, on one visit last year, a mariachi band serenading tables. The menu ranges widely now, but the soul of the original location persists in the tacos and especially the staggeringly good mole de olla with its guajillo-infused broth. LAST YEAR’S RANKING Rest of the Best • OPENED 2018 (expansion) • PRICING Under $15 WHERE 3203 Collinsville Road, Fairmont City • MORE INFO 618-271-7311 • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily
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