Riverfront Times, October 14, 2020 by Riverfront Times

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THE LEDE

“We know that the poorest communities in our city have the highest rate of crime. So what therefore is the cause of crime? People aren’t just violent. It’s poverty. Poverty is the cause of violence. So that’s what we’re saying here today. We’re saying disinvest from the police department. Let’s invest in people. Invest in social work. Stop criminalizing addiction. Stop criminalizing sex workers who are just trying to do a job, who are just trying to make money like everybody else. We can’t always have our reaction to this be lock more people up or throw more police officers out into the street.”

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

MARQUIS GOVAN, STUDENT, PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE EXPECT US PROTEST ON OCTOBER 8

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SOUNDS OF A PANDEMIC

was walking one afternoon in May with my wife and toddler son when we heard music coming from … somewhere. After a little wandering, we finally caught up with the source: The Red and Black Brass Band. The pandemic has been awful in a lot of ways, and maybe a tuba-and-trumpets version of Hall & Oates’ “Maneater” would not have hit as hard if we hadn’t been fighting against an undercurrent of stress. But standing in the street, watching a neighborhood of forced hermits come outside to dance was indescribably moving. When we at the RFT decided to call this issue The Best of St. Louis in the Worst of Times, that’s the image that popped into my head. It’s how I want to remember the COVID era — an incredibly difficult time when St. Louis found a way to make music.

— Doyle Murphy, editor in chief

TABLE OF CONTENTS CAN’T

STO P

WO N’T

STO P

E DITIO N

Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

E D I T O R I A L Digital Editor Jaime Lees Interim Managing Editor Daniel Hill Contributors Trenton Almgren-Davis, Cheryl Baehr, Eric Berger, Jeannette Cooperman, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Judy Lucas, Noah MacMillan, Andy Paulissen, Justin Poole, Christian Schaeffer, Theo Welling, Danny Wicentowski, Nyara Williams, Ymani Wince Columnist Ray Hartmann Interns Steven Duong, Riley Mack, Matt Woods A R T

& P R O D U C T I O N Art Director Evan Sult Editorial Layout Haimanti Germain Production Manager Haimanti Germain M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Jackie Mundy Digital Sales Manager Chad Beck Director of Public Relations Brittany Forrest

COVER The Best of St. Louis in the Worst of Times

C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein www.euclidmediagroup.com

Cover illustration by

HILARY ALLISON

N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

INSIDE The Lede Hartmann News The Best of St. Louis People & Places Arts & Entertainment Food & Drink Goods & Services Sports & Recreation Savage Love 8

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S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (MO add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (MO add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group | Verified Audit Member Riverfront Times 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103 www.riverfronttimes.com General information: 314-754-5966 Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977

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HARTMANN Trump Loyalties Consider Ann Wagner and a woman’s right to choose an extortion BY RAY HARTMANN

.S. Congresswoman Ann Wagner deserves to be heard by the voters as she seeks reelection in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District against Democratic State Senator Jill Schupp. Through no fault of her own, Wagner’s words have been drowned out by the daily deranged rantings of Donald Trump, the commandant before whom she grovels. Sad. Wagner is hardly to blame for

Trump’s psychotic narcissism. She’s not the one who prescribed him the concoction of steroidladen drugs that inform his daily drooling. Only snowflakes believe Wagner should have had the courage to push back when Trump became the first American president to question the legitimacy of an American presidential election. What was she supposed to do, speak out like some radical socialist about the need for an orderly transition of power? Besides, Wagner might have a conflict of interest. Trump’s only hope is to use an army of lawyers to slow-walk the election results and have it resolved by the House of Representatives, where the 50 states each cast one vote by delegation. In that case, the newly elected Congress would be tasked with choosing the president, likely around January 6 in something called a “contingency election,” according to the Congressional

Research Service. These are uncharted waters. If the outcome of the presidency comes to a House vote, it would be cast by state delegation — each getting one — and by that measure, Republicans presently control the House by a margin of 26-to-23 (with Pennsylvania tied). Wagner, part of a 6-to-2 majority in Missouri’s delegation, would be part of that process if reelected. Let’s say the Biden-Harris ticket wins Missouri by 1 percent or less, and the results are challenged in court because Trump’s lawyers are claiming there’s evidence something “urban” took place with mail-in ballots. What do you expect Wagner and her Republican colleagues to do, put the will of the voters over those Republican values for which she’s fought so long and hard? I don’t think so. Wagner is hardly alone among Republicans in her slavishness to Trump. Are St. Louis-area voters supposed to hold her to some sexist double standard? We all know

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that were she to cross Trump, he would punish her with a devastating Tweetstorm for taking a principled stand. What about a woman’s right to choose an extortion? Patriotism has no place in a congressional election. Can you imagine what sort of horrible message crossing Trump would send to our friends and allies around the globe, men like President Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and Mohammed bin Salman? In that regard, we must respect Ann Wagner’s right to privacy with regard to current events. But that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t have an opportunity to present her record in office. Sure, as an enemy of the people, I’d rather present disgusting fake news that is disgraceful, corrupt, totally dishonest, extreme and dangerous, reflecting my Trump Derangement Syndrome and plot to infest our suburbs — like the ones Wagner represents — with

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HARTMANN

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low-income Black people. But let us give Ann Wagner her due. For example, she’s entitled to an unedited and unbiased recounting of the bills that she sponsored in the current session of Congress that have been passed into law. OK, sorry. There aren’t any. But I’m sure if she had sponsored something, it would have been bold and decisive like the five bills she has championed that have become law in her eight-year career. There’s her signature achievement from the 2017-18 session, in which Wagner went out on a limb with a law signed by Trump on April 11, 2018, called the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online e Trafficking Act of . It isn’t everyone who is willing to stand up so boldly to the powerful se traffickers lobby in Washington. Perhaps the timing was accidental, but it occurred precisely on the thirteenth anniversary of the night that Billy Bush co-hosted the annual Miss USA Pageant Trump owned. That was right around that time in 2005 that celebrity Trump was caught on videotape, with Bush, saying, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. rab ’em by the pussy. Last Friday, October 9, marked four years to the day that Wagner made the following principled stand against Trump less than a month before the 2016 election: “I have committed my short time in ongress to fighting for the most vulnerable in our society. As a strong and vocal advocate for victims of se trafficking and assault, I must be true to those survivors and myself and condemn the predatory and reprehensible comments of Donald Trump. “I withdraw my endorsement (of Trump) and call for Governor Pence to take the lead so we can defeat ilary linton. Wagner was among just a dozen Republicans in Congress willing to go so far as demand Trump’s resignation from the ticket. But I digress. The congresswoman has accomplished so much more than getting a sexual predator to sign a bill targeting sexual predators. This woman has taken on the special interests who oppose naming post offices for good people. Yes, in just four years, Wagner forced President Barack Obama to sign laws establishing — in our own 2nd District — the Lance

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Corporal Phillip D. Vinnedge Post Office, the gt. achary . isher ost Office, the gt. Amanda . inson ost Office and the t. aniel . iordan ost Office, each with a separate law. Wow. Let the cynics say it’s not a great legislative record in Wagner’s short time in ongress to have sponsored nothing but four such naming laws and one milquetoast measure most notable for the irony of who signed it. But look at the bright side. If Wagner was actually doing something, it might not be all that great. For example, one of the things Republicans are buzzing about at the state level — covered in this space last week — is the need to bring fairness and honor to the process of redistricting in the state of Missouri. Wagner actually has a public record on that subject. Speaking on August 2, 2000, from the Republican National Convention — as chairwoman of the Missouri Republican Party — here’s what she promised, out loud, were the GOP to win that November: “We will absolutely have the upper hand in the congressional redistricting process, and I have our dream map’ on my desk, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch quoted Wagner saying in its front-page lead story. The paper described “her eyes glistening with anticipation as she said the following “We’ll draw Dick Gephardt a district that’s 62-63 percent Republican, that starts east at the county line and stretches to Town and ountry, Wagner said. f Jim Talent is governor, it’s a done deal. And Dick Gephardt probably won’t run for reelection in . Wagner got part of her wish. President George W. Bush won, but Talent, then a member of Congress, lost narrowly to Democrat Bob Holden for governor. Gephardt won reelection in 2002, his last term in office. But this rare public insight into Wagner’s character perhaps explains why she so effortlessly became an acolyte of the “predatory guy she opposed in the name of se trafficking victims. It is a shame that voters cannot hear as much this year from Ann Wagner as they heard in 2000 or 2016, were they paying attention. It might be quite revealing. Let this woman be heard. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or catch him on St. Louis In the Know With Ray Hartmann and Jay Kanzler from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

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NEWS

Prop D Could Change the Way St. Louis Votes Written by

RILEY MACK

proposal on the November ballot could shake up the structure of St. Louis elections, changing the way we vote in city races while making general elections relevant again. For decades, the city’s Democratic primaries have been winner-take-all affairs with the victors all but assured to dominate the general election. But cities across the country have begun to move away from what’s known as a partisan model of voting toward an open system, where primaries aren’t separated by political party.

VOTING RITES

PART 1 OF AN ONGOING SERIES Today, St. Louis is among just 20 percent of municipalities still using the partisan system. That would change if Proposition D passes, shifting the city to a nonpartisan system. At the forefront of the battle for an open election system is STL Approves, an organization that got going in 2018. Pioneered by a group of concerned community members, particularly Washington University graduate student Tyler Schlichenmeyer, the group made it their mission for the outcome of St. Louis elections to match the intent of voters. This undertaking led them to create Proposition D. The ballot measure would change the St. Louis election system so that the top two vote getters, regardless of party, would face off in the general election. After an eighteen-month-long signature campaign, STL Ap-

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Proposition D would shift St. Louis away from a partisan voting system. | COURTESY STL APPROVES proves is finally able to put the measure on the ballot in November. In the meantime, their team is working diligently to spread the word about Prop D to city voters. Mallory Rusch, campaign manager for STL Approves, is among those who believes St. Louis’ elections are outdated. When asked where she thinks the current election system is lacking, she sighs and says, “How much time do you have?” “The entirety of our election system is very flawed, she says. “Having a partisan municipality system really takes away choice and voice from voters.” In a partisan system, a voter must declare themselves a member of a certain political party and is then given that party’s corresponding ballot. One candidate is selected from each party and moves on to the general election contest between the parties. Given Democrats’ overwhelming dominance in city politics, whoever wins the Democratic primary is essentially guaranteed to win the general election. “Right now, the general election in St. Louis is essentially meaningless. And voters know that,” Rusch says. “They know the general election is just a rubber stamping of the winner of the Democratic primary in March.” Rusch says that’s the reason only 10 percent of voters turned out in the last general election.

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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“Folks chose not to participate because right now, we have so much vote-splitting going on between candidates,” she says, “people are able to be elected with less than 40, or even sometimes less than 30 percent of the vote.” “With having leaders that don’t have broad support from the public, they don’t have a real mandate to govern, they don’t have a real mandate to lead,” Rusch says. In a nonpartisan system, a voter can select multiple candidates that align with their values from a list. Then, in a runoff election, the two candidates with the highest votes, regardless of party, compete for the position. The idea is that a nonpartisan system would ensure that the candidate with the most popular support was elected and guard against a third-place or fourthplace candidate splitting the vote in the primary. It’s possible such a system could have changed the result in the last mayor’s race. In a crowded primary, then-Alderwoman Lyda Krewson edged out Treasurer Tishaura Jones by 879 votes. Had they both gone on to the general election for a head-to-head matchup, there’s a good chance Jones could have picked up enough votes that had gone in the primary to a trio of challengers — Antonio French, Jeffrey Boyd and Lewis Reed — to win. As it was, Krewson won the

primary with 32 percent of the vote and cruised through the general election, winning by 50 percentage points. “We feel like the city is going to be much better led if we have leaders that have broad support from the community,” Rusch says. The nonpartisan system can be seen in big cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Phoenix. Critics of this system say that the absence of a party label may confuse voters, leaving those who are not well versed in the candidates to choose based on name alone. Still, supporters believe an open system is more democratic. If passed, Prop D would go into effect ten days after the November election. The new system would be implemented in time for the municipal elections in April, including that of the mayor, comptroller and fourteen aldermanic positions. Rusch insists that the races for these sixteen slots are crucial to the city this election cycle. “State and federal elections get more media attention, so people perceive them to be more important — even though actually local elections have much more of a day-to-day effect on peoples’ lives than state and federal elections often do,” Rusch says. STL Approves campaigners remain hopeful that Proposition D will reinvigorate St. Louis voters to head to the polls in April, just as they do in November. In the meantime, the STL Approves team is attempting to get the word out about Prop D before election day through media ads, door-to-door information drop offs, a texting campaign and more. After months of work on this project, to see Prop D change the existing system would mean a great deal to Rusch. “I would be elated, as a lifelong city resident and voter, to know that I get to go to the polls in the spring and know that my voice is really heard in the upcoming elections,” she says. As for what’s next for STL Approves, they plan to focus their efforts on increasing voter participation in the next election in April. Rusch is hopeful it will be St. Louis’ first nonpartisan election in history. For now, the fate of Proposition D lies in the hands of St. Louis voters come November 3. n

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The Best of

St. Louis in the Worst of Times We used to linger places — quiet bars, buzzing Mexican restaurants, the occasional Cardinals game on nice nights. Among the thousands of ways our lives have changed in the past seven-plus months is that those careless hours, even careless moments, have become rare. It became necessary to prepare for trips to the grocery store, if we’re even going at all. Even questions as mundane as whether to stop for a gas station coffee have turned into a risk-reward calculation. Far worse things have happened during the pandemic, as the daily tally of the newly dead will tell you. But the unhurried between times are not insignificant. An after-work drink with

friends at the end of a bad day or the concert tickets that gave us something to look forward to were our release valves. One thing COVID-19 has shown us is how badly we need those diversions. As a result, we’ve developed a new appreciation for the small joys still available — and the creativity and toughness of a St. Louis that continues to find the bright spots. That’s what this issue, The est of t. ouis in the Worst of Times, is about. t’s part survival guide and part celebration of the many, many ways that the metro continues to lift us up. Here’s to the chefs and shop

owners who retooled on the fly to keep the lights on while offering services we want and need, to the activists who continue to fight for a better world, to all the spots built into this city that give us an outlet to enjoy ourselves and stay safe. Not all of the 107 items in this issue are about the good — our Best Local Boy and Girl Gone Bad categories have been combined to accommodate a newly prominent pair of St. Louisans, for example — but ultimately our annual Best of St. Louis edition is about all the amazing parts of our home. It’s about reclaiming those lost moments of fun. And fun is more important than we ever knew. DOYLE MURPHY

Illustrations by HILARY ALLISON

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Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Choice Awards 2020 We asked Riverfront Times readers for their picks on

everything from best barbecue to best sex shop. Take a look, and see if the voters got it right.

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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Congressional candidate/activist/lightning rod Cori Bush. | THEO WELLING

People & Places

BEST LOCAL BOY GONE BAD

Larry Arnowitz BEST (HYPOTHETICAL) PL ACE TO QUARANTINE

City Museum 750 North Sixteenth Street, 314-231-2489

RUNNER UP

Mark McCloskey

BEST LOCAL JOURNALIST

Left Bank Books

Bill McClellan

399 North Euclid Avenue, 314-367-6731

RUNNER UP

BEST ACTIVIST

Cori Bush RUNNER UP

Ohun Ashe

Rebecca Rivas

BEST OLD BUILDING

Old Courthouse

RUNNER UP

The Gateway Arch 11 North Fourth Street, 314-655-1600

BEST PL ACE FOR A GROWN-UP BIRTHDAY PART Y

City Museum 750 North Sixteenth Street, 314-231-2489

RUNNER UP

Dave & Buster’s 13857 Riverport Drive, Maryland Heights; 314-209-8015

11 North Fourth Street, 314-655-1600

BEST PL ACE FOR A KID’S BIRTHDAY PART Y

RUNNER UP

City Museum

BEST DISAPPEARING ACT

St. Louis Public Library – Central Library

750 North Sixteenth Street, 314-231-2489

Lyda Krewson

1301 Olive Street, 314-241-2288

RUNNER UP

Saint Louis Zoo

RUNNER UP

Lacy Clay

BEST PL ACE FOR A FIRST DATE

BEST L AWYER

Saint Louis Zoo

Travis Noble, P.C.

1 Government Drive, 314-781-0900

RUNNER UP

Tony Rothert

BEST LIGHTNING ROD

Kim Gardner RUNNER UP

Cori Bush

RUNNER UP

Venice Café 1903 Pestalozzi Street, 314-772-5994

BEST PL ACE FOR A LAST DATE

BEST PL ACE TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL

Missouri Botanical Garden 4344 Shaw Boulevard, 314-577-5100

RUNNER UP

Forest Park 5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

BEST PL ACE TO HOLD HANDS

Missouri Botanical Garden 4344 Shaw Boulevard, 314-577-5100

RUNNER UP

Forest Park 5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

BEST PL ACE TO LIVE

Dogtown

1 Government Drive, 314-781-0900

RUNNER UP

BEST PL ACE TO FEEL SMALL IN THE WORLD

Tower Grove East

The Gateway Arch

BEST PL ACE TO MEET MEN

11 North Fourth Street, 314-655-1600

RUNNER UP

St. Louis Art Museum

The Midwestern 900 Spruce Street, 314-696-2573

RUNNER UP

1 Fine Arts Drive, 314-721-0072

Just John Club 4112 Manchester Avenue, 314-371-1333

Arch Halo’s St. Louis Vampire Ball riverfronttimes.com

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RREEAADDEERRSS’ ’ CCHHOOI ICCEE

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

The St. Louis Art Museum. | RYAN GINES

BEST PL ACE TO MEET WOMEN

BEST RENOVATED BUILDING

Duke’s

City Foundry STL

2001 Menard Street, 314-833-6686

3730 Foundry Way, 314-282-5714

RUNNER UP

The Midwestern

St. Louis Public Library – Central Library

St. Louis Art Museum

1301 Olive Street, 314-241-2288

RUNNER UP

900 Spruce Street, 314-696-2573

BEST PL ACE TO REMIND YOURSELF TO TRY TO ENJOY LIFE

Forest Park 5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

RUNNER UP

City Museum

BEST VILLAIN

Lyda Krewson RUNNER UP

Kim Gardner

BEST VOICE OR BEST PERSON TO SHEPHERD US THROUGH THIS MESS

BEST POLITICIAN

Cori Bush

RUNNER UP

Tishaura Jones

BEST ART GALLERY 1 Fine Arts Drive, 314-721-0072

RUNNER UP

STL Comics 10431 St. Charles Rock Road; St. Ann, 314-537-9971

BEST FILM SERIES

St. Louis International Film Festival RUNNER UP

Soulard Art Gallery

750 North Sixteenth Street, 314-231-2489

Cori Bush

Arts & Entertainment

RUNNER UP

Donald J. Trump

SLAM Art Hill

2028 South Twelfth Street, 314-258-4299

BEST COMEDIAN

Nikki Glaser

BEST LIVE STREAM (MUSIC)

The Roots FM

RUNNER UP

Brendan Olson

Fresh Produce Beat Battle

BEST COMIC BOOK STORE

BEST LIVE STREAM (THEATER)

Apotheosis Comics & Lounge 3206 South Grand Boulevard, 314-802-7090

Muny 1 Theatre Drive, 314-361-1900

RUNNER UP

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival riverfronttimes.com

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READERS’ CHOICE

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

BEST RECORDING STUDIO

BEST BRUNCH

Gaslight Studio

Carnivore STL

4916 Shaw Avenue, 314-496-0628

5257 Shaw Avenue, 314-449-6328

RUNNER UP

Shock City Studios

The Shack

2200 Gravois Avenue #100, 314-771-3099

13645 Big Bend Road Suite 105, Valley Park; 636-529-1600

BEST SURPRISE

BEST BAR /PUB

National Blues Museum 615 Washington Avenue, 314-925-0016

RUNNER UP

Online Dating with Patsy Blog BEAST Craft. | MABEL SUEN

5715 Elizabeth Avenue, 314-531-9800

BEST LOCAL RADIO PODCAST

Ted Habeck RUNNER UP

The Coping Podcast

BEST MUSEUM

RUNNER UP

Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre 6350 Delmar Boulevard, 314-727-7271

House of Soul 1204 Washington Avenue, 314-504-7405

RUNNER UP 6161 Delmar Boulevard, 314-726-6161

RUNNER UP

BEST PL ACE TO SEE ART IN PERSON

St. Louis Art Museum

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival 5715 Elizabeth Avenue, 314-531-9800

RUNNER UP

Muny 1 Theatre Drive, 314-361-1900

Cousin Hugo’s RUNNER UP

750 North Sixteenth Street, 314-231-2489

BEST PIVOT

BEST BAR TO CLOSE IN 2020 3233 North Laclede Station Road, 314-645-8484

The Pageant

1 Fine Arts Drive, 314-721-0072

Food & Drink

BEST PL ACE TO HEAR LIVE MUSIC

City Museum

Saint Louis Art Museum

onlinedatingwithpatsy.com

1 Fine Arts Drive, 314-721-0072

RUNNER UP

Soulard Art Gallery 2028 South Twelfth Street, 314-258-4299

BEST PL ACE TO SEE NATURAL BEAUT Y

Missouri Botanical Garden

Duke’s 2001 Menard Street, 314-833-6686

RUNNER UP

The Pat Connolly Tavern 6400 Oakland Avenue, 314-647-7287

BEST BURGER

Hi-Pointe Drive-In 1033 McCausland Avenue, 314-349-2720

RUNNER UP

Layla 4317 Manchester Avenue, 314-553-9252

BEST CAJUN/CREOLE

Broadway Oyster Bar

Ready Room

736 South Broadway, 314-621-8811

4195 Manchester Avenue, 314-833-3929

RUNNER UP

BEST BAR TO VISIT DURING A PANDEMIC

Sister Cities Cajun 3550 South Broadway, 314-405-0447

Broadway Oyster Bar

BEST CHEF

736 South Broadway, 314-621-8811

Percy Parker, Duke’s

RUNNER UP

Narwhal’s 3906 Laclede Avenue, 314-696-8388

2001 Menard Street, 314-833-6686

RUNNER UP

Ben Welch, The Midwestern 900 Spruce Street, 314-696-2573

BEST BARBECUE

BEST CHICKEN WINGS

BEAST Craft/Butcher & Block

St. Louis Wing Company

4156 Manchester Avenue, 314-944-6003

9816 Manchester Road, Webster Groves; 314-962-9464

BEST PL ACE TO CATCH A MOVIE

RUNNER UP

4344 Shaw Boulevard, 314-577-5100

Super Smokers BBQ

Kimchi Guys

The Hi-Pointe Theatre

RUNNER UP

601 Stockell Drive, Eureka; 636-938-9742

612 North Second Street, 314-766-4456

1005 McCausland Avenue, 314-995-6273

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Forest Park 5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

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READERS’ CHOICE

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

BEST CHINESE

RUNNER UP

Wonton King

Courtesy Diner

8116 Olive Boulevard, 314-567-9997

1121 Hampton Avenue, 314-644-2600

RUNNER UP

Bo Fung Chinese Kitchen

BEST MARGARITA

6810 Gravois Avenue, 314-353-8216

Mission Taco 6235 Delmar Boulevard, 314-932-5430

BEST COFFEEHOUSE

Sweet Em’s Coffee & Ice Cream

RUNNER UP

Taco Buddha 7405 Pershing Avenue, University City; 314-502-9951

6330 Clayton Avenue, 314-875-9174

RUNNER UP

BEST MARTINI

Kaldi’s

Drunken Fish

3983 Gratiot Street, 314-727-9991

1 Maryland Plaza, 314-367-4222

RUNNER UP

SweetArt. | KHOLOOD EID

The Fountain on Locust

BEST DESSERTS

Cyrano’s Café 603 East Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-963-3232

RUNNER UP

Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery 1637 South Eighteenth Street, 314-858-6100

BEST DOUGHNUTS

Old Town Donuts 510 North New Florissant Road, Florissant; 314-831-0907

RUNNER UP

Chick-fil-a 3801 Hampton Avenue, 314-832-2748

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey

6836 Gravois Avenue, 314-353-1488

Switchgrass Rock & Rye

BEST INDIAN

BEST FOOD TRUCK

Burgers STL

BEST FRIED CHICKEN

3801 Hampton Avenue, 314-832-2748

The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant

RUNNER UP

3152 Osceola Street, 314-351-0620

BEST FAST FOOD

Lion’s Choice 6630 Chippewa Street, 314-352-5466

3037 Locust Street, 314-535-7800

BEST MEAT MARKET

Kenrick’s Meats & Catering 4324 Weber Road, 314-631-2440

RUNNER UP

Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions 2810 Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood; 314-647-2567

BEST MEXICAN

House of India

RUNNER UP

6630 Chippewa Street, 314-352-5466

Apollonia

RUNNER UP

6525 Chippewa Street, 314-645-7714

Lion’s Choice

1543 McCausland Avenue, 314-781-1299

RUNNER UP

Seoul Taco

Chick-fil-A

Olympia Kebob House and Taverna

BEST FLAVORED WHISKEY

Donut Drive In

BEST DRIVE THROUGH

BEST GREEK

RUNNER UP

The Pat Connolly Tavern 6400 Oakland Avenue, 314-647-7287

BEST FROZEN PIZZA

Dogtown Pizza RUNNER UP

Lena’s

8501 Delmar Boulevard, 314-567-6850

RUNNER UP

Taco Buddha 7405 Pershing Avenue, University City; 314-502-9951

RUNNER UP

Himalayan Yeti 3515 South Kingshighway Boulevard, 314-354-8338

Mi Ranchito 887 Kingsland Avenue, University City; 314-863-1880

BEST ITALIAN

Charlie Gitto’s On the Hill 5226 Shaw Avenue, 314-772-8898

RUNNER UP

BEST NEW BAR

Millpond Brewing and Incubator 308 East Washington Street, Millstadt, Illinois; 618-476-9933

Anthonino’s Taverna 2225 Macklind Avenue, 314-773-4455

BEST LATE NIGHT

RUNNER UP

Up-Down STL 405 North Euclid Avenue, 314-449-1742

J. Smugs GastroPit 4916 Shaw Avenue, 314-499-7488

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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READERS’ CHOICE

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

BEST PL ACE TO TRY SOME NEW FLAVORS

Kimchi Guys 612 North Second Street, 314-766-4456

RUNNER UP

Balkan Treat Box 8103 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves; 314-733-5700

BEST REARRANGEMENT

2nd Shift Brewing 1601 Sublette Avenue, 314-669-9013

RUNNER UP

Olio 1634 Tower Grove Avenue, 314-932-1088

BEST REINVENTION

SHIFT Restaurant 2655 Ann Avenue, 314-354-8488

RUNNER UP

Just John. | STEVEN DUONG

Taco Buddha

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

Sunny’s Cantina 6655 Manchester Avenue, 314-944-8226

RUNNER UP

Orzo Mediterranean Grill 11627 Olive Boulevard, Creve Coeur; 314-455-9035

BEST OUTDOOR DINING

John D. McGurk’s Irish Pub and Garden 1200 Russell Boulevard, 314-776-8309

BEST PIZZA (NON-ST. LOUIS ST YLE)

BEST PL ACE TO DINE ALONE

Dewey’s

The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant

559 North and South Road, University City; 314-726-3434

3152 Osceola Street, 314-351-0620

RUNNER UP

Blackthorn Pub and Pizza

Mai Lee

3735 Wyoming Street, 314-776-0534

8396 Musick Memorial Drive, Brentwood; 314-645-2835

BEST GAY BAR

BEST PL ACE TO FIND FOOD IN THE WILD

Just John 4112 Manchester Avenue, 314-371-1333

RUNNER UP

Broadway Oyster Bar

Rehab

736 South Broadway, 314-621-8811

4054 Chouteau Avenue, 314-652-3700

BEST OVERALL RESTAURANT

Broadway Oyster Bar 736 South Broadway, 314-621-8811

RUNNER UP

Olive + Oak 216 West Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-736-1370

BEST PL ACE FOR DAY DRINKING

Millpond Brewing and Incubator 308 East Washington Street, Millstadt, Illinois; 618-476-9933

RUNNER UP

Broadway Oyster Bar 736 South Broadway, 314-621-8811

Tower Grove Farmers’ Market 4256 Magnolia Avenue

RUNNER UP

7405 Pershing Avenue, University City; 314-502-9951

BEST RESTAURANT FOR VEGETARIANS

SweetArt 2203 South 39th Street, 314-771-4278

RUNNER UP

Utah Station 1956 Utah Street, 314-588-8099

BEST RESTAURANT SERVICE

The Blue Duck 2661 Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood; 314-769-9940

RUNNER UP

Bulrush 3307 Washington Boulevard, 314-449-1208

BEST PL ACE TO GET FRESH FOOD

Soulard Farmers’ Market

Louie 706 De Mun Avenue, Clayton; 314-300-8188

BEST RESTAURANT TO CLOSE IN 2020

Nora’s

730 Carroll Street, 314-622-4180

1136 Tamm Avenue, 314-645-2706

RUNNER UP

Feasting Fox

Tower Grove Farmer’s Market 4256 Magnolia Avenue

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RUNNER UP 4200 South Grand Boulevard, 314-352-3500

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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READERS’ CHOICE

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

BEST SANDWICH

Blues City Deli 2438 McNair Avenue, 314-773-8225

RUNNER UP

The Gramophone 4243 Manchester Avenue, 314-531-5700

BEST SEAFOOD

Broadway Oyster Bar 736 South Broadway, 314-621-8811

RUNNER UP

Peacemaker Lobster & Crab 1831 Sidney Street, 314-772-8858

BEST SPORTS BAR

Duke’s 2001 Menard Street, 314-833-6686

RUNNER UP Bulrush. | MABEL SUEN

The Post Sports Bar & Grill 7372 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-645-1109

BEST ST. LOUIS ST YLE PIZZA

Imo’s Pizza

3307 Washington Boulevard, 314-449-1208

RUNNER UP

BEST TACO

5046 Shaw Avenue, 314-771-4900

7405 Pershing Avenue, University City; 314-502-9951

2117 South Twelfth St, 314-772-5977

RUNNER UP

Citizen Kane’s Steak House 133 West Clinton Place, Kirkwood; 314-965-9005

BEST SUSHI/POKE

Drunken Fish 1 Maryland Plaza, 314-367-4222

RUNNER UP

Café Mochi 3221 South Grand Blvd #1013, 314-773-5000

BEST SWANKY TAKEOUT EXPERIENCE

Bulrush 26

RIVERFRONT TIMES

The Green Shag Market

2000 Sidney Street, 314-771-5777

Taco Buddha

Tucker’s Place

King & I Thai Cuisine 3155-3157 South Grand Avenue, 314-771-1777

Guido’s Pizzeria & Tapas

BEST STEAKS

BEST ANTIQUE STORE

Sidney Street Café

4479 Forest Park Avenue, 314-535-4667

RUNNER UP

BEST THAI

RUNNER UP

Mission Taco Joint 6235 Delmar Boulevard, 314-932-5430

BEST TAKEOUT (CASUAL)

Kimchi Guys 612 North Second Street, 314-766-4456

RUNNER UP

The Pat Connolly Tavern 6400 Oakland Avenue, 314-647-7287

BEST TAKEOUT (FINE DINING)

Sidney Street Café 2000 Sidney Street, 314-771-5777

RUNNER UP

Elmwood 2704 Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood; 314-261-4708

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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Pad Thai St. Louis 12676 Lamplighter Square Shopping Center, 314-843-0999

MOST LGBTQ-FRIENDLY BRAND

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire RUNNER UP

5733 Manchester Avenue, 314-646-8687

RUNNER UP

The Bricoleur 3400 Cherokee Street, 314-833-3002

BEST BIKE SHOP

Big Shark Bicycle Company

Arch Apparel

1155 South Big Bend Boulevard, Richmond Heights; 314-862-1188

Goods & Services

RUNNER UP

BEST ANTIQUE MALL

The Green Shag Market 5733 Manchester Avenue, 314-646-8687

RUNNER UP

Treasure Aisles Antique Mall 2317 South Big Bend Boulevard, Maplewood; 314-647-6875

St. Louis Bicycle Works 2414 Menard Street, 314-827-6640

BEST CAR REPAIR

Big Bend Auto Center 1710 South Big Bend Boulevard, Richmond Heights; 314-645-4704

RUNNER UP

Clark’s Automotive 600 Wiethaupt Road, Florissant; 314-837-5151

READERS’ CHOICE

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

Kimchi Guys. | MABEL SUEN

BEST CLOTHING BOUTIQUE

Paperdolls Boutique 7700 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-899-0446

RUNNER UP

STL Style House 3159 Cherokee Street, 314-898-0001

BEST GARDEN CENTER

Garden Heights Nursery 1605 South Big Bend Blvd #2207, Richmond Heights; 314-645-7333

RUNNER UP

Flowers & Weeds 3201 Cherokee Street, 314-776-2887

RUNNER UP

Glow Candle Co. 7947 Big Bend Boulevard; Webster Groves

BEST GROCERY

Dierbergs 8450 Eager Road, 314-962-9009

RUNNER UP

2635 North Highway 67, Florissant; 314-831-0220

BEST PL ACE TO SPEND $10

RUNNER UP

Apotheosis Comics & Lounge

Rick’s Ace Hardware 11767 Manchester Road, 314-966-6611

BEST JEWELRY STORE

Paramount Jewelers

Aldi

7348 Manchester Avenue, Maplewood; 314-645-1122

6601 Gravois Avenue, 855-955-2534

RUNNER UP

BEST HAIR SALON

Homegrown Hair Co.

Urban Matter 3179 South Grand Boulevard, 314-769-9349

3148 Morgan Ford Road, 314-261-0001

BEST MEDICAL MARIJUANA DOCTOR

RUNNER UP

Releaf Clinics

BEST GIF T SHOP

Salon Mélange

STL Style House

1218 Tamm Avenue, 314-651-5088

3159 Cherokee Street, 314-898-0001

BEST HARDWARE STORE

19201 East Valley View Parkway Suite C, Independence; 816-897-4494

RUNNER UP

Handyman True Value Hardware

Cannabis Doctors

3206 South Grand Boulevard, 314-802-7090

RUNNER UP

Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery 1637 South Eighteenth Street, 314-858-6100

BEST SEX SHOP

Ciggfreeds Liquid and Lace 6839 Gravois Avenue, 314-300-8750

RUNNER UP

Patricia’s 3552 Gravois Avenue, 314-664-4040

3006 South Jefferson Avenue Art Gallery, 888-420-1536

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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READERS’ CHOICE

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

BEST SMOKE SHOP

The Hill Cigar Co. 5360 Southwest Avenue, 314-776-4455

RUNNER UP

The Cigar Box 590 Vance Road Suite 103, Valley Park; 636-529-1016

BEST THRIF T SHOP

NCJW The Resale Shop 295 North Lindbergh Boulevard, Creve Coeur; 314-692-8141

RUNNER UP

Goodwill 4200 Forest Park Avenue, 314-371-1296

BattleHawks, we barely knew ye, but we loved ye. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS

Sports & Recreation

BEST MINI GOLF

BEST ZOO ANIMAL

Swing-A-Round Fun Town

Penguin RUNNER UP

Polar Bear

BEST AT TRACTION AT THE ST. LOUIS ZOO

Penguins and Puffins RUNNER UP

Polar Bear

335 Skinker Lane, Fenton; 636-349-7077

RUNNER UP

Aloha Pitch and Putt Valley Park 13502 Big Bend Road, 314-330-4689

BEST NEW HOBBY

Frisbee Golf RUNNER UP

BEST CARDINALS UNIFORM

Home White RUNNER UP

Baby Blue

Biking St. Louis

BEST NEW SPORTS TEAM (ALIVE)

St. Louis CITY SC RUNNER UP

BEST DOG PARK

Willmore Park 7200 Hampton Avenue, 314-289-5300

RUNNER UP

Norm West Brentwood Dog Park 8754 Brentshire Walk, Brentwood; 314-963-8689

BattleHawks (fingers crossed!)

BEST NEW SPORTS TEAM (DEAD)

BattleHawks

BEST PANDEMIC SPORT

BEST PUBLIC PARK

Baseball

Forest Park

RUNNER UP

5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

Tennis

RUNNER UP

Tower Grove Park

BEST PL ACE TO HAVE A PICNIC

4257 Northeast Drive, 314-771-2679

Tower Grove Park

BEST RUNNING TRAIL

4257 Northeast Drive, 314-771-2679

Forest Park

RUNNER UP

5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

RUNNER UP

Forest Park 5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

BEST PL ACE TO RIDE YOUR BIKE

Katy Trail South Main Street at Boone’s Lick Road, St. Charles

BEST SKATEBOARD PARK/PLACE

RUNNER UP

Peter Mathews Memorial Skate Park

Forest Park

4415 Morgan Ford Road

5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

RUNNER UP

BEST PL ACE TO START EXPLORING MISSOURI

Forest Park 5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

RUNNER UP

Shaw Nature Reserve

Jefferson Barracks Skate Park 2900 Sheridan Road, 314-454-5714

BEST SPORTS BROADCASTER

Dan McLaughlin

307 Pinetum Loop Road, Gray Summit; 314-577-9555

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

RUNNER UP

Chris Kerber RIVERFRONT TIMES

People & Places

Arguably, this is the best section every year. The

human element offers more surprises and more ways to dig into what makes St. Louis unlike any other city. There’s something illuminating in taking stock of our heroes and villains, who all add something to the intrigue — even if it’s just something to argue about. There are always standouts, but the second half of 2020 has been overstuffed with opportunities for people to step up, or reveal what assholes they really are. (Yes, the McCloskeys made the list. We’ll let you guess where they land.) Thankfully, it’s still true that the worst times bring out more good than bad. One of the most inspiring parts of an otherwise disastrous seven-plus months of pandemic life has been watching St. Louis’ talent and imagination swing into action.

RIVERFRONT TIMES

We’ve also collected the best spots, tailored to a time when an uncomfortable number of our past favorites are off limits, the outdoors are at a premium and some of our greatest treasures have proven more valuable than ever. DOYLE MURPHY

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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BEST PL ACE TO LIVE

Bevo Mill Bevo Mill is St. Louis’ meltiest melting pot. It’s a neighborhood whose diversity is spelled out in its mix of Bosnian/English signs, its selection of Mexican, Syrian and Afghan eateries just down the street from the neighborhood’s namesake windmill built by a real-life beer baron. Gravois Avenue runs through Bevo like a multicultural ribbon, carrying you from Bosnian restaurants to a pinball punk bar to an outdoor skatepark. And while Bevo’s streets may be lined with homes whose prices might pay for a bathroom in Ladue, what you get in return might be the closest thing St. Louis has to working-class suburbs. Tucked between Dutchtown, Holly Hills and Tower Grove South, Bevo is minutes from south city’s best

restaurants, while Carondelet Park, perhaps the city’s most criminally underappreciated park, is on its southern border. Cozy, livable and lived-in, Bevo is a neighborhood that just keeps giving — and if you give yourself time to fall in love with it, you’ll melt right in. DANNY WICENTOWSKI

BEST PL ACE TO MEET THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE

Home With the coronavirus swiping right all over the place, things aren’t looking so hot for singles in your area. But if you’re missing that human connection, have you considered looking at the single in ... your very own area, the immediate living space around you, what one could call the homerogenous zone?

Don’t laugh. Or do, actually, because who is going to judge you? Wouldn’t that be just peachy, a relationship without judgment and doubt? Read Harry Potter fanfic and reenact the scenes on TikTok. Sing shower songs outside of the shower. Delight in your own creativity, practice compliments and remember those anniversaries — “Oh, honey bear, I can’t believe it’s already been an entire week,” you’ll say, glowing as you open an Amazon package of exotic it at flavors you forgot you ordered a week ago. Model your own best relationship habits: Let yourself know you’ve done good when you cooked a hell of a meal or just microwaved those pizza rolls exactly how you like them — just like another charming person might do, someday, hopefully, when this all ends. But until then, in this crazy world of presidential bleach treatments and QAnon, is it so crazy to think that a fulfilling relationship might be lurking behind that handsome face you glimpse in the mirror every morning? C’mon, give yourself a wink one of these days, what would be the worst that happens? Look yourself in the eye, then quickly down, and up, and say, confidentially, “Dat ass.” Look, it’s not narcissism if you’re literally the only person you have access to; think of it as rom-com where you play both leads, with strong contributions from your favorite houseplant or, ideally, a friendly pet, because A) they can’t talk over you and B) none of them will ever try to convince you that masks are turning the vaccinated frogs gay. Next year, hopefully, there will be a world again. In the meantime — hey, did you just wink at yourself? Nice. DANNY WICENTOWSKI

BEST PL ACE TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL

Forest Park 5595 Grand Drive, 314-367-7275

You could spend every day in Forest Park and never get bored. The massive 1,326-acre park in the middle of the city has tons of history (it was famously the site of the 1904 World’s Fair), but it’s more than just that. Forest Park is the living, beating heart of St. Louis. This one spot holds so many of our local attractions, including the Saint Louis Zoo, the Saint Louis Science Center, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum and the Jewel Box. But in addition

to these and other community gathering spots like the Muny, the Boathouse and Steinberg Skating Rink, the park also offers miles of bike and walking paths, gorgeous trees, peaceful ponds, graceful hills and plenty of open space to have a picnic or just stretch out on the grass and enjoy the view. If you’re looking to get away from it all without leaving the city, Forest Park is the perfect little escape. JAIME LEES

BEST PL ACE TO HOLD HANDS

Laumeier Sculpture Park 12580 Rott Road, 314-615-5278

Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the bigness of life. Work, bills, family and other responsibilities often leave us scrambling from one obligation to the next. But if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the best, most essential pleasures in life are also often the simplest. You never know how much you’ll miss human contact until you suddenly can’t kiss your family or hug your friends or snuggle up with your lover. Something as simple as holding hands during these times can make your heart soar. Even holding hands with gloves and masks can be lovely, especially if you’re doing it in a place like Laumeier Sculpture Park. This 105-acre open-air museum and sculpture park in Sunset Hills includes a 1.4-mile walking trail through beautiful woods and offers a new view around every corner, with more than 60 outdoor sculptures to enjoy as you stroll hand-in-hand and take it all in together. JAIME LEES

BEST PL ACE TO FEEL SMALL IN THE WORLD

Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park 1000 Riverlands Way, West Alton, 636-899-1135

When everything feels out of control, the quickest way to ground yourself is to find a nice slice of nature. In this area, we have no shortage of amazing natural vistas, too. We’re all just a short drive away from open fields, rolling hills, sharp cliffs and peaceful lakes. But if you want to tap into some local geography while getting a dose of nature, your best bet is to head to the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi

rivers. As the place where two majestic rivers meet, this spot has drawn humans to it for centuries. Standing on the corner of land where the two rivers carve through the land and meet, you can feel the power of the waters as they rush past you. Watching their colors mix together as they blend and churn together on to the south is a moving experience. n fact, this confluence of rivers is so monumental that it is often easy to see in pictures of Earth taken from space. Sometimes it’s good to remember how small you are in the big universe. JAIME LEES

BEST (HYPOTHETICAL) PLACE TO QUARANTINE

Big Eli Ferris Wheel Roof of the City Museum, 750 N 16th Street, 314-231-2489

2020 has been the year of staying the heck away from people. The Big Eli Ferris Wheel on the rooftop of the City Museum would provide a nice daytime view as well as the solace of being alone during a time when old white women named Karen are still refusing to wear a mask for “medical exemptions.” It’s the perfect spot to hibernate and not leave until the Trump administration politicizes a global pandemic with a vaccine right before the presidential election. Getting tired of the Ferris wheel would not be a problem, either. The rooftop also has a school bus that would be a nice, cozy spot for the occasional nap. MATT WOODS

BEST PL ACE TO REMIND YOURSELF TO TRY TO ENJOY LIFE

Bellefontaine Cemetery 4947 W Florissant Avenue, 314-381-0750

It’s so easy to get into our own heads and worry constantly about problems both big and small. The pandemic has added a new layer onto human misery, with anxiety, fear and loneliness becoming not just common but standard. So sometimes it’s nice to remember that on a long enough timeline, all problems disappear. A trip to Bellefontaine Cemetery (or its equally gorgeous neighbor, Calvary Cemetery) will ground you in a way that is hard to find in other places. A nice, socially distanced walk in the open air is just what the doctor ordered if you’re too stuck in your own mind. Each of those tombstones

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represents a person who had many of the same fears and worries that we have, but none of it matters anymore. ife is fleeting and we must try to enjoy it while we still have it. Knowing that we will die might be an odd way to achieve a zen state of mind, but in these times you have to just go with whatever works. JAIME LEES

BEST PL ACE FOR A KID’S BIRTHDAY PART Y

Horn-Honking Car Parades

Car horns: They’re not just for registering your rage at the Joy FM drivers endangering your life on St. Louis’ roadways anymore. In 2020, as more traditional ways to celebrate a child’s birthday are deemed unsafe due to the likelihood of catching or spreading COVID-19, a far louder tradition has taken hold: a long parade of honking cars passing by said child’s front lawn. Though born of necessity, in some ways this approach is probably even more memorable for the wee ones — family gathering together to force them into a strange fire extinguishing ritual while Uncle Todd drinks too much is just so 2019. In 2020, they get private parades that are loud as fuck, rattling the windows of all the neighboring houses and making sure anyone within a half-mile radius knows that A Child Was Born. What could be more fun than that? DANIEL HILL

BEST PL ACE FOR A GROWN-UP’S BIRTHDAY PART Y

Zoom Have you heard about the newest, hottest club in the world? The place where everyone is getting together for celebrations, work meetings, family dinners — literally everything? It’s called Club Zoom, and believe it or not, you can find it right inside your own home, or anywhere with a computer or smartphone and a solid Wi-Fi connection. Sure, it has its detractors. Some would argue that talking to a digital image of a friend on a screen is no match for spending time with that person in the real world — and they’d have a point. But in 2020, spending time with a friend in person could literally kill one or both of you, apparently, and this would not make for a good birthday party memory. So let’s make some lemonade

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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PEOPLE & PLACES with all these lemons, shall we? Zoom party pros: 1. The viruses here only hurt your computer. . o need to find a ride home if you get too drunk; just pass out on camera. 3. Pants are optional. In short, it might not be ideal, but doing things the digital way has some serious upsides — especially if you’re hoping to live to see another birthday. DANIEL HILL

BEST ZOO ANIMAL

Python 361003 he’s years old, has a number instead of a name, and she hasn’t been anywhere near a male snake in fifteen years but that didn’t stop a female ball python from shocking her handlers at the Saint Louis Zoo in July, as they weren’t e pecting to see her coiled around seven eggs. The zoo announced the event, noting that she’s the oldest snake documented in a oo, but it’s nature that gave ball pythons more than one way to, well, find a way all pythons can reproduce se ually or, given lack of other options, ase ually. They can also store sperm for later as a kind of reproductive insurance policy. ut is far past the age e perts e pected to see her laying eggs. he’s lived at the oo since . he’s seen it all. And even in this crazy world, when nobody knows what the future brings, and lacking a convenient source of python sperm, she made her own way forward. We wish her and her brood only the best. DANNY WICENTOWSKI

BEST POLITICIAN

Cori Bush ori ush knows the long game. he ran for . . enate in and lost the Democratic primary in a landslide to Missouri Secretary of tate ason ander, who then lost to Republican incumbent en. oy lunt. n , she challenged the seemingly untouchable . . epresentative Lacy Clay, and even with the backing of rising political superstars such as Ale andria Ocasio-Cortez, the result was another landslide loss. ut when it looked like those landslides were burying her, ush was using the rubble to climb ever closer. Running on an unapologetically progressive platform, the registered nurse and Ferguson activist harnessed the growing

social justice movement in a rematch against lay in this year’s emocratic primary. nlike , or even , ush had built a powerful campaign team with a deep network of volunteers and resources to get her message out to voters. And the voters liked what they heard. In August, ush toppled lay with percent of the vote in the primary. t wasn’t a landslide, but it was the reali ation of a goal that began more than four years before. he’s now one epublican pushover away from ongress. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST VILLAIN

Jim Bakker f there’s one thing that isn’t lacking in , it’s villains, whether it’s coronavirus itself or e in uefield trying to privati e t. ouis’ airport or even the St. Charles election authority, which got caught instructing poll workers who don’t want to wear masks to ust act surprised and pretend they’d simply forgotten to wear one if anyone complained. ndeed, has many worthy entrants to this odious podium of infamy but none seemed to embrace the role of cartoonish skullduggery more than Missouri televangelist Jim akker, whose not so righteous marketing of a ilver olution as a coronavirus treatment led the A to respond with a gentle reminder that it considers the sale and promotion of fraudulent O products to be a threat to the public health.” (On akker’s show, one guest had e plained, ludicrously, that the solution, has been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and has been able to eliminate it within twelve hours.”) Then came the cease-and-desist letters from multiple states’ attorneys general along with a restraining order filed by issouri Attorney eneral ric chmitt. Thereafter, akker’s ministry deleted its webpage dedicated to O and the benefits of ilver olution” — only to start marketing a Silver Solution-based hand saniti er. ow, akker didn’t invent this kind of snake oil spirituality, but he built a ministry on the idea that the apocalypse is at hand and that physical salvation is just several dabs of ilver olution away. When the real life coronavirus’ doomsday arrived, akker held up a bottle of hokum for the

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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PEOPLE & PLACES

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

BEST OLD BUILDING

St. Louis City Hall 1200 Market Street

at a neighboring school, thereby making children cry. (Note to McCloskey supporters: That’s called property damage.) They’ve made a big loud stink about how the whole pointing-guns-at-protesters incident has ruined their lives, and now that they’re facing felony charges for it, they might have a point. But it’s not the point they are trying to make — one about threats on their lives, and their dog’s life, and on their property, and all the other justifications for their behavior they cooked up that are not supported by any evidence. The truth is, this was a problem entirely of their own creation — they could have just as easily (in fact, much more easily) stayed inside their home in anonymity and watched the protesters, who had no interest in them whatsoever, pass right on by. Hell, they could have handed out water bottles and been thanked graciously for their support. They chose instead to exercise some of the worst judgment (and most abysmal trigger discipline) this side of a gated community’s fence. What’s that thing people on the right like to say about playing stupid games

There might be no structure less like the ateway Arch than t. Louis’ City Hall. The Arch is geometric perfection. City Hall looks like several haunted houses huddled together, with its towers and dormers looming over Tucker Boulevard and Market treet. ity all is a grimy, gorgeous building, and it deserves appreciation, even if one would be hard pressed to call it pretty. till, if you s uint, you can make out the ghostly impression of the exterior’s original colors, the pink-hued granite and stunning orange sandstone that once drew comparisons to a “sumptuous French chateau” after its completion in 1904. But that gaudy comparison fell away over the next decades of coal smoke, which left City Hall’s skin stained with soot. Dark blotches creep on the sandstone, across the faces of clocks that haven’t moved in decades. Further damage to the exterior was caused by what the city called “a poorly executed acid cleaning.” Inside, however, a measure of City Hall’s sumptuousness still exists: Beyond security is a rotunda of pearlescent white marble, where a massive staircase climbs beneath a soaring ceiling four stories into the sky. Its many murals echo the World’s air era of t. ouis, a time when the city seemed at the brink of bridging the Old World and the New. Today, City Hall’s bruised exterior might seem shoddy compared to the Arch, visible in the distance. But preserved in the building’s battered face is the story of t. ouis’ many confluences at the turn of the twentieth century, when its leaders chose to make a City Hall so fabulous, so colorful, so studded with towers and dormers and ornament that, in a way, it might as well have been a 630-foot-tall stainless-steel monument. Today, City Hall is completely out of place, and yet it belongs. It tells the story of its city. Its biggest dreams and dumbest mistakes. It may look like someone rolled it in charcoal, but City Hall shows both the beauty of things changing and staying the same. And for a building, that kind of beauty is so much more than skin deep.

DANIEL HILL

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

Mark and Patricia McCloskey overperforming their roles as walk-on thugs. | THEO WELLING camera while a guest raved that the substance “totally eliminates it, kills it. Deactivates it.” And despite the legal pushback, Bakker’s solution to the pandemic — making a buck off it — seems to be working: In April, Bakker’s ministry was approved for up to $1.7 million in government funds from the Paycheck Protection Program, a program intended to lessen the pandemic hardships faced by businesses. And what of the hardships of Bakker’s flock n eptember, the ministry started advertising a $10,000 “Joseph’s torehouse survival food package that comes in 115 bunker-ready buckets. Even with the world actually on the brink, Bakker’s business remains the same: shilling for salvation and making a profit. DANNY WICENTOWSKI

BEST LOCAL BOY AND GIRL GONE BAD

Mark and Patricia McCloskey

In all likelihood, the protesters who were marching past the palatial estate of Mark and Patricia McCloskey on June 28 had absolutely no clue who lived there

— nor were they the least bit interested in finding out before the pair started waving guns around. Those demonstrators were merely passing by, on the way to the mayor’s house to demand her resignation following an ill-advised incident wherein she read aloud the names and addresses of several advocates of police reform during a Facebook ive briefing. ut now, as the gun-toting personal injury attorneys have become living symbols of the Trump administration’s unrelenting demonization of protesters, everyone knows who the McCloskeys are — and boy, let’s just say Trump sure can pick ’em. tars of the this year’s Republican National Convention, the McCloskeys have been accused in local reporting of: evicting someone during a pandemic; repeatedly claiming squatter’s rights on property they don’t own (and even pulling a gun on their own neighbor during one dispute); suing family members to the point that they have no contact with them; being absolutely hated by their neighbors; and, just for good supervillian measure, destroying the beehives being tended to by students

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PEOPLE & PLACES BEST LOCAL JOURNALIST

Jeremy Kohler, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

If not for Jeremy Kohler, we wouldn’t have known about the plight of the Rosh Hashanah honey bees, those innocent insects whose only fault was living six inches too close to Mark McCloskey. As most of the country knows, Mark McCloskey is one half of the infamous St. Louis gun couple whose combined reactions to a moving crowd of protesters featured haphazard firearm safety and literal get out of my neighborhood” attitude. Kohler, meanwhile, is a veteran reporter at the St. Louis PostDispatch who usually takes on heavy topics of corruption and jail deaths in St. Louis County. The McCloskeys weren’t corrupt government officials, but they were — as revealed by Kohler’s interviews with neighbors, lawsuits, depositions and, yes, the rabbi of a local synagogue a couple who have for years, nearly constantly, sued other people and ordered people off their property.” The story described the couple’s long history of not backing down,” though Mark McCloskey featured heavily. He has challenged a neighbor at gunpoint for walking on his property; he destroyed a beehive whose honey was intended for harvest by the nearby Jewish congregation. The couple lived in a literal castle and had evicted tenants as COVID-19 was spiking in May. Kohler’s reporting revealed more about the couple than the viral photos ever could, and in that context of their long history of entitlement, their reaction to protesters appearing near their mansion on June 28 is hardly surprising. It was the story of what happens when two people, who had lived lives of taking what they wanted, were confronted with something they couldn’t control: another group of people who wouldn’t back down. DANNY WICENTOWSKI

BEST ACTIVIST

Close The Workhouse Campaign As its name suggests, the Close The Workhouse campaign focused the energies of activists, attorneys, community organizers and even

former inmates on a single goal: Making sure no one else had to spend another night in St. Louis’ Medium Security Institution, a place whose very nickname — the Workhouse — is derived from the old debtors’ prisons of St. Louis’ nineteenth-century justice system. But 200 years later, a coalition of activists saw the modern face of that abusive system reflected in the hundreds of people locked up in the Workhouse at any given time, nearly all of them Black and awaiting pre-trial hearings on misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes. They were inmates, but also debtors, doomed to lose months and even years of their lives only because they lack the money to pay bail. Confronted with the depravity, the movement to end it began in protest chants and bail fundraisers. There were demonstrations at the jail fences, across which prisoners had been filmed begging for relief from the 107-degree summer heat in their un-air-conditioned living areas. In 2018, the Close The Workhouse campaign announced itself with a bang: a 44-page report that didn’t just build an argument that the Workhouse should be closed down — but that it could be done by any of the major branches of St. Louis government. It was a challenge to those in power: You know the right thing to do, and you can do it, but will you? The work continued for two years, and in January 2020, the campaign released a second report, this time arguing compellingly that the city was wasting $16 million to keep the 53-year-old facility open when it had a far more modern jail downtown. At full capacity, the Workhouse can hold around 1,200, but in the past year its population has fallen to less than 90. The writing was on the empty cell walls. On July 17, 2020, the combination of moral and financial rectitude finally seemed to get through to St. Louis, and that day the St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed Board Bill 92, which called for winding down the facility over the next months. It also forms a new Division of Recidivism Reduction, mandates the city interview the jail staff for open positions in government, and creates a fund for neighborhoods with high violent crime rates. While we know there is work ahead, we must celebrate this moment,” the campaign organizers said in a statement after the bill passed. We are not just closing a jail. We are proving

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BEST OF ST. LOUIS

that another world is possible.”

He played his last racist rap song. What came afterward, blessedly, was silence. DANNY WICENTOWSKI

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

BEST DISAPPEARING ACT

BEST LIGHTNING ROD

Bob Romanik

The Gateway Arch

To say that Bob Romanik has disappeared would be to presume that he ever really existed at all. And sure, Romanik is a real, human person — he’s owned strip clubs, served time in federal prison for bank fraud and, in the ’90s, was busted as a corrupt police chief in a Metro East racketeering scandal. But on the airwaves, Romanik became something else, less a fully realized person than “The Grim Reaper of Radio.” Every morning, behind the ever-present soundtrack of a rolling thunderstorm, the reaper spouted self-pitying racism seemingly piped in from a Klan rally. For years, the show functioned as a safe space for racists on the AM dial, with Romanik dropping n-words in defense of the plight of “proud whites” while his callers echoed the same language, the same word, reveling in their mutual disgust, repeating the

The Arch has always attracted controversy. The project was part of a strategy to clear out “blight” along the riverfront, which happened to include Black neighborhoods, and it was approved through what historians agree was surely a rigged election. There’s also the imagery, a tribute to Thomas Jefferson’s bid for Westward Expansion, that ignored the destruction of Native American cultures. However, we’re not talking in metaphors here. The Arch was literally hit by lightning, multiple times, during a July thunderstorm. It is apparently struck a couple of times a year on average. Given that it is a 630-foot-tall half loop of steel, maybe that’s not surprising. Or maybe it’s just a few hundred million volts of karmic energy coming through every once in a while.

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Gateway to the West, or actual Stargate? ugly stereotypes over and over again on the airwaves. At some point, Romanik declared his show “White Awareness Radio,” which was introduced, of course, as “WAR.” He recorded a rap song titled, really, “N----- Nation.” It was played at the end of every episode. His shamelessness seemed unbreakable, and indeed Romanik’s brazen racism never

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actually endangered his show. Instead, his apparent attempts to conceal ownership of three radio stations drew an official in uiry from the FCC’s investigative arm, and a judge reviewing the case eventually refused to renew the stations’ licenses after a lawyer no-showed multiple hearings. On April 10, Romanik hosted his last show. He spouted his last epithet.

DOYLE MURPHY

NOV 12-15

DUSTY SLAY Jimmy Kimmel Live Lat Comic Standing Bob & Tom Show

DEC 3-5

MICHAEL YO Joe Rogan Experience America’s Got Talent “Blasian” Comedy Spesial

OPEN MIC NIGHT Every Tuesday & Sunday in October

614 Westport Plaza

(314) 878-5800

SAT. 10/12 Billy Peek at Backstreet Jazz & Blues Club

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Arts & Entertainm Like so many industries in this age of

disease and abject political incompetence, the world of arts and entertainment has been having a rough go of it. Live events have been kneecapped by measures meant to slow the spread of coronavirus — most germane to this discussion, the restrictions on crowd size and the now generally accepted fact that most activities are safest when enjoyed outdoors rather than confined within four walls. The net result has been a wave of cancellations and shuttered venues, with creatives and those who strive to support their visions locked out of the work they love with no end in sight. Luckily, this is a scrappy group. Daunted but undeterred, the visionaries behind many of St. Louis’ most beloved arts and entertainment institutions have characteristically found creative ways to keep pushing forward. From the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s inspired adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream into “A Late Summer Night’s Stroll” through Forest Park to the Fresh Produce Beat Battle’s conversion from an in-person event to the internet’s fiercest live streamed competition, from the Red and Black Brass Band’s surprise stops on streets throughout the city to the re-emergence of drive-ins as vital cultural touchstones, these are the ways St. Louis has stayed entertained and artsy in this, the Worst of Times. DANIEL HILL

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nment BEST PL ACE TO SEE A MOVIE

BEST PL ACE TO SEE NATURAL BEAUT Y

Skyview Drive-In

Missouri Botanical Garden

5700 N Belt W, Belleville, Ill.; 618-233-4400

When all indoor events were suddenly canceled in March, people just didn’t really know what to do to entertain themselves. And while details on how to best protect yourself during the pandemic were still up in the air, one thing stood out as likely to be fairly safe: staying outside while distanced from other people. We’ve always loved the Skyview Drive-In for its retro charm (and its fair prices), but we gained a whole new appreciation for it this summer as a gathering spot where we could get a taste of normalcy without feeling like we’d exposed ourselves to the virus. Recognizing that we now rely on them for our big nights out, the Skyview has also recently started offering other events such as trivia in addition to films. JAIME LEES

BEST PL ACE TO HEAR LIVE MUSIC

Outdoors Our friends in the music industry have been hit hard by the pandemic. Just like restaurants, most of their business is conducted indoors in close quarters, so our local industry professionals were some of the first people to lose their jobs, and they will also be some of the last people to get them back once this terrible time has passed. As with restaurants, though, they’re finding ways to bring you what you want. That’s why promoters have been going out of their way to deliver you quality outdoor musical entertainment all summer. From drive-in concerts at the closed St. Louis Outlet Mall to rooftop concerts at the Gaslight on the Hill to front porch concerts in your own neighborhood, the best (and, for most of this year, only) place to catch music has been outdoors. JAIME LEES

4344 Shaw Boulevard, 314-577-0888

When you want to enjoy the beauty of nature but you’re not the type to go stomping through the woods, the Missouri Botanical Garden can show you many wonders without requiring you to leave the city limits. Located at the edge of the historic Shaw neighborhood, the 79-acre garden offers plenty of space to social distance while taking in its many varied views. Visitors can enjoy features like the humid Climatron conservatory, the well-manicured Victorian Garden or the tranquil Japanese Garden. You can go it alone or sign up for a walking tour to get in-depth knowledge of the gorgeous plants, trees and flowers on the grounds. In addition to serving beauty to city slickers, the Missouri Botanical Garden provides education, too, with a focus on sustainability and conservation. JAIME LEES

BEST PL ACE TO CATCH A WAVE

Gateway Arch Riverboats 50 S Leonor K Sullivan Boulevard, 877-982-1410

Some people go all the way to the Ozarks for a glimpse of water, but we have the Mighty Mississippi right next door, and she always provides. ou can fish in the river or drop in your own boat for a local tour, but even if you don’t have your own fishing pole or boat there is still a reason to get out on the water. Gateway Arch Riverboats offers a few different options when it comes to enjoying the river. Booked through the Gateway Arch website, there are different cruise options available to check out (including their usual dinner cruise and an

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BEST OF ST. LOUIS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Oktoberfest cruise), and best of all, they all include access to the breezy rooftop where you can get away from breathing the same air as your fellow passengers. JAIME LEES

BEST LIVESTREAM (THEATER)

The St. Louis Black Repertory Company 6662 Olive Boulevard, University City; 314-534-3810

BEST LIVESTREAM (MUSIC)

Fresh Produce Beat Battle

Music livestreams can fall kind of flat. The problem lies mostly in the lack of atmosphere that you get compared to when you attend a live show in person — the simple fact is, watching a concert on a screen is never going to compare to standing shoulder-toshoulder in a sweaty crowd belting out the lyrics to your favorite song with a small army of strangers. But St. Louis’ Fresh Produce Beat Battle has an ace in the hole: an element of competition. By pitting producers from across the nation against one another in a bracket-style tournament, with cash prizes and bragging rights on the line, the long-running event keeps things shockingly lively even as it’s gone

When life keeps you home, go twice as hard: Fresh Produce works from home. | LINCOLN JAMES digital. And the event brings topnotch production values too, utilizing Zoom and OBS Studio to keep the competitors on screen while their work still sounds stellar. Perhaps best of all, the competition has moved from being a monthly affair to a biweekly one, offering up twice the escape from

the drudgery that is life in 2020. Frankly, with live music on life support, many sports canceled outright and the iterations of each that remain limping along at best, finding something worth rooting for is a win unto itself. Let us give thanks for the bounty that is Fresh Produce. DANIEL HILL

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Closed theaters have been one of the ongoing tragedies of the pandemic. We tend to think of it only in terms of lost shows, glossing over all the people out of work and the ripple effect on supporting businesses. As they all try to hang on, they’ve had to scramble to find new ways to connect. That’s meant livestreams, replays of recorded shows and video interviews for theater companies across the nation. The lack ep has taken a particularly proactive approach, not only to the shutdowns but societal problems. In early October, the company streamed live performances of Fannie Lou Hamer: Speak On It. The performances weren’t in empty theaters, but parking lots as part of voter drives in partnership with St. Louis activist groups. Thomasina larke’s powerful performance as the famed civil rights

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mural Mile showcases St. Louis graffiti talent in an ever-changing masterpiece. | DANIEL HILL activist, accompanied by guitarist Dennis Brock, was both a lure to bring people out and the message to show them why it matters. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST RECORDING STUDIO

Firebrand Recording 11708 Lackland Industrial Drive, Maryland Heights; 314-780-0493

The live entertainment industry may have ground to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that’s not going to stop musicians from making music — thank fucking god. And while we’re giving thanks, we should spare some gratitude for the recording studios that help get that new music to our ears. n this specific case, we’re grateful for Firebrand Recording and its magician behind the control panel, Brian Scheffer. Nestled in an industrial park in Maryland Heights, Scheffer has assembled an utterly gobsmacking array of equipment that would make any musician who is serious about their craft drool a puddle large enough to endanger said equipment. And it’s not just the recording gear itself; Firebrand also has an array of top-notch guitars and drums and amplifiers and the like available for use by those who are laying down tracks — meaning even the best garage band with the worst gear can walk in empty-handed and lay down a stellar recording using only what’s on hand. (But don’t get any big ideas, gear thieves: In addition to its stateof-the-art security system, Firebrand is also protected by its

studio dog, Roscoe, who will eat you alive just for a well-deserved snack.) All that would be for naught, though, if not for the skill of Scheffer himself, a master engineer with an ear for detail and the patience of a saint. In all, it’s why Firebrand has become the go-to spot for many of St. Louis’ best bands — celebrated metal act The Lion’s Daughter even laid down some tracks during this hell summer, under the watchful eye of a naked Lita Ford on a poster they brought from home. Firebrand’s got great gear, sure, but sometimes you just need that personal touch. DANIEL HILL

BEST PL ACE TO SEE ART IN PERSON

Mural Mile The case could be made that St. Louis’ “Mural Mile” — a.k.a. the graffitied stretch of flood wall at Chouteau Avenue and S Leonor K Sullivan Boulevard — is, in any year, one of the city’s best places to see art in person. It is international in scope, bringing hundreds of artists from all around the world for the annual Paint Louis event, resulting in eye-popping street art murals at a scale that is unmatched by just about anything in the world. But in this, the year of our COVID-related discontent, the Mural Mile takes the cake for an additional reason — it’s outside. Being outdoors is decidedly less likely to result in illness than being in a building, and there are certainly worse ways to spend your time in a pandemic than taking a peaceful walk along a river. And though this year’s Paint Louis

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT event was canceled due to coronavirus concerns, graffiti is by its very nature a form of artistic e pression that evolves over time, as artists constantly paint over one another’s work. n other words, if you attended aint ouis in , there is no chance that what you’ll see at this point is e actly the same as it was then. And in , any change is good. DANIEL HILL

BEST VARIET Y SHOW

Drinks with the Band www.facebook.com/ weareliveradio

ombine great music, a little comedy, interviews with interesting people and alcohol, and you’ve got Drinks With the Band. The St. ouis based show live streams at p.m. on Wednesday nights with host hris enman marshalling a small and changing cast of characters for an evening hangout. ather than bemoan the remote, oom conference state of the world, enman of the We Are ive show has used it to his (and as a result, our advantage to beam in performers from around the country who have e tra time these days. Along with the conversations and live solo performances, the show regularly features bartenders and e perts of the li uor world who offer tutorials on a uarantine cocktail of the week. rink in hand, with a live show to en oy, we can all en oy a virtual happy hour together from our own homes. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST COMEDIAN

Nikki Glaser t. ouis native ikki laser came back home during the pandemic, and she’s been making the most of her time. n uly, she was the guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live, running through the difficulties of dating and her, uh, solo love life while isolating at her parents’ place. We should mention that her parents were right there for this, serving as the show’s musical guests for the evening. laser has done everything from stand up comedy to acting to hosting television and radio shows. She even had her own show, Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, on omedy entral in . The show aired for one season and was twenty episodes long. laser started performing stand up comedy at eighteen and went on to host multiple podcasts and radio

shows since . And, yes, we’ll answer your most pressing uestion laser graduated from irkwood High School. MATT WOODS

BEST ART GALLERY

Philip Slein Gallery 4735 McPherson Avenue, 314-361-2617

f ever there was a time to stare into a work of art and pu le out the world, we’re in it now. The fact that it has been difficult to accomplish during the pandemic has been one of the wicked twists of . ut it is not impossible to get the fi we need. After a temporary shutdown this spring, the hilip lein allery is among the arts spaces that have reopened with safety measures in place. A champion of bold contemporaries, the entral West nd gallery is a mainstay in the t. ouis art world, bringing the works of emerging and big name artists to the city. The current e hibit features paintings by ackie accoccio, va undsager, oanne reenbaum, eltie erris and Andrea elag. The artists, mostly based in ew ork ity, diverge in styles, but you can e pect big colors that can be, at times, soaring and disconcerting, which seems about right for the current times. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST COMIC BOOK STORE

Apotheosis Comics & Lounge 3206 South Grand Boulevard, 314-802-7090

ven in pre pandemic times, the incorporation of alcohol into the business model of Apotheosis omics ounge was a stroke of genius. ut here in the nightmare that is , it’s nothing short of a godsend especially considering the shop has gotten into the curbside game. Those who wish to peruse the bountiful racks are still free to do so masks on, of course but those who are still wary of wandering into buildings while an airborne virus terrori es all of otham can make use of the shop’s takeout window. ust visit apotheosiscomicsstl.com, place your order, set it to pickup and then ring the bell on the front door. oon an employee will deliver your graphic novels and, if you’re like us, malted beverages safely through a piderman themed opening in the door it’s that simple And

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A ST. LOUIS FAVORITE

FOR 40+ YEARS! Thank you for voting Broadway Oyster Bar as a Riverfront Times Restaurant Guide winner/finalist: CAJUN/CREOLE

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A Late Summer Night’s Stroll was like stepping into Shakespeare’s imagination. | NICHOLAS COULTER it’s much needed. In these trying times what we crave are heroes — Batman, the X-Men, Superman, sure — but just as crucially, that hero whose name is spelled A-P-OT-H-E-O-S-I-S. DANIEL HILL

BEST PIVOT

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s A Late Summer Night’s Stroll The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked absolute havoc on the live entertainment industry, as crowds are discouraged, singing and thereby flinging respiratory droplets and aerosols everywhere) is problematic and even the simple act of gathering with others to rehearse a performance could quickly become a superspreading event. But great artists are nothing if not adaptable. Take the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s inspired decision to pivot from their planned mainstage production of Much Ado About Nothing into a literal walk in the park. Dubbed “A Late Summer Night’s Stroll,” the group’s loose interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was brought to life in August in Forest Park, with fourteen elaborately decorated archways throughout the grounds serving as the setting for vignettes and scenes staged by a plethora of local performing artists. A self-guided tour through the numbered arches allowed the story to unfold piece by piece — and, crucially, allowed performers and attendees alike to enjoy a show in a safe setting. It was a vast undertaking that relied on the talents of dozens of St. Louis’ finest artists and, critically, on

their ability to create even when that act itself requires getting a bit creative. DANIEL HILL

BEST SURPRISE

Red and Black Brass Band www.facebook.com/redandblackbrassband

In these dark days, many of us haven’t been able to conjure up a smile for weeks at a time. But all of that changes when the Red and Black Brass Band comes strolling into your neighborhood. The New Orleans-style brass band has taken to the streets during the pandemic to get people out of their houses and enjoying life. They just arrive unannounced around town and walk the neighborhoods playing classic songs that everybody knows (“Lovely Day,” “Little Liza Jane,” “When the Saints Go Marching In”) to the thrill and surprise of onlookers. It goes like this: You’ll just be chilling in your house and then start to hear the faint bursts of a tuba in the distance. After a minute or so, you realize that somebody outside is playing “Stand By Me” so you head outside to investigate. By the time you get out there, you and all of your neighbors are standing on your porches cheering the band as they come through. After this, the entire street is transformed from solitary neighbors to a community of people all experiencing the same joy. If you’re lucky enough to have the band come to your neighborhood, take the opportunity to show them some love right back. You can tip them on Venmo, PayPal or the Cash App. JAIME LEES

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Food & Drink

FOOD & DRINK

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

If there is one thing this terrible pandemic has

taught us — besides the fact that our president* is a semi-sentient garbage fire — it’s how much dining out means to us. A once joyful activity, the simple act of sitting in a restaurant and feeling the passion of those who bring the dining experience to life seems like a beautiful memory that we wonder whether we will get to relive.

Times are fraught, uncertain and downright sad in the world as a whole; the restaurant industry is at the center of such sentiment, having been impacted terribly since March by the COVID-19 outbreak. As such, it feels

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odd to celebrate anything, especially when balancing the notion of wanting to help an industry in serious trouble against the reality that, to curb the spread of this terrible virus, perhaps dining out is not the best thing to do.

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This balance has guided our coverage of the St Louis food scene over the past seven-plus months, and it’s in the front of our minds as we put together the 2020 Best of St. Louis Food and Drink. We’ve chosen to view this issue as a celebration of the bright spots in an otherwise dark time, and, happily, it wasn’t hard to find them. owever, for every winner, we asked ourselves a series of questions: Do we feel comfortable that the establishment is doing its best to navigate the health and safety challenges the pandemic presents for both its patrons and staff? Would we

feel safe patronizing the winner? Do we think that the winner grasps the gravity of the current situation and understands the shifted dining landscape in such a way that it informs every decision they make? There is a pall over this year’s Best of St. Louis, for sure, but there’s also a joy in watching the unbreakable spirits of each and every one of these winners as they refuse to give up, no matter how difficult the times. That we can still have such moments of joy courtesy of their dedication is the hope we need to get us through. CHERYL BAEHR

FOOD & DRINK

BEST OF ST. LOUIS

BEST DELI

BEST BARBECUE

Al-Tarboush Deli

The Stellar Hog

602 Westgate Avenue, University City; 314-725-1944

In a former life, Sleiman “Sam” Bathani was the lead singer of a touring group in Lebanon, and then the war broke out and he and his family immigrated to the United States. Four decades later, he’s still making beautiful music, though this time it’s in the kitchen as the patriarch of the Loop mainstay Al-Tarboush Deli. For twenty years, this unassuming storefront has served as the epicenter of the city’s best eastern Mediterranean food, served with a side of Bathani’s warm, welcoming smile that makes everyone feel like a regular. Of course, Bathani isn’t the only one who is smiling at Al-Tarboush; after noshing on the deli’s chicken shawarma with an extra side of garlic puree, how can you not be grinning from ear to ear? CHERYL BAEHR

5623 Leona Street, 314-481-8448

For eight-plus decades, Super’s Bungalow existed as a battletested example of the neighborhood bar. But it wasn’t until 2016 that we realized it was missing a world-class barbecue spot to be truly great. Chef-owner Alex Cupp trained in the art of smoked meats under St. Louis barbecue godfathers Mike Emerson and Skip Steele of Pappy’s fame after he bolted from the world of fine dining and resurfaced at Adam’s Smokehouse. Reborn a pitmaster, he now turns out some of the finest brisket you’ll ever eat. Add pulled pork, a killer burger and excellent sides, including an always-worth-it seasonal vegetable, and you’ve got a menu packed with amazing options. Cupp gave the Bevo bar a light facelift, adding some (inter)stellar decor, after taking over, but it

still maintains its bone structure as a neighborhood dive. As a bonus, the former farmhouse has a huge backyard with covered picnic tables and plenty of space for the tastiest social distancing around. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST BRUNCH

BEAST Butcher & Block 4156 Manchester Avenue, 314-944-6003

David and Meggan Sandusky don’t do anything small, so it’s no surprise that the brunch at their Grove smokehouse, BEAST Butcher & Block, is an embarrassment of riches. Originally envisioned as a buffet experience set up in the restaurant’s live fire venue, the Skullery, the Sanduskys have reconfigured things for outdoor table service or takeout without sacrificing the indulgence. House-cured salmon, housemade

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sausages, made-from-scratch biscuits and omelets cooked over the open fire are the best versions of brunch fare you’ve experienced; seriously, you’ll question whether you’ve ever really had bacon once you get a bite of BEAST’s. The restaurant’s secret weapon is chef Ryan McDonald, whose thoughtful dishes, such as a peach and lonza tartine, give an elegant touch to this incredible spread. In an ideal world, you’d be able to go in for thirds and fourths of this magnificent dish thanks, COVID. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST BURGER

Mac’s Local Eats 1821 Cherokee Street, 314-393-7713

The crazy thing at Mac’s is you’ve got multiple contenders for St. Louis’ best burger. Do you go for the dry-aged beef or freshground pork? One of each? Do

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FFOOOODD && DDRRI INNKK you order your burger classically adorned with ketchup, mustard, pickles and American cheese or loaded up with made-fromscratch aioli, Pimento cheese or even a fried green tomato? All the burger options come smashed pleasingly thin, the crinkly edges grill charred and perfect. And that hasn’t changed even as Mac’s has moved across town to a spot inside Bluewood Brewing Company from its Dogtown origins, continuing on even in the curbside-delivery era. Proprietor Chris “Mac” McKenzie’s not-so-secret advantage has always been his connection to the best-available meats, established while operating his CSA Mac’s Local Buys. But he also knows what to do with those prized ingredients, making the argument for local sourcing through the example of delicious burgers, not table-side soliloquies. Pile those patties up to four high (maybe a little much, but do it your way) and wash them down with a beer. Any of the burgers you choose will be amazing, but we’re picking favorites, so here’s the order: the Dirty Sancho — two pork patties, pepper jack cheese, Bourbon molasses, pickled jalapeños and Mac’s negra aioli. It’s just irreverent enough to disarm you, while delivering an unforgettable combination of flavors sort of like ac’s itself. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST CHEF

John Perkins When the full extent of what the COVID-19 pandemic was going to do to the St. Louis restaurant community became apparent mid-March, many stepped up to help lead their distraught industry colleagues. Gerard Craft got a crash course in legislative politics, advocating at the national level for the C.A.R.E.S. Act and Paycheck Protection Program. Jason and Adam Tilford led the fight to change issouri law to allow for to-go cocktails. Michael and Tara Gallina are currently lending their voice to pressure lawmakers to pass a restaurant relief act, and numerous others have simply been bringers of hope with their steady leadership and the way they’ve been taking care of their employees. From this group, Juniper’s John Perkins has emerged as an unofficial shepherd, guiding the city’s hospitality community through

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BEST OF ST. LOUIS

Jerk Soul. | MABEL SUEN the storm with a steady hand, unbreakable wit (his regular emails about Juniper’s specials will always put a smile on your face), honesty about not having all the answers and willingness to change course when he feels like the situation necessitates it. The founder of Meals for Meds, a program that provided meals to frontline workers by numerous local restaurants, Perkins has been a beacon of light throughout these fraught times and a source of strength that cannot be overstated. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST CHICKEN WINGS

Wing Runner 4158 Manchester Avenue, 314-944-6003

Leave it to David and Meggan Sandusky to turn a pandemicinduced restaurant downturn into culinary gold. When the pair found their dining rooms shuttered and businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, they rallied, creating a ghost kitchen inside BEAST Butcher & Block called Wing Runner as a way to use their existing capacity to branch out into something new. They thought they were building a new reve-

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nue stream, but what they ended up creating is the best place for chicken wings in town. And for anyone who thought the wing experience was limited to chicken, their vegetarian-friendly cauliflower wings steal the show, giving us a satisfying, plant-based alternative to the traditional form. Who says 2020 was all bad? CHERYL BAEHR

BEST CAJUN/CREOLE

Jerk Soul 3108 Cherokee Street, 314-601-3871

Two hurricanes may have tried to take them out, but Jerk Soul’s Zara Spencer and Tellie Woods are themselves forces of nature when it comes to cooking. Brought to St. Louis from the U.S. Virgin Islands in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria, the pair realized their dream of opening a restaurant together, first in yde ark and now in their new digs on Cherokee Street. Anchored by old family recipes Spencer learned from her grandmother, Jerk Soul has become essential eating for those who long for a taste of old-school Caribbean cooking. The jerk chicken, the restaurant’s signa-

ture offering, does not simply dazzle, but will change the way you think about the dish one delicious bite at a time. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST CHINESE

Yen Ching 1012 South Brentwood Boulevard, Richmond Heights; 314-721-7507

Over the past decade — and ramping up over the last three years — St. Louis has been blessed with a host of authentic Chinese restaurants, mostly up and down Olive Boulevard in University City. Whether traditional dim sum or modern street food made by young, up-andcoming restaurateurs, these restaurants dazzle by taking diners on a journey through real-deal Chinese cuisine. Then there’s Yen Ching, an unapologetically American-style Chinese restaurant that serves up the sort of familiar comfort that only a plate of crab Rangoon and some General Tso’s chicken can provide. Since , this ichmond eights institution has been the go-to for St. Louis diners looking to enjoy the best this genre has to offer. The place has almost a countryclub-like feel as multi-generation families who’ve been coming for

FOOD & DRINK

BEST OF ST. LOUIS years take time to chitchat with the longtime GM as he bags up to-go orders and assures them the restaurant is making it on togo business. Any thoughts to the contrary would be too much to bear; it’s hard to imagine the St. Louis dining scene without this institution. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST INDIAN

Himalayan Yeti 3515 South Kingshighway Boulevard, 314-354-8338

In a former life, Dipak Prasai was working in a five star kitchen at a hotel in his native epal following his training at a prestigious culinary school in India. Fast forward several years, and he’s at the helm of the south-city restaurant Himalayan Yeti, where the digs may be much more humble, but the flavors are no less world class. rasai prepares both epalese and Indian dishes, showcasing the uni ue flavors of the two countries that influenced his culinary style. Both are a testament to his skillful hand; the chola (or chana, as it’s often called) masala is a revelatory dish with layers

of cinnamon, ginger, garlic, onion and clove that come together like a beautiful symphony. ven go-to dishes like chicken tikka masala are extraordinary; its freshly milled spices and tart tomato punch a beautiful counter to the overly creamy versions so often passed off as the real deal. Prasai may no longer be working in an officially five starred establishment, but the food that comes out of his kitchen is as elegant as it gets. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST MEXICAN

Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience 15939 Manchester Road, Ellisville; 636-220-8514

Tucked into an llisville strip mall, Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience is a beacon of Mexican food based on the old family recipes of matriarch Doña María Gutiérrez Molina. This intimate restaurant, with an equally small menu, offers a positively breathtaking experience that will take you on a journey through re-

gional Mexican cuisine with dishes like rich mole ozumbeño, a chorizo-topped huarache and a version of a chimichanga called a mestizo norteño that will change your perception of the typical Te e dish. aving named the restaurant after “La Malinche,” a complex historical figure who is seen as either a traitor or the mother of modern Mexico, owner Angel JimenezGutiérrez has proudly embraced her as a symbol that recognizes both the Spanish and indigenous influences on modern e ican cuisine. t’s a fitting name for a restaurant that stands as the ultimate representation of Mexican food in the St. Louis area. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST ITALIAN

Peno Soul Food 7600 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton; 314-899-9699

In early March, Peno Soul Food owner Pepe Kehm saw the writing on the wall. Watching the discomfort rise in the regular diners who patronized his Wydown restaurant, ehm was proactive in

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meeting the COVID-19 outbreak head-on. One of — if not the — first to double down on his takeout and delivery offerings, ehm showed a prescient understanding of where things were headed and has never looked back. es, his southern talian influenced offerings are wonderful; the Sicilian style layered eggplant alone makes this restaurant worth the visit. owever, what makes eno so special is how much of an innovator ehm has been throughout the pandemic. Whether it’s encouraging his bar manager to start a charity painting initiative that raised money for the restaurant’s employees or hosting an outdoor music and food festival to benefit local musicians, ehm is always asking the question, “What can I do to help out in such difficult times is innovative spirit shines bright where there is little light. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST THAI

Thai Table 7403 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-449-6916

ouis is lucky to have some

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FOOD & DRINK

BEST OF ST. LOUIS outstanding choices for Thai, which is probably why Thai Table stands out so much: We didn’t even know what we were missing. Chef-owner Natthinee “Joy” Teerakawanid worked in multiple professional kitchens after immigrating to the United States eight years ago but spotted a niche for a more traditional take. She now turns out versions of familiar items such as pad Thai that eschew the sickly sweetness the dish has taken on in the U.S. But she’s also introduced stunningly good curries and showstoppers you might not recognize as readily, such as Teerakawanid’s nam tok beef grilled flank steak tossed in a lime vinaigrette with green onions and cilantro. In a curbside world, it’s about as good as it gets. But if you’ve decided to start eating in restaurants again, Thai Table also offers a tantalizing option for chef’s table private dinners, limited to twelve people on Tuesday evenings to maintain as much safety as possible for eating out. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST OVERALL RESTAURANT

Every Damn Restaurant In good years, crowning a best restaurant feels like an impossible, apples-and-oranges exercise. This year, it feels pointless because of the complete duress that every last restaurant in the city — nay, the world — is currently operating under thanks to the maelstrom of doom that is COVID-19. It’s not that no one is doing a good job; it’s that everyone is doing the best goddamn job that they can under such trying circumstances, having been forced to completely rethink business models and adapt overnight. For some, that means transitioning to takeout and delivery; for others, it means converting their in-person dining spaces into the safest environment possible. For still others, it’s meant shutting down completely in the hopes that this storm will pass and they can reopen in the future. Every last owner, chef, server, bartender, busser, host, cook and dishwasher is doing their absolute best to survive while still trying to figure out a way to provide hospitality to their guests, whatever that means during a pandemic. Here is to each and every one of you who make us realize just how much dining out means to us. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST COFFEEHOUSE

Northwest Coffee Roasting Company 4251 Laclede Avenue, 314-371-4600

You fall in love with Northwest Coffee Roasting before you even reach the door. On the walk toward the low-slung, block building, you’ll wander through a vast courtyard shared with the neighboring wine bar. Tables set atop crushed rock make for a perfect outdoor hangout, semi-hidden in a quiet pocket of the Central West End. The interior is spare and functionally stylish with a small number of tables in front of glasspaned garage doors and a short distance from the roasting works at the back of the shop. Jason Wilson, who has owned the business since 2012, has created an engaging space where he occasionally hosts progressive politicians for discussions. One of the few Black roasters in the country, he has adopted a mission to not only succeed in business, but build a model that shows others the joy of thriving in stereotype-busting roles. He calls it controlling the narrative — the idea that you can shape your own story. He’s done that and he makes a first class cup of coffee. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST DOUGHNUTS

Boogyz Donuts 6951 Olive Boulevard, University City; 314-354-8553

At first, amil abbar thought that bagels would be his calling card. Having fallen in love with the classic New York style of the genre, he learned how to make an authentic version and began selling them at his brother’s gas station. However, when he noticed people were much more interested in doughnuts, he pivoted his business plan, learned how to make doughnuts and never looked back. His University City storefront, Boogyz Donuts, is a bastion of doughnut perfection. Yeastier and less greasy than the typical doughnut, Boogyz’s has a unique style that stands out from the very good, very crowded field we’re blessed to have in St. Louis. Now that he’s expanded his offerings to include wildly popular vegan options, he’s showing that, even in the midst of a pandemic, there can still be successes in the industry with a little innovation and grit. CHERYL BAEHR

Boogyz Donuts. | COURTESY JAMIL JABBAR

BEST DESSERTS

La Patisserie Chouquette 1626 Tower Grove Avenue, 314-932-7935

n this dumpster fire of a year, it’s become necessary to embrace the things that can bring us joy. Perhaps nowhere in town is as capable of evoking such a feeling as La Patisserie Chouquette, the elegant French bakery owned by Simone Faure. The shockingly talented pastry chef has created a seamless online platform in order to get her delectable handiwork to her customers; its only glitch is that she sells out in a snap. It’s easy to understand why. Faure’s confections — jewel-toned macarons, indulgent cream puffs, tiramisu brownies, apple galettes — are positively world class, that rare mix of both beautiful and impossibly delicious. Just try the “Darkness” — a beautifully spiraled croissant made from chocolate dough, filled with hunks of chocolate, covered in chocolate sauce and sprinkled with pink Himalayan sea salt — to see for yourself why La Patisserie Chouquette is the self-care we all need right now. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST PIZZA

BEST FOOD TRUCK

Guerilla Street Food Usually at 9 Mile Garden, 9375 Gravois Road, Affton

Elmwood 2704 Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood; 314-261-4708

In regular times, we’d be talk-

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ing about Elmwood in terms of one of the city’s best overall restaurants, not touting its takeout pizza. However, in these anything-but-normal days, Elmwood’s impressive pivot to the pizza business is a testament to its tenacity, innovation and unyielding commitment to hospitality. You’d expect nothing less from GM/owner Chris Kelling and chef/owner Adam Altnether, two industry veterans whose impressive fine dining resumes do not necessarily bespeak that of two guys running a carryout pizza and delivery spot. However, their commitment to doing whatever it takes to survive and continue to serve their guests has resulted in a truly outstanding pie. More than an afterthought, Elmwood’s pizzas embody all that’s wonderful about the restaurant: wood fired cooking and uality ingredients that elevate a simple form. Whether it’s the classic pepperoni that reminds you of what a pepperoni pie can be or a whimsical taco pizza, Elmwood’s new incarnation is a bright spot where there could’ve been darkness. CHERYL BAEHR

Among the awful developments of the past few months have been the closures of four Guerrilla Street Food locations scattered

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Sleiman “Sam” Bathani of Al-Tarboush. | JEN WEST across greater St. Louis, leaving a new spot in Webster Groves as the Filipino-inspired foodmakers’ sole brick-and-mortar restaurant. If there was any justice, GSF would be on its way to world domination with a restaurant close by, no matter where you were. But that’s not how 2020 has played out, so we’ll take solace in knowing the pioneers of the local food truck scene are still serving some of St. Louis’ best dishes out of a mobile kitchen. And they’re just as innovative as they were nine years ago when co-owners Brian Hardesty and oel respo first introduced us to the Flying Pig, a magic combo of slow-roasted pork, poached egg and a slightly sweet, slightly spicy sauce atop jasmine rice. Hardesty is now also a managing partner of the state’s first food truck park, 9 Mile Garden, which means instead of chasing GSF’s food truck all over town, you can reliably find it among its fellow street warriors in the spacious park. We’ll take that as a victory. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST BUTCHER SHOP

Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions 2810 Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood; 314-647-2567

Back in the early days of COVID-19, when people were hoarding toilet paper and the news was filled with stories of meat shortages because of virus outbreaks

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in packing plants, Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions stood as a reminder of why a commitment to ethical practices and small-scale sourcing has always been the way to go. For six years now, this Maplewood butcher shop has been doing things the right way, serving its customers the absolute best, locally sourced, pasture- and humanely raised meat you can get. In doing so, it has earned a reputation as the gold standard for meat counters. All of this focus on sourcing the best does not just result in better ethics, however. At Bolyard’s you will get the tastiest, highest-quality product you can find, cut to order by e perts in the field who take the time to listen to what you want, answer questions and steer you in the right direction. Their passion and commitment to doing things the best way possible is unparalleled — and if you’ve ever had their thick-cut pork chop, you see that it results in some damn tasty meat, too. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST RESTAURANT SERVICE

Stone Soup Cottage 5809 Highway N, Cottleville; 636-244-2233

When you think of the impact COVID-19 has had on the restaurant industry, no part of the business seems more negatively impacted than fine dining. n these carryout and curbside times when interactions with restaurants have become almost entirely

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BEST OF ST. LOUIS

transactional, the pomp and circumstance of dining over a white tablecloth with doting servers seems like it’s from another era. How to provide hospitality in such difficult circumstances is a question that the best in the business are beating their heads against the wall to answer. However, if there is a model of how to do things as elegantly as possible, it’s the Cottage to Carriage delivery service from Stone Soup Cottage. Leave it to Carl and Nancy McConnell, the pair behind the area’s best restaurant, period, to have figured out how to give diners the most dignified takeout e perience possible. Not only do they pack up a meal that befits fine china they provide the china. And wine glasses. And cloth napkins rolled in gilded napkin rings. And a votive candle. With the Cottage to arriage e perience, you get the tone oup ottage e perience delivered to your doorstep, then picked up the ne t day like room service. It’s as special as it gets in these fraught times. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST SEAFOOD

Crawling Crab

Lona’s Lil Eats. | JENNIFER SILVERBERG

6730 Page Avenue, 314-328-3421

Three years ago, Flavia Moore launched Crawling Crab out of her home kitchen as a way to earn some e tra money to take her daughter to Disney World. She thought she’d get some orders here and there; what she wasn’t prepared for was a response so overwhelming that she’d quit her day job and go all in as a restaurateur. Last August, Moore set up shop inside Pagedale’s 24:1 Café, using the daytime restaurant’s kitchen by night as both a commissary and storefront. Not long thereafter, she became so popular the 24:1 folks turned over the operation to her entirely, converting the breakfast and lunch spot into a seafood feast fit for eptune himself. Moore is known for her massive platters of buttery shellfish, kissed with herbs and garlic; crab, lobster and shrimp are served alongside potatoes, corn and sausage that’s akin to a Cajun seafood boil. If you want the full rawling rab e perience, however, order the seafood mac and cheese, which is laden with crabmeat and si kinds of cheese. This buttery custard which, like all of Moore’s food, translates perfectly to takeout is the comfort we need these days. CHERYL BAEHR

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BEST VEGAN/VEGETARIAN COMFORT FOOD

SweetArt Bakeshop & Cafe 2203 South 39th Street, 314-771-4278

If anyone ever gets all up in their cups about how vegetarians are uptight, health-obsessed yuppies or some such total nonsense, the easiest way to set them straight forevermore is to chuckle at their folly, then call up SweetArt Bakeshop & Cafe and place an order. For many years now, this Black-owned restaurant has been serving up vegan soul food and scrumptious cupcakes that will satisfy any mouth, vegan or otherwise. How do they craft a housemade Audre Lorde’s Chikn Challenge sandwich to rival any meat-based version in the city? With “love + magic,” they say, and that’s as good an e planation as you’ll need. That sandwich has been raved about since it debuted a couple of years ago, but it faces stiff competition for best offering on their menu:

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from Zora Neale Hurston’s Spicy Chikn Sandwich, say, or the Mackin Cheese, or the L+M Kale Salad, or the Southwest Burger topped with batter-dipped onion rings. And that doesn’t even count dessert, where their au stess” cupcakes and “Come Hither” carrot cake cupcakes steal the show with icings that are flat out superior to any dairy based pretenders. There’s much more to the menu those fried n’ breaded cauliflower bites are, ust, like, WOW but the point will have been made and won by then. This is food by real people for real people, and now you’ve got the grease stains to prove it. EVAN SULT

BEST RESTAURANT FOR VEGETARIANS AND OMNIVORES TO EAT TOGETHER

Lona’s Lil Eats 2199 California Avenue, 314-925-8938

Anyone who thinks it’s hard to eat vegetarian in St. Louis hasn’t tried. Every neighborhood in the

city has delicious options, either in all-vegetarian spots or with thoughtfully prepared dishes at omnivore places. You know the kind I mean: the ones that the staff would actually choose to eat themselves, rather than throwing together some halfassed wet-pepper portabello mess that doesn’t appeal to anyone, much less vegetarians who could cook circles around that stuff. That’s what makes Lona’s il ats such a pleasure you can tell that the vegetarian and vegan options are on equal footing with any of the other items. Their giant rice paper wraps are a wonder to behold and a joy to bite into, full of flavor and te ture glass noodles combine with tofu, crisp lettuce and really any of the sauces to put a feast in your fists. Wise eaters know to order the spicy eggplant side dish as well, which arrives right on the paper lining and dark with a smoky flavor that will haunt your tastebuds until you come back for more. And when you’re done, you and your meateating friend can split a pineapple-coconut butter cookie. EVAN SULT

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FOOD & DRINK BEST SANDWICH

The Pastrami Sandwich from Nomad 1221 Tamm Avenue, 314-696-2360

BEST SUSHI

Once upon a time, Tommy Andrew was called “Tommy Salami” by his kitchen colleagues. However, if you’ve had the signature offering at his sandwich shop Nomad you’ll understand the only appropriate moniker is “Tommy Pastrami.” Andrew opened Nomad inside Bob Brazell’s Tamm Avenue Bar this past February, right before the world went to hell; as such, it’s been a tough go for the talented chef who finally reali ed his dream of opening a sandwich spot. However, if there is one shining light in the midst of this COVID-19 darkness, it’s his pastrami, a feat of sandwich-making so perfect it might make you rethink whether 2020 is actually a total bust. Andrew’s housemade pastrami is kissed with enough pepper to cut through the fatty meat, then piled onto marble rye bread with Swiss cheese and a creamy “special” sauce that adds to the decadence. It’s the sort of comforting sustenance you want to eat every day of the week now that you don’t have to worry about wearing pants that button.

Nippon Tei Nick Bognar came back to St. Louis on a mission to help his mom breathe new life into her longtime west-county restaurant Nippon Tei. A couple of James Beard Award nods, national acclaim and a celebrated restaurant of his own later, it’s safe to say that Bognar has helped out and then some. However, no matter how far he’s gone in the couple of years he’s been back in town, it all comes back to what he did for the sushi menu at Nippon Tei. Under his watch, the restaurant has come to be seen as the place in town to feast on fish, thanks to his commitment to sourcing the absolute best of the best seafood and preparing it in a way that honors its flavor as opposed to covering it up as is so popular in American-style rolls. Though he’s now focused on his own place, Indo, his legacy remains intact at Nippon Tei as the unquestionable king of sushi in St. Louis, if not the Midwest.

CHERYL BAEHR

BEST STEAKS

LeGrand’s Market & Catering 4414 Donovan Avenue, 314-353-6128

In normal times, we’d likely be touting some swanky, highpriced steakhouse, complete with a la carte sides and shockingly expensive California cabs as the place to get your steak on. This year, however, we’ve embraced the joy of home cooking (like we had a choice) and have been able to recreate that experience, thanks to the amazing meat counter at LeGrand’s Market & Catering. This St. Louis Hills staple is known for its sandwiches, brats and that cool, oldschool Tom-Boy sign out front, but its true claim to fame are its fresh-cut steaks, which make you understand the importance of a great butcher that you can chat up across the counter. Two thickcut strips, a couple of large russets and a bunch of asparagus later and you’ll be in steakhouse

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heaven — only in stay-in-place times, you can have that fun in your jammies. CHERYL BAEHR

14025 Manchester Road, Ballwin; 636-386-8999

BEST PL ACE TO FIND FOOD IN THE WILD

Eckert’s Apple Orchards Multiple locations including 951 South Green Mount Road, Belleville; 618-233-0513

Everyone loves apples, and the best tasting apple is always the one that you picked off of a tree yourself. The freshness just can’t be beat. The start of pick-your-own-apple season at Eckert’s usually draws lots of families looking to take the kids out on an adventure, but trips to the apple orchards are even more in demand now that parents are increasingly desperate to get their cooped-up children out of the house for some fresh air. Eckert’s has adjusted accordingly and not only instituted social distancing guidelines, but also switched their systems to allow for reservation-only booking to avoid overcrowding. They also installed partitions on their wagons and have placed handwashing stations throughout the grounds. Eckert’s currently of-

FOOD & DRINK fers apple picking at three local locations including 951 South Green Mount Road in Belleville, 20995 Eckert Orchard Road in Grafton and 2719 Eckert Orchard Lane in Millstadt. JAIME LEES

to drown your sorrows, at least this gives you a bit of dignity.

BEST TACO

Local Chef Kitchen

La Tejana Taqueria

15270 Manchester Road, Ballwin

CHERYL BAEHR

BEST RESTAURANT TO CLOSE

Part tienda, carniceria and taqueria, Bridgeton’s La Tejana is an authentic slice of Mexico in north county that serves an outstanding array of tacos that set the bar for casual Mexican dining in St. Louis. The digs may be simple, but the flavors are anything but; from steak, carnitas and chicken to tongue, pork skin or goat, owners Antonio and Brenda Garcia serve up dazzling dishes in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Tacos aren’t the Garcias’ only worthy offering — the taqueria offers tortas, soup, burritos and the occasional fajita special — but the tacos are the soul of the place. Paired with a six-pack from the adjacent liquor store, it’s some of the best takeout you can find.

The passing of chef Robert Uyemura in February was a devastating loss to the St. Louis food community. Beloved to all that encountered him, Uyemura was a trailblazer in the world of local, farm-to-table cooking, this philosophy infusing everything he touched well before it was en vogue. Though his wife Mitzi and loyal kitchen staff kept his westcounty restaurant Local Chef Kitchen going until June, doing so indefinitely proved too difficult. it i decided to close the restaurant with a heavy heart, knowing that by saying goodbye to a place that was her husband, through and through, she was saying goodbye to him all over again. There will never be another place like this unassuming bastion of local cooking, because there will never be another Robert Uyemura.

CHERYL BAEHR

3149 North Lindbergh Boulevard, Bridgeton; 314-291-8500

BEST WINE SELECTION

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

Parker’s Table

Little Fox

7118 Oakland Avenue, Richmond Heights; 314-645-2050

2800 Shenandoah Avenue, 314-553-9456

In the before times, we’d be telling you that you need to spend the day wandering around Parker’s Table, browsing the selection of cheeses, pasta and fresh-baked bread, grabbing a “Beddu Muffaletta” at the sandwich counter, exploring its many nooks and crannies (if you haven’t let your little one wander into the small toy filled secret passageway, you’re missing out) and chatting up Jonathan Parker about his favorite bottles. In the COVID times, that joyful experience has been taken away, though what’s replaced it is pretty good, too. Though Parker’s Table is closed for in-shop business, Parker has created an amazing takeout and delivery system that allows you to take the joy of the store home with you. Call in advance or stroll up to the outdoor counter, and you’ll be walked through the shop’s impressive wine offerings and have a selection picked out for you with the help of one of its resident experts. If you’re going

Once upon a time, Little Fox was on track to get one of the year’s most rave reviews after a series of visits that occurred over the week of March 8. That review never happened. Instead, the COVID-19 bomb went off, raining nuclear fallout through the restaurant industry the following week and making not only restaurant reviews a relic of the before times, but calling into question the future of dining itself. It’s a shame Little Fox did not get its moment to shine, for this Fox Park gem is truly magical. Envisioned by owners Mowgli and Craig Rivard as a modern neighborhood restaurant, Little Fox dazzles with dishes like ’nduja croquettes with sweetie drop pepper aioli; lime and coconut cured tuna crudo; and an outstanding marinated pork chop, all of which can be enjoyed for takeout, on the patio or across the street from the restaurant at the restaurant’s expanded outdoor space. In some ways, it’s sad that

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BEST OF ST. LOUIS

Little Fox has come to stand as an example of what could have been in the St. Louis restaurant scene. In others, its tenacity and adaptability make it an example of all that can be — a perfect microcosm of the city’s dining community. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST REINVENTION

Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria 9568 Manchester Road, Rock Hill; 314-942-6555 and 14171 Clayton Road, Town & Country; 636-220-3238

Katie Collier has racked up a slew of awards and national acclaim for her famously good restaurants, but she was forced to scramble like everyone else when the pandemic hit. Aside from unparalleled food (her Fiori Arrabiata is the stuff of dreams), the service has always been warm and welcoming even as crowds swarmed to the doors. When eating in restaurants abruptly ended early in the pandemic, Collier and her husband Ted immediately shifted their team to developing a frozen pizza business on the fly. n seven weeks, they had sold 40,000 locally. It was such a success they scaled up to shipping nationally through FedEx. Katie’s reopened patios at its Rock Hill and Town & Country locations in June and now takes reservations, but the pizzas continue to be a major part of the operation. Even more impressive than building a freezing, packaging and delivery business from the ground up during a pandemic has been the Colliers’ commitment to continue their charitable work. That includes Giveback Tuesdays, where they partner with local charities and donate all the profits for the day. And those frozen pizzas? For every one Katie’s sells, they donate one to local food banks.

Balkan Treat Box. | MABEL SUEN conscious of making the dining experience as safe as possible that, despite donning a mask, you can momentarily feel like all is well again. The Bellwether is blessed with both second- and third floor patios pre O , this was a nice amenity now, it’s become essential to ensure that the team can deliver to guests two different open-air dining experiences with more than enough space between tables to make you feel as comfortable as possible. This allows you to get lost in the beautifully appointed setting, with its sweeping sunset views and gentle breeze. Add to this the restaurant’s beautiful food and impeccable service, and dining out doesn’t get any better in 2020. CHERYL BAEHR

DOYLE MURPHY

BEST OUTDOOR DINING EXPERIENCE

BEST PL ACE TO GET FRESH FOOD

The Bellwether

Farmers’ Markets

1419 Carroll Street, 314-380-3086

The freshest food is rarely found indoors, which is a fortunate coincidence since it’s also been best to try to stay outdoors for much of the year. And if you want your food so fresh that your lettuce comes with a little dirt on it and your tomatoes are still warm from the sun, the best place to

The moment you step out onto one of the Bellwether’s patios, you feel as if you’ve wandered into some sort of fantasyland where dining out feels normal again. It’s not that they are downplaying the need for current protocols — it’s that they are so

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find it is at a farmers’ market. From the classic Saturday market in Soulard to newer spots in Kirkwood, Ferguson and Tower Grove Park, outdoor markets are still by far the best place to find fresh food. ou can’t beat the prices, either. When you buy directly from the farmers, you’re cutting out the middleman — which will do wonders for your food budget, too. JAIME LEES

BEST BAR TO CLOSE IN 2020

All of Them Normally we’d use this space to memoriali e a specific watering hole which has, for one reason or another, closed its doors in the last twelve months. But this is 2020, and nothing is normal anymore — especially for those in the bar industry. And so, this year, we’d like to take the time to recognize every bar that has closed in response to the pandemic, including the ones that have since reopened safely, the ones who remain closed as they try against the odds to ride it out and the ones that were forced to shutter altogether. Thank you for your sacrifice it isn’t fair and it never was. A toast to you all, and a full-throated “fuck

you to those who flouted the rules — and helped make sure this nightmare is an ongoing one for everyone — who shall remain nameless because they aren’t worth mentioning. DANIEL HILL

BEST REARRANGEMENT

Central West End Open-Air Dining When the pandemic hit, it hit restaurants the hardest. What is usually an impressive and thriving scene was decimated overnight, leaving our friends in the industry without jobs and leaving us locked out of our favorite places to eat. It took a while for health experts to determine what could pass as a reasonably safe dining experience, and as of now they’ve settled on dining al fresco. With many local restaurants on the brink of collapse, the Central West End organized a system wherein many of our favorite local eateries could take over some street space on the weekends to offer more tables and space to eat outside. It was the best possible pivot for both restaurants and their fans, and a forward-thinking move for the local economy, too. Cheers to the CWE. JAIME LEES

2020 8

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FOOD & DRINK

BEST OF ST. LOUIS ing all that she’d worked for. However, she rallied, creating a robust takeout business that operates through a small, streetfacing window. She’s gotten creative with her offerings, running everything from her amazing tteokbokki special to a Koreanstyle seafood boil that has people begging for it to be a regular occurrence — one she’s inclined to keep going, like everything she does, as long as the people keep coming. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST DRIVE-THRU

Yolklore 8958 Watson Road, Crestwood; 314-270-8538

When John and Mary Bogacki announced that a drive-thru would be part of their business plan for Yolklore when they opened back in 2016, there were more than a few eyebrows raised. Though there were a couple of other nonchain drive-thrus in town, the form was certainly associated with mass-produced fast food and not the type of thoughtful daytime fare the Bogackis were intending to do. Fast-forward to the COVID times, and their idea is now unquestionably genius. Instead of being relegated to prepackaged, warmed-up Mc-food, Yolklore gives guests amazing, locally sourced breakfast and lunch with both speed and hospitality. It may have been convenient before, but this way of eating is now essential, and Yolklore is best in class. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST CASUAL TAKEOUT

Balkan Treat Box 8103 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves; 314-733-5700

Seeing as how Balkan Treat Box has already been lauded by just about every outlet conceivable since its humble beginnings in a food truck — in addition to the high marks it’s gotten from this publication, it’s been namechecked by Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, the Food Network, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sauce, Feast and probably more we’re missing — it only makes sense that, in this new age of increased carryout orders, it should get props as a takeout restaurant as well. The Bosnian cuisine pumped out of its famous wood fired oven by the husband-and-wife team of Loryn and Edo Nalic remains as delicious as it ever was — good lord, that pide — and its pandemic approach to contactless curbside dining is well thought out to match. The process is simple: First head to the restaurant’s website (balkantreatbox.com) and place an order. You will be given a time to pick up your food if you need a specific time, you can let them know during the ordering process) and when you arrive, your food will be waiting for you on a folding table in

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BEST PL ACE TO TRY NEW FLAVORS

9 Mile Garden 9375 Gravois Road, Affton; 314-390-2806

Tiny Chef, aka Melanie Meyer. | ANDY PAULISSEN front of the restaurant, with your name prominently displayed in big block letters. And that’s it! Grab your goods and be on your way — no need to interact with a single human being during this time when doing so is a fraught concept. Just make sure, when this COVID-19 nonsense is all over, that you do poke your head in and give thanks to the staff for the incredible food and thoughtful pandemic protocols — lord knows they deserve it. DANIEL HILL

BEST FANCY TAKEOUT

Peacemaker Lobster & Crab 1831 Sidney Street, 314-772-8858

Old pandemic pros — which all of us are now, sadly — know that any meal consumed at home is just a few simple steps away from being an uber classy, fine dining affair. Some candles, dimmed lighting, a nice tablecloth (the sheet from your bed will do in a pinch), a shirt with a collar on it and voila! Your home is now the very definition of refined elegance. ow that your dining-room table (a pingpong table or whatever will do in a pinch) and its accompanying room in your home is elegant as hell, it’s time to make sure the food is top-notch to match. Enter Peacemaker Lobster & Crab. The beloved local purveyor of tasty

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sea bugs has adapted ably to our collective COVID reality, offering curbside pickup of its delicious wares. Orders can be placed online at peacemakerlobstercrab. com/st-louis-order, and upon your arrival staff will bring your food to your car and even pop it in the trunk for you. All you gotta do now is bring your meal home to your elegant and refined dining space, and you and your dining companion(s) will be the very picture of culinary sophistication. Just make sure to wear a bib (a trash bag will do in a pinch) — you wouldn’t want to ruin your only nice shirt. DANIEL HILL

BEST KEPT SECRET

Tiny Chef 4701 Morganford Road, 314-832-9223

Pre-COVID, word was starting to get out about Tiny Chef, an unlikely bastion of Korean cuisine inside Bevo Mill neighborhood pinball bar the Silver Ballroom. From a small takeout counter in the back of the bar, owner Melanie eyer was finally reali ing her dream of connecting with her Korean heritage through food with delicious results, gradually building a group of loyalists who were eager to taste what she was cooking that day. When the pandemic hit and the bar shuttered, Meyer was crestfallen, worried that she was on the verge of los-

Instead of waiting around for food trucks to come to you, in St. Louis you can now go to them. Affton’s 9 Mile Garden opened this summer, and the outdoor food mall was sure to be a hit. A collaboration between Guerrilla Street Food co-owner Brian Hardesty and Seneca Commercial Real Estate (which owns the shopping center on Gravois Road where it’s located), the garden can host more than 25 food trucks on its property, making it the best place to sample a wide variety of food in just one quick visit. In an effort to protect staff and customers from COVID-19, the entire operation shut down for a bit earlier this year before reopening with new rules, sanitation and social distancing guidelines. But even though the pandemic has cost them some business, 9 Mile Garden remains one of the most popular places in town to stuff your face. Hot tip: You’re not going to be able to eat everything that you want to try at this place, so grab some items to go for a little treat at home later. JAIME LEES

BEST GAY BAR

Just John 4112 Manchester Avenue, 314-371-1333

Always an excellent choice for a night (or afternoon) out, Just John used the pandemic-forced closure this spring and summer to do a $100,000 renovation to the club’s interior. The result, unveiled in an early October grand reopening, is a modernized open concept with the central island bar replaced by a sleek update, positioned at the side of an ex-

FOOD & DRINK pansive dance floor. edone and e panded bathrooms offer welcome touchless features, and there is new flooring and lighting throughout. What hasn’t changed is the community feel built over the past eleven years by co owners eromy uot and ohn Arnold. They’ve managed to create that perfect mi ture of a spot that can transition from low key to full on party. And while it looks like it will be a while before packed dance floors are a smart option again, ust ohn still has one of the best patios in t. ouis. t’s always been an outdoor oasis, and we’re especially thankful for it these days. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST BAR (TIE)

The Waiting Room 10419 St. Charles Rock Road, St Ann; 314-890-8333

The Silver Ballroom 4701 Morganford Road, 314-832-9223

The ilver allroom and its sister watering hole, the Waiting oom, are not fucking around when it comes to this O shit. oth beloved punk rock and pinball bars have been steadfastly serious about adhering to health guidelines throughout the pandemic that includes masks, distancing, reduced capacities and giving you the stanky boot right out the door if you choose to act like an ass about any of the above. ut e ually comforting in this nightmare of a year has been their enlightened view regarding our society’s ills, as evidenced by a post on social media from the owners in late une displaying support in no uncertain terms for women, the lack ives atter movement and the T A community. When we’re not busy spitting in the wind, our community spits in the face of oppression, the post reads. Our community believes in science. Our community stands up to bullies and tells a i unks to uck Off. Amen to that and amen to those impossibly tasty Australian meat pies behind the bar. f you’re not able or yet willing to step foot in a bar during this pandemic, you should at least nab some half bakes of those delicious bad boys at thesilverballroom.s uare.site and thewaitingroomstl.s uare.site to help keep

the lights on. The good people who own both bars definitely have your back now would be a great time for you to have theirs. DANIEL HILL

BEST BARTENDERS

Natasha Bahrami & Michael Fricker, the Gin Room 3200 South Grand Boulevard, 314-771-3411

ut aside, for a moment, that the in oom has one of the best gin collections in the world, that it’s a umping off point for a world class spirits platform, inworld, and that the bar is located inside one of the city’s best restaurants. All of that makes for a great watering hole, but what makes the in oom so special is the love that owner bartender atasha ahrami and bartender ichael ricker pour into every single thing they do. This is a true passion pro ect for the duo whose infectious oy for their profession, insatiable curiosity and constant push to grow is truly glorious to bask in while you sip the best cocktails around. CHERYL BAEHR

BEST MARGARITA

Frozen To-Go Margaritas at Taco Buddha 7405 Pershing Avenue, University City; 314-502-9951

erhaps it’s overkill to roll up to your friends’ socially distanced front yard porch gathering with two gallon si ed pitchers of Taco uddha’s fro en margaritas and a uadruple order of atch green chile ueso. ut hell, we all need to drown our sorrows for this crapshow of a year, and there’s no better way to do that than by chugging what basically amounts to a te uila slushie. ince the county started allowing restaurants to do to go cocktails praise be , Taco uddha has been churning out these glorious, lime kissed beauties like they are going out of style, and it’s no wonder why people have been clamoring for them. Well balanced, refreshing and the perfect smooth te ture, these fro en margs have a top shelf feel to them, when bottom of the rail would do. Thanks to them for giving us a bit of delicious, fro en drink dignity. CHERYL BAEHR

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Presented by

October 19-26 Alta Calle Amigos Cantina The Blue Duck Carnivore J. Smugs Gastro Pit Taco Circus Taqueria Z The Wood Shack OG Palmas

Pit Stop El Burro Loco La Bamba Taco Buddha Red Knot Culinary Seoul Taco Bobbo’s Tacos Sunny’s Cantina

Bootleggin’ BBQ Hacienda Mexican Restaurant BLT’s Breakfast Lunch & Tacos Alpha Brewing Company Diablitos Cantina El Toluco Taqueria and Grocery Cantina Laredo The Taco & Ice Cream Joint

more restaurants to come!

e v e r y day i s taco t u e s day d u r i n g taco w e e k . w w w . s t ltacow e e k . co m riverfronttimes.com

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ta c o w e e k official passport

Hacienda Mexican Restaurant

Chicken Mole

A savory chicken mole taco in a corn tortilla, topped with fresh lettuce, Mexican cheese, and thinly sliced radishes, alongside a chicken tinga taco topped with fresh lettuce, Mexican cheese, and tomatoes. With a side of our traditional Spanish rice. 9748 Manchester Rd, St. Louis | haciendastl.com | (314) 962-7100

The Wood Shack Soulard

carnitas

Pulled pork taco with Baja slaw, chimichurri, cotija cheese, pickled jalapeño 1862 S 10th St, St. Louis | thewoodshacksoulard.com | (314) 833-4770

Carnivore

FAJITA STEAK TACO

Grilled steak sautéed with peppers, onions, mushrooms, topped with cheddar, Housemade Salsa and sour cream

FRIED CHICKEN TACO

Hand-breaded chicken, fried and topped with housemade pico, cheddar and our fresh Sriracha aioli 5257 Shaw Ave, St. Louis | carnivore-stl.com | (314) 449-6328

J. Smugs Gastro Pit

Philly Cheesesteak

Smoked brisket, bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, provel, sour cream

The Blue Duck

Barbacoa pork taco

With fried corn, chipotle crema, marinated cabbage, cotija, cilantro on corn tortillas. 2661 Sutton Blvd, Maplewood | blueduckstl.com | (314) 769-9940

El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery

Pick 2 for $5

Al Pastor pork - made with secret ingredients Carnitas pork - tender shredded pork Carne asada steak - served with our tasty tender mix of sirloin and ribeye 6 inch soft corn tortilla shell doubly wrapped with cilantro and onions 14234 Manchester Rd, Ballwin | eltolucotaqueria.com | (636) 686-5444

Red Knot Culinary

Duck Confit “Carnitas” taco

With duck fat flour tortillas, lime crema, cotija, salsa verde, pickled red onions, radish, and cilantro 4127 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis | red-knot-culinary.square.site | (314)-201-3344

Bootleggin’ BBQ Tavern

Soft tacos

With either smoked pulled pork or smoked chicken topped with bbq sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheese. Package deal! Get 4 plus a quart of margaritas for $25 1933 Washington Ave, St. Louis | bootlegginbbq.com | (314) 405-2020

Alambre Taco

Shrimp, ground brisket, grilled jalapeños & onions, mozzarella, parmesan cheese

Chipotle Chicken Tinga

Smoked chicken with sautéed onions smothered in chipotle sauce, queso fresco 4916 Shaw Ave, St. Louis | jsmugsgastropit.com | (314) 499-7488

Taco Circus

Two taco combo

One chicken thigh al carbon and one Al pastor both on corn or flour tortilla, cilantro, onion, 2 tacos for 5.00 4940 Southwest Ave, St. Louis | www.tacocircus.com | (314) 899-0061

Taco Buddha

Taco al Pastor

Grilled chile & pineapple-marinated pork, grilled pineapple & red onion, slaw, cotija, cilantro, and corn tortillas

Jackfruit Taco al Pastor

Jackfruit braised in chiles and pineapple, grilled pineapple & red onion, slaw, cotija, cilantro, and corn tortillas 7405 Pershing Ave, University City | tacobuddha.com | (314) 502-9951

BLT ‘s (Breakfast Lunch and Tacos)

2 BBQ chicken tacos

Chicken, robust sweet hickory bbq sauce, sharp cheddar, cilantro, pico on flour tortillas

Seoul Taco

Choice of 2 Tacos for $5

Protein options include chicken, spicy pork, bulgogi steak, and tofu. Tacos are made with sesame vinaigrette salad mix, green onions, crushed sesame seeds, Seoul sauce, and a wedge of lime. 6665 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis | (314) 863-1148, 46 Four Seasons Shopping Center, Chesterfield | (314) 548- 6868, 4099 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis | (314) 925-8101 | seoultaco.com

Pit Stop

2 Hipster Tacos

Black beans, sweet potatoes, cotija cheese, avocado topped with lime aioli on corn tortilla (vegetarian or vegan without cheese and aioli) Both $5 dine-in and $5.50 carry-out 626 N 6th St, St. Louis | stlblts.com | (314) 925-8505

Alpha Brewing Company

pork chili verde street tacos

Made with in house pickled green tomato salsa 4310 Fyler Ave, St. Louis | alphabrewingcompany.com | (314) 621-2337

Pork belly taco

Pickled onion, bell peppers, sweet spicy sauce

El Burro Loco

Tofu taco

Crispy Tofu, purple cabbages, carrots, cashew cream

Salmon taco

Grilled salmon, tomato pico, green salsa 2130 Macklind Ave, St. Louis | pitstop-stl.com | (314) 696-2999

Steak taco

Made with corn tortilla, onion, and cilantro served with rice and beans. 313 N Euclid Ave, St. Louis | elburroloco.org | (314) 224-5371

Sunny’s Cantina

La Bamba

Steak taco

Made with corn tortilla, onion, and cilantro served with rice and beans. 1101 Lucas Ave, St. Louis | elburroloco.net | (314) 833-3211

Bobbo’s Tacos Food Truck

Klassic K

Our signature taco bursting with nuanced flare. grilled flank steak topped with a carrot, cabbage, onion and mint slaw.

Kung Fu

Our little vegan fighter looking for revenge from the carnivores who said they would “never.” grilled tofu, candied jackfruit, pickled carrots, and Bobbo’s green sauce. bobbosstacos.com | (314) 285-8872

OG Palmas

Mushroom street taco

Cilantro, onion, seared cheese, roasted guajillo sauce 7356 Manchester Rd St. Louis | oglaspalmas.com | (314) 645-3364

Diablitos Cantina

2-taco plate with rice and beans.

Guests can choose which tacos they’d like. Happy hour is 3-6 Tues-Friday featuring 1/2 price snacks and Margarita specials. 4198 Manchester Ave, St. Louis | diablitoscantina.com | (314) 535-9700

Amigos Cantina

White fish filet

Seasoned with our own spicy rub, seared, topped with our zesty yogurt sauce 120 W Jefferson Ave, Kirkwood | amigoskirkwood.com | (314) 821-0877

Taqueria Z

Chicken or papas and poblano

2 tacos with rice and beans 109 E. Park St. Edwardsville | taqueriaz.com | (618)-307-5018

Cantina Laredo

Tacos al Pastor

(2 tacos served with rice) Savory, spicy and a little bit sweet. Slow roasted pork seasoned with peppers, fruit juices and spices served on soft corn tortillas. Topped with a traditional mix of onions, cilantro, and pineapple and a lime wedge. Served with our cilantro lime rice. 7710 Forsyth Blvd, Clayton | cantinalaredo.com | (314) 725-2447

Alta Calle

Fish taco

Beer battered tilapia fish, served in a flour tortilla, topped with chipotle mayo, slaw, pico de gallo and homemade fresh cheese 3131 S Grand Blvd, St. Louis | altacallestl.com | (314) 282-0840

The Taco & Ice Cream Joint

Savory juicy pulled pork

Cooked for 4 hours in manteca de puerco, with jalapenos, picked onions, and guac, on a corn tortilla served with an El Jimador Margarita 2738 Cherokee St, St. Louis | facebook.com/tacoandicecreamjoint | (314) 224-5799

Sunny Pastor

Braised pork, sweet and spicy pineapple pico, cumin crema, queso fresco, and green onions on a corn tortilla 6655 Manchester Ave, St. Louis | sunnyscantina.com | (314) 944-8226

Presented by

$5 taco plates across the bi-state

Fo r m o r e in fo

or f ull list of r estaurants, visit st ltacoweek .com 74

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Goods & Services

Those businesses that fall under the Goods &

Services subsection of our Best Of celebration may not have been the hardest hit in this god-awful pandemic — we’ll save that designation for the live entertainment industry, or perhaps the restaurant industry, or maybe bars, or … you know what? This whole thing has been an unstoppable bloodbath for just about anyone whose last name isn’t Bezos, so let’s not make a competition out of it.

The point is, our favorite purveyors of goods and services

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have had it rough this year, but they’ve been doing their damned-

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est to survive, just like everyone else. For many, that meant being forced to shutter temporarily early in the year, when only “essential” businesses were allowed to remain open. Then, even after getting the green light to open up again, they’ve had to deal with reduced capacities, mask mandates, belligerent asshole customers who don’t believe in masks (fuck those guys) and just the uncertainty that comes with trying to do business while a deadly virus stalks the streets. But like so many, the industry

has proven adaptable. From the STL Stylehouse’s wise decision to begin selling St. Louis-themed masks alongside its other apparel near the start of the pandemic, to Naturally Pure Salon’s extensive safety measures that allow you to stop looking terrible while still staying virus free, to the incredible amount of sanitization now employed by every one of these businesses just to keep their customers safe, St. Louis’ best have proven they have what it takes to weather the storm. Here are some of our favorites. DANIEL HILL

BEST CLOTHING BOUTIQUE

STL Stylehouse 3159 Cherokee Street, 314-898-0001

Pre-2020, STL Stylehouse was best known as the city’s go-to spot for whimsical and civicprideful T-shirts and similar apparel. And while that’s still the case, Stylehouse has also become well-known for its entries into one of the year’s most booming new economies — the selling of face masks meant to slow the spread of COVID-19. The shop’s St. Louis-inspired masks have become favorites of the local citizenry and its government alike, with Mayor Lyda Krewson and numerous members of the Board of Aldermen counting themselves as customers. Designs include variations of the St. Louis flag, photos of the skyline and other cityscapes, and, naturally, one that just reads “SAINT FUCKIN LOUIS.” Show your appreciation for the city you live in while keeping those around you safe from your germs — it’s the stylish fuckin’ thing to do. DANIEL HILL

BEST CAR REPAIR

Everything Automotive 3430 Morgan Ford Road, 314-352-1682

One time, when a certain reporter brought his 1996 Toyota Camry into Everything Automotive for some repairs after an accident, said reporter was surprised a week later to find that the good people at the shop had spraypainted a wizard onto the hood of the vehicle — for free! Truly, in an age of lackluster service and shoddy workmanship, Everything Automotive stands head and shoulders above its competition, willing to go that extra mile to make sure its customers leave happy. And for those of you who, for some odd reason, would rather not have the image of a mystical being emblazoned on your vehicle (you prudes) there’s good news: They will also leave that service off, without you even asking — also for free! Aside from all of that, the shop’s small staff offers that rarest, most valuable thing in a car repair shop: honesty. You can bet that if you bring your vehicle to them you won’t get some bullshit upsell or unneeded repair tacked onto your bill. o nonsense, no refills on blinker fluid, no hassle ust outstanding work at a fair price

in a timely fashion. These days, that’s even more magical than the mighty Zanzabar the Great himself (yes, the wizard has a name). DANIEL HILL

BEST BOOKSTORE

Left Bank Books 399 North Euclid Avenue, 314-367-6731

There are myriad fantastic reasons St. Louis’ literate love to support Left Bank Books. Their wide selection and friendly staff are two of the most obvious, or maybe to pay homage to the best bookstore cat there ever was, Spike (RIP). But one of the best may be its championing of trans rights. The owners of the shop recently changed the game in the book-buying business by helping to create an e-commerce system that doesn’t dead-name its customers, an endeavor near and dear to co-owner Jarek Steele’s heart. Steele, who transitioned sixteen years ago, says he was mortified when a friend who was transitioning ordered a book from the shop’s website and its ecommerce system failed to refer to that friend by her preferred name. Steele took his case to the American Booksellers Association, whose checkout system is used by many independent bookstores, but was told that remedying the matter would require too much coding. That led to a practice wherein, for years, the shop’s employees manually entered customers’ preferred names. But with the massive surge in online book sales that came with the COVID-19 crisis, that system became unsustainable. Steele petitioned the ABA again, and this time he was successful. As of September, the system now requires the entry of a preferred name during the ordering process, meaning all communications from Left Bank — and those bookstores across the nation who use the same system — will no longer inadvertently dead-name their customers. It’s a huge win for trans rights, and it only happened because the owners of the best bookstore in St. Louis cared enough to make it so. DANIEL HILL

BEST HARDWARE STORE

Overland Hardware Co. 2520 Woodson Road, Overland; 314-427-1404

When did a trip to the hardware store transform into an hourslong quest through a labyrinthi-

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GOODS & SERVICES

BEST OF ST. LOUIS an maze, one guarded by the evasive, orange-aproned Keepers of the Tools, and why must we answer a series of riddles just to secure the products we’ve come to purchase? If you’ve ever found yourself asking that question while traversing the expansive grounds of one of the big-name chains, you need to bring your business to Overland Hardware Co. A cornerstone of the Overland community, this shop harkens back to the days of small-town service and knowledgeable staff in a hardware store — a simpler, more merciful time when compared to the experience in your average Lowe’s or Home Depot. Here, the secrets of the hardware store game have been passed down to employees for decades — family secrets, even, being that the shop’s current owners are the sons of those who first opened the Overland Hardware Co. all those years ago. In short, they have what you need, and they are ready to answer your questions. Just don’t ask them why people waste so much time and money at the chain stores — no one in their right mind has a good answer for that. DANIEL HILL

Kris Kleindiest and Jarek Steele have been perfecting the art of bookselling for decades. | THEO WELLING

BEST SMOKE SHOP

Emporium Smoke Shop 6254 Delmar Boulevard, 314-721-6277

With the legalization of medicinal marijuana in the state of Missouri a done deal, the wink-wink, nudge-nudge days of raising an eyebrow at a head shop employee and telling him you want, um, a “water pipe“ for your, er, “tobacco” are now solidly in the rearview mirror — but you can bet they haven’t been forgotten by the proprietors of Emporium Smoke Shop. That’s because the Delmar Loop establishment has been in this game for decades now — since 1997 — and with all that time and experience comes a whole lot of institutional knowledge. This is good for new, er, “patients” (we’ll still be using that terminology for the time being) who don’t know a batty from a zeppelin, a dab rig from a dugout, or if it’s really necessary to drop $800 on a bespoke handblown glass piece with magic mushroom detailing (it’s assuredly not, but hot damn that Chad G fella has some serious skills). The friendly staff at Emporium will be more than happy to walk you

through their wares and help to meet your needs, whether you’re dealing with flower or e tract or vapes, or even keeping it low-key with CBD. And when you spot an intriguing piece of glassware among the many lining the walls, do feel free to call it a “bong,” but don’t call it a comeback — Emporium has been here for years.

antique store), the items displayed have been put up for sale by people with all different kinds of taste. The individually styled booths offer a wide range of goods, and some are frequently switched out, meaning that each visit to Treasure Aisles could reveal a new previously hidden treasure. JAIME LEES

DANIEL HILL

BEST ANTIQUE MALL

Treasure Aisles Antique Mall 2317 South Big Bend Boulevard; 314-647-6875

If you think about it, it’s kind of weird that we go to antique stores looking for something new to buy. But not all antique stores are filled with ust dusty old books and rusted “decorative” farm equipment from last century. Treasure Aisles Antique Mall has something for everyone, from classic antique furniture to clothing styles from the ’80s that are so retro they’re back in style again. Because it’s an antique mall (and not just a single

BEST THRIFT SHOP

Found By The Pound 3232 South Grand Boulevard, 314-833-3252 and 6740 Romiss Court, Berkeley; 314-524-5493

This thrift shop outlet lets you buy your clothes for $3 per pound at its north St. Louis County location, called The Factory. Its South Grand location, The Boutique, offers clothes sold by the piece. Found By The Pound’s two locations embrace “the different aspects of resale and encourage you to explore both!” The clothes come in quantities of hundreds of pounds and hit the shelves for St. Louisans. The clothes are meant to match the “hip, funky, bohemian vibe of South St. Louis City.” The company also recycles

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any clothing that is not used for retail. MATT WOODS

BEST WEED DOCTOR

Dr. Pratistha Strong, Kathmandu Clinic 10807 Big Bend Road Suite 1, Kirkwood; 918-814-3996

Sure, there are ways to get your hands on a medical marijuana card without the doctor’s office experience. There is, in fact, something of a cottage industry around the practice. Consider the case of the Brentwood-based Health City MD and its so-called “CannaBus,” a van that traveled the state throughout the summer of 2019 making stops at head shops and the like for the express purpose of providing physician’s certifications en masse to long lines of would-be patients. But that rather slapdash approach can feel shady as hell — consider the fact that the CannaBus came under investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol last fall for allegedly selling weed illegally. For those legitimate patients with medical

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GOODS & SERVICES

Coffee, tea and thee at Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop. | CHERYL BAEHR

LEVIN’S

CLOTHING FROM NEW BORN TO 86" IN PANTS • Hooded Sweatshirts to 10X • Coats to 8X • Thermals up to size 8X • Dickies Pants to size 72 • Long Sleeve Shirts to 8X • Dickies Boots to size 14 • Boy’s & Men’s Suits up to 72 • Men’s Dress Slack Sets up to 8X • Polo Style Shirts to 8X • Men’s Dress Shirts up to 8X • T-Shirts & Sweatpants up to 10X

Winter Get ready for is Winter! here!

Insulated Coveralls Sizes Medium-6X Also available in black

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314.664.2737

DO YOUR PART TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING! Up to 100 MPG

Hours: Tue-Wed-Thurs 10-7; Fri 10-5; Sat 10-4; Closed Mon 84

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conditions for which marijuana can be helpful — especially those with little prior experience with weed an actual office visit can ease some stress and answer some important questions. Enter Dr. Pratistha Strong of the Kathmandu Clinic. Dr. Strong is a fully licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine who conducts medical exams and consultations out of an actual brick-and-mortar office. orn in epal, r. trong incorporates elements of eastern and western medicine for a holistic approach that, when appropriate, ust so happens to include the use of marijuana. he’s knowledgeable and kind, and doesn’t even try to sell you weed out of a van in fact, she’s happy to put you in touch with resources so you can grow your own. DANIEL HILL

BEST GARDEN CENTER

Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop 803 Marshall Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-764-2140

ew things have the mind uieting satisfaction of gardening, or even tending to a few potted plants. We’re mentioning that for no specific reason, because these are completely normal times and it is in no way overwhelming to have a narcissistic maniac running our country during a plague. Anyway, should you feel the need to direct your thoughts toward something relaxing and good, aypop offee arden

Shop is a wonderful resource. Set in a repurposed old house with the greenhouse around back, aypop offers a pleasant escape. One window at the front porch is set up for your coffee order, while another on the side is the pickup window, which helps avoid any customer gridlock. The shop offers curbside service for its wide variety of lovely plants, and you can even sign up for a monthly subscription service. The idea of having a new plant to look forward to every month seems appealing. You can also watch instructional videos, streamed through aypop’s Facebook page. That’s probably a better use of your time than the doom scrolling you had planned. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST HAIR SALON

Naturally Pure Salon 564 South Gray Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-963-7101

What do you do about all of the an iety, fear and weight gain brought on by the pandemic? You stay as pretty as you can and suck it up — that’s all you really can do in these terrible times. And if you’re desperate to visit a professional who can fi that tragic mess that you’ve been trying to ignore on your head, aturally ure alon in Webster roves provides not ust high end haircuts and color, but they’re also super strict about safety. They’ve gone out of their way to provide a socially distanced environment for their clients, including rear-

GOODS & SERVICES

BEST OF ST. LOUIS ranging their workspace, spreading out their stations, providing masks, wearing face shields and requesting that customers stay outside in their cars until they’re called inside for their appointment. Customers appreciate both this regimented approach to their safety and the results in the mirror. JAIME LEES

You can even get the all-important soccer scarf here. So if you’re looking for a place to buy presents for your loved ones this year but you’re not interested in visiting a mall, one of the best places to visit virtually is the St. Louis CITY SC online shop. You can have your gifts delivered and also support St. Louis sports. That’s a win-win. JAIME LEES

BEST GIFT SHOP

St. Louis CITY SC Online Shop stlcitysc.com

People in St. Louis have been hyped for years about the possibility of getting a professional soccer team, and now our time has finally arrived. With the landing of St. Louis CITY SC, all of our soccer dreams have come true and we’re all ready to show our pride. The St. Louis CITY SC online shop is already up and poppin’, ready to sell you a stack of merchandise that you can wear proudly, knowing that you were representing even before the first game. The shop offers branded Tshirts, decals, banners, magnets, keychains, can coolers and more.

BEST PLACE TO SPEND $10

Tipping Your Delivery Driver

We’ve all fallen into the trap of buying impulse items in checkout lanes. Buying gum, chapstick, batteries or a candy bar are the little ways that we treat ourselves while we’re out in the world. But now that we’re having more items delivered than ever, the best way to spend a few extra bucks is to use it to add to the tip for your delivery driver. Not only are they bringing exactly what you want directly to your door, they’re keeping you safe from a deadly pandemic. They are out there risking virus

exposure from the public every day so that you don’t have to do it yourself. They deserve so much more than they get paid per hour. So if you have an extra $10 that you would’ve just spent on a lighter and some junk food at the gas station during normal times, make sure to slip it to your next delivery driver. They’ve earned it. JAIME LEES

BEST BIKE SHOP

Maplewood Bicycle 7534 Manchester Road, 314-781-9566

A pandemic trend that we hope lasts is a renewed enthusiasm for biking. In the early days of the lockdown, when a shift to working from home left the streets particularly quiet, one of the most reliable stress relievers we had was pedaling along blissfully clear pavement. Bicycle sales doubled nationwide in those early days, and a combination of demand and kinks in the international supply chain caused shortages. That’s been a pain, but a run on bikes sounds like a good problem for those in favor

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of a healthier, cleaner world. And that brings us to local bike shops. Greater St. Louis is loaded with excellent choices, whether you’re a competitive racer or a weekend warrior pulling a child trailer around the park. Maplewood Bicycle has been one of the standouts for nearly half a decade. They’ve got top flight mechanics, helpful service people and a strong selection. They also support tons of charitable cycling events around the metro area. The logistics of running any retail shop during the era of COVID-19 is tricky, but Maplewood has shifted as smoothly as possible to curbside options and over-the-phone consultations, which is still a great option even as they have cautiously reopened their showroom with limits on the number of people allowed inside. The pandemic will eventually end, and a lot of the workfrom-home set will be headed back to the office. ut we’ll hopefully remember how wonderful it felt to cruise those quiet streets and carry it forward into a better time. Maplewood Bicycle will be there, running the support team.

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DOYLE MURPHY

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Sports & Recreation

Oh, the viciousness of 2020 to St. Louis sports

fans — reduced to cardboard cutouts of themselves in Busch Stadium or peering in from outside of the NHL bubble to catch a few Blues games.

The idea of a football or baseball game as the uniting salve for disaster has always been a cliché of overwrought sportswriting. The myth that George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch at a ankees game following 9/11 redeems the lies about weapons of mass destruction or the blundering that screwed thousands after Hurri-

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cane Katrina is just one example of the dumbness of the sports-ashealer theme. But it’s also true that drinking a couple of beers in the crowd of a Cards game sounds pretty good. And watching the thoroughly enjoyable progression of the attle awks from message board legends to a real-life exciting football team only dissolve in

early coronavirus casualties was pretty crappy. There are plenty of reasons to mourn the sports seasons, but there has never been a better time for the head-clearing run. We’ve dug forgotten bikes out of storage and tuned them up with the help of a constellation of great local shops, and St. Louis’ world-class parks have become our savior. We’re looking forward to finding a spot in the bleachers again, but an afternoon in orest ark is more than a consolation prize. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST PL ACE TO RIDE YOUR BIKE

Great Rivers Greenway 6174 Delmar Boulevard; 314-436-7009

Since it’s never a bad time to get out of the house and get some exercise, the Great Rivers Greenway is always available to offer the impressive array of parks and trails that snake around the metro area. And since keeping healthy and escaping the house has become a priority during the pandemic, it’s nice that this network of (mostly) paved paths connects not just neighborhoods but entirely different landscapes, from city to river to plains to creeks to parks and back again. Great Rivers Greenway spans 128 miles of path on which to stretch your legs and roll with the breeze on your face. But you won’t just be out there in the wild all on your own. They’ve also set up benches, bike racks and water fountains along the way so you can rest, repair and enjoy. JAIME LEES

BEST PL ACE TO START EXPLORING MISSOURI

Katy Trail With international and even regional travel suddenly stopped, many people have been keeping themselves busy by exploring closer to home. The Katy Trail is one of the best places in Missouri to explore, and a trip down the trail can show you much of the state. As the longest recreational rail trail in the country, the Katy Trail runs for 240 miles across the state, from the St. Louis area all the way past Jefferson City to linton. With a hard, flat surface made of crushed limestone, the path is enjoyed by both runners and cyclists as they curve through the countryside and enjoy the sights. Beginning at mile marker 27 on the Missouri River, most of the trail runs alongside the water which provides gorgeous views and lots of opportunities to glimpse some of our state’s wildlife. JAIME LEES

BEST PL ACE TO HAVE A PICNIC

Picnic Island in Forest Park

This spot in the center of Forest Park is the perfect place to lay down a blanket and have a Sunday afternoon picnic, as the name suggests. There are two

bridges that connect the island to the rest of the park, separating it from other spots like Art Hill, which is just to the south. The suspension bridge makes a great spot for a post-picnic photoshoot for all you Instagrammers out there. There are no picnic tables, so a blanket might be a good idea. And just like everything else in 2020, don’t forget to socially distance from other visitors while you chow down on a ham and cheese sandwich. MATT WOODS

BEST NEW SPORTS TEAM (ALIVE)

St. Louis CITY SC We love St. Louis CITY SC. We think. We haven’t really met them yet, and their 22,500-capacity soccer stadium is at the moment a very large pit in the ground in the Downtown West neighborhood. But we’re still pretty sure we’re going to hit off. The Cards and Blues are great, and we missed going to games this season. (No, we didn’t buy one of the cardboard cutout proxies to sit in Busch Stadium.) But St. Louis is a big soccer town, and now that the owners of our new MLS team have reworked the original plan to stick us with a huge chunk of the stadium costs, we’re ready for the honeymoon to begin. Here’s to opening day 2023. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST NEW SPORTS TEAM (DEAD)

The BattleHawks Truly, the cruelest thing about the XFL going belly-up at the start of the COVID-19 crisis is the fact that St. Louis fans never got to see their beloved BattleHawks go up against their most hated rivals, the detestable Tampa Bay Vipers. Much ado had been made about the Vipers and their contemptible fans, particularly when it comes to their bathroom habits (as any real BattleHawks fan will tell you, Vipers fans famously poop standing up and wipe side to side . The very first matchup between the storied enemies was slated for March 14 (314 Day, even — we frankly were a lock to win), but the coronavirus pandemic upended those plans and led to the suspension of the season just two days before the big day. A month later the XFL shut down operations entirely, putting the future of all the teams on the roster in serious doubt. There’s recent reason for hope, though: In August, a group

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SPORTS & RECREATION

Please give these very good BattleHawks fans a reason to cheer again. | TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS of investors including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson bought the league for $15 million, and just this month the group announced the league would resume play in 2022. It’s not exactly a phoenixrising-from-the-ashes story just yet the specific teams that will survive the transition have not been announced — but assuming the BattleHawks do re-emerge from the wreckage, you can safely bet the team whose logo is a sword with wings will be all the stronger having been forged in the fire. DANIEL HILL

BEST CARDINALS UNIFORM

Home White Jersey There’s nothing quite like seeing the birds on the bat as the Cardinals take the field at usch tadium. The shining white base, the two redbirds and the yellow bat make for a combination that is tough to beat across the MLB. It’s fitting that such great uniforms are worn in front of some of the best baseball fans in America. If you are going to invest in one Cards jersey for the rest of your life, look no further than the classic home white. It’s simplistic like the road grey jerseys but much more vibrant. It sticks out like the alternate powder blue jerseys, but it’s not too much color. The Cardinals have gone through many variations of the birds-onthe-bat logo since 1926, but this one hits just right. MATT WOODS

BEST SPORTS BROADCASTER

Dan McLaughlin This guy makes watching Cardinals games from the couch ten times better. He makes a Cards home run feel like finding a bill on the sidewalk. t. ouisans should feel lucky to have one of the best baseball broadcasters in the business. Danny Mac has been the voice of Cardinals baseball for two decades now. It’s safe to say he has earned a spot among the organization’s long list of great broadcasters. And it’s fitting that the play by play is called by a t. ouis native who loves the city and its sports. MATT WOODS

BEST AT TRACTION AT SAINT LOUIS ZOO

Penguin and Puffin Coast

One place you can never skip at the aint ouis oo is the enguin and uffin oast. The chilly, arctic feel on the inside is well worth seeing penguins from just a few inches away — and it’s still open for visitors. There aren’t many exhibits at the zoo where you can see animals close-up and personal like this one. Whether the penguins are hanging out on the rocks with their friends or swimming around right before your eyes, it always proves to be an entertaining sight. The zoo houses seven different types of

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SPORTS & RECREATION SPORTS & RECREATION penguins and puffers. You won’t want to miss seeing the southern rockhopper penguin, which looks like Guy Fieri if he turned into a penguin and moved to the Southern Hemisphere. MATT WOODS

BEST PUBLIC PARK

Forest Park It feels almost too obvious to pick Forest Park as the city’s best park. You want to root for the underdog, and that is in no way difficult with St. Louis’ vast collection of amazing parks. You could easily make the case for Carondelet Park with its ornate boathouse and dueling lakes or O’Fallon which has a matching boathouse as the backdrop for fishermen. Tower Grove Park isn’t a cityowned park, but that technicality doesn’t keep it from being an undeniable gem. We could go on, but Forest Park is the one we come back to again and again. At 1,300 acres, it dwarfs New York City’s Central Park and somehow doesn’t waste an inch. Do you want to churn across Post-Dispatch Lake on a paddleboat? Bike along a spider web of trails and roads? Spy on migrating birds in the forests? Hike the wooded paths? Visit the world-class Saint Louis Zoo? Stroll through the Art Museum? Explore relics of the 1904 World’s Fair? Picnic in the grass? Run Art Hill? Ice skate in the winter? Golf in the summer? Forest Park offers endless ways to spend the days. It’s not just the best park in St. Louis; it’s one of the best parks in the country. DOYLE MURPHY

BEST SKATE PARK

Cooler Bnb (undisclosed location)

St. Louis has a storied history of stellar parks to skate, from south city’s outdoor Peter Mathews Memorial Skatepark to the northside’s jaw-dropping church of skatin’ known as Sk8 Liborious, and going way back from the now-demolished guerilla park beneath the Kingshighway bridge to the similar project known as the Queenshighway park (location unlisted due to the need for ongoing stealthiness). Much of that has to do with the influence and technical skills of St. Louis’ Bryan Bedwell, whose Always Hard Concrete and Construction company has had a

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hand in every aforementioned park (as well as many across the country). But this year we wanna highlight the private park owned by Jonathan Getzschman, better known in St. Louis music circles as Frozen Food Section rapper JToth from Hoth, who, with help from Bedwell and his team, recently completed work on a staggering arrangement of sculpted concrete covering every inch of his backyard. Dubbed the Cooler Bnb (think Airbnb but with a more frozen-food-related moniker), the venture aims to lure professional skaters from around the world to St. Louis, enticing them with a $150,000 backyard skate park where a lawn would once have been. It’s an ambitious way to get St. Louis even more prominently on the map in the skateboarding world at large, as well as to serve as a gathering place for the city’s own vibrant skating community. The location is a secret — Getzschman knows his backyard would be swarmed with skaters if word of its location leaked out — but as with many of the area skate spots Bedwell has had a hand in creating, the best way to secure an invite would be to show up to one of the public parks he haunts and offer to help sling some concrete around. Put simply, there are perks that come with volunteering. DANIEL HILL

BEST RUNNING TRAIL

The Streets Run your city. We love the parks. Forest Park is a runner’s dream with its mixture of shady hills, fast flats and gorgeous scenery, but as more of us have turned to running as a pandemic escape, the experience of trails crowded with the huffing, sweating masses can make the miles a little less meditative. It’s a good time to turn to the streets and mix up routes. You can drive every road in St. Louis and never know it in the same way as you will from your own two feet. Traffic is still a little lighter, and a lot of our other pastimes are still fraught, if they’re available at all. So why not make exploring the city by foot part of your routine? Here’s where St. Louis’ wealth of distinct neighborhoods shine. A run that crisscrosses the Hill is completely different than jogging through the manmade canyons of Downtown or timing a mile along the Delmar Loop. Every run can take you somewhere new. DOYLE MURPHY

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SPORTS & RECREATION BEST PANDEMIC SPORT

Bird-Kicking That’s right, bird-kicking. No, not our feathered friends, you weirdo; we’re talking about those e-scooters that are still littering sidewalks all around town. Remember those largely useless pieces of shit? Anyway, the rules of the game are simple: Find a flock, kick ’em over, watch ’em fall. Bonus points are awarded when one kick knocks several over like dominos. hoot video of your efforts and compare scores with your friends. Lime and pin scooters count too, of course — any piece of twowheeled electric trash owned by a dumb faceless tech organization you find lying around will do. It’s a fun solo sport that encourages social distancing, and also encourages ilicon alley not to leave their fucking garbage everywhere. Win win DANIEL HILL

BEST NEW HOBBY

Wearing a Mask There was baking sourdough and Tiger King and Zoom calls, but if there was any hobby people in t. ouis embraced en masse this year, it was wearing masks. t. ouis and t. ouis County passed mask mandates, meaning that when you go to a grocery store you can be reasonably sure you’ll only see people properly covering their face holes. (Though, folks, those masks are supposed to cover the nose, which, lest it be forgotten, is a part of the face with holes in it.) Now, masks don’t provide guaranteed immunity, but people refusing to wear them because they’re not perfect solutions — or citing a bout of brain worms as a “medical exemption” — ignores the best information we have on keeping infections low. t’s what the White ouse’s own O task force has urged for months t’s what issouri ov. ike arson encourages, though, not enough to pass a statewide mandate. In absence of that responsible government guidance, wearing a mask became part of the daily choices of millions of people who altered their routines to include the masks they packed in back pockets and cars and bags. The haters will say it’s the latest trend,

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so mainstream, so “supported by medical experts” — but it’s a hobby that will help keep more people alive. And in absence of arson or Trump learning from their personal encounters with O , wearing a mask is a hobby we have every reason to keep trending. DANNY WICENTOWSKI

BEST PL ACE TO WORK OUT

Your Own Home Though it’s been important to try to stay healthy and active during the pandemic, for a while fitness freaks were finding it hard to dig up a spot to get some instruction. any of us built home gyms in our garages or started walking in our local parks, but sometimes you ust need motivation (and tips on proper form) from a fitness professional. That’s why working out at home in virtual classes became the best place to work up a sweat this year. Nearly every gym in town from large chains like Club Fitness to boutique gyms like Citra Fitness ovement pivoted to offer a safe way for t. ouisans to stay strong and healthy from the comfort of their own homes. JAIME LEES

BEST PL ACE TO ZONE OUT

Carondelet Park 3900 Holly Hills Boulevard; 314-289-5300

It might seem like a weird thing to prioritize while we’re all so bored we think that we might just fall asleep, but zoning out in beautiful scenery is often important to our mental health. Being in a natural setting is so beneficial to our brains, especially while we might be partaking in ahem nature’s special flower buds or fungus friends. And the best place to find a uiet little bit of the natural world in which to one out is arondelet ark. In addition to its popular lake, playgrounds, picnic areas and bike path, the park also offers large expanses of sparsely populated open space, particularly on the west side of the boathouse. If you’re looking for a spot with no activities and where you can mostly be left alone to stare at a tree waving in the bree e, arondelet ark can’t be beat. JAIME LEES

SPORTS & RECREATION

BEST OF ST. LOUIS BEST LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Medical Marijuana in Missouri

While we’d love to list “a safe and effective COVID vaccine” here, or even that deflating balloon we currently call president getting voted out of office, this is 2020, the Worst of Times, and so we’re gonna settle for one thing we know we can count on: weed. t’s been years at this point since Amendment legali ed the medical use of marijuana in Missouri, and months since cardholders have been legally allowed to be in possession of weed, but we’re still waiting on the dispensaries to open. Coronavirus is partially to blame, as regulators put their inspections of cultivation sites on hold while the world went on lockdown, but those regulators have since given the green get it light to many of the state’s operations meaning the products they’ve been growing for our medicinal, sure use will soon be available. ost of the dispensaries we know of plan to open

by mid ovember, meaning we can at least be high as fuck during the shitshow that is going to be post election America. inally, throws us a bone. DANIEL HILL

BEST DOG PARK

The Ellen Clark Sculpture Park The best dog park in t. ouis is also simultaneously the most underrated. The Ellen Clark culpture ark, located at the intersection of indell and rand boulevards, is an outdoor art gallery that has unofficially turned into a dog park that’s perfect for you and your pet, especially if you’re the type who can appreciate sculptures while your dog pees on them. The plot of land sits catty-corner to the intricate t. rancis avier ollege hurch and serves as an oasis of greenery in the middle of the cityscape. Take a breath of fresh air while still hearing the soothing sounds of traffic bu ing by, and scoop with confidence using the park’s provided double layered dog poop bags. RILEY MACK

Ellen Clark Sculpture Park. | STEPHEN KENNEDY

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SAVAGE LOVE DIRECT MESSAGES BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: My husband recently passed away. He was a wonderful person and we had twelve great years together. He was also very, very organized. His death was an accident but everything was in order. He even left a note in a sealed envelope for his lawyer to present to me. It was one last love letter, Dan. Our relationship wasn’t perfect, no relationship is, but that’s who he was. Or that’s who I thought he was. My husband was a very good-looking man who took meticulous care of his body. We actually met in a gym at a hotel. He wasn’t conceited, which I think may be because he didn’t come into his looks until he was in his twenties, but he enjoyed the effect his appearance had on others. In addition to his last love letter and other documents, I was given a list with the passwords to my husband’s social media accounts. I made the mistake of looking at his messages on Instagram. He exchanged private images with hundreds of women and gay men all over the world. Not just photos of him shirtless. Photos of him fully nude from the front and back, images of his genitals, even video clips of him masturbating with his face clearly visible. I knew he had exhibitionistic tendencies. Years before we met he got in legal trouble for exposing himself in a public place. He sought help for impulse control and never did something like that again. But he always had a very high libido, much higher than mine, and he masturbated frequently, and public sex remained his biggest fantasy. I didn’t judge or shame him for any of that. We jokingly called masturbation “his thang” and sex, which we had roughly once a week, “our thang,” and one time, when it seemed safe, we did manage to have sex in public. He expressed an interest in opening up our relationship years ago, but I am monogamous by nature and he agreed to keep our relationship closed. And I believe he did: I’ve read through all his messages with these strangers and there are no mentions of any meetings. I’ve seen dozens of messages from people wanting to meet in person and he always turned them down. But he never turned

down a request for more photos. Help me understand this, Dan. I can’t tell anyone else about this, and I hate sitting here feeling like my marriage was a lie. And dozens of the people he exchanged messages with have written in to ask why they haven’t heard from him lately. I don’t know how to respond to these notes (which often include photos) or even if I should. He was in correspondence with some of these people for years. Wishing Instagram Didn’t Open Window P.S. Also, men? My husband was straight. Why was he sending photos to gay men? I am so sorry for your loss, WIDOW, and I’m so sorry your grief has been complicated by what you found in your husband’s Instagram account. But you shouldn’t for a moment doubt the love of a man who wanted to make sure you got one last love letter if he should die unexpectedly. That’s not something a person would think to do for a someone they didn’t truly love. Your marriage wasn’t a lie and your husband wasn’t a liar, WIDOW, it’s just that your grief — like you and your husband and your marriage and anything human beings do or feel or touch — is imperfect. So far as you know, WIDOW, your husband never cheated on you — and after reading thousands of his DMs, and since your husband didn’t think you would ever see those DMs, I think it’s safe to say that you know everything. And what you know now that you didn’t know before is this: Sharing pictures with strangers, strangers who wanted to see them, was one of your husband’s “thangs.” Now I’m going to ask you to make a leap, WIDOW. Instead of seeing what you found on Instagram as evidence of your husband’s unfaithfulness, WIDOW, you should try to see it as something that made it possible for a man like your husband to remain faithful. Think of those DMs like a pressure-release valve. On Instagram your husband could expose himself to strangers who wanted to see him naked — avoiding both consent violations and legal trouble — without exposing himself to the temptations of face-to-face encounters, WIDOW, temptations that might’ve led him to violate the monogamous commitment he made to

you and, like all people who make monogamous commitments, sometimes struggled to keep. One person can never be all things to another person sexually. People can ask for monogamous commitments, of course, and we all have a right to expect consideration and compassion from our partners — and not having the needs we can’t meet or the ways we fall short thrown in our faces is one way our partners demonstrate consideration and compassion. Your husband needed more attention and affirmation than any one person could ever give him. He didn’t rub that in your face. He cut an ethical corner by swapping DMs with strangers to meet a need you couldn’t — but if that’s what made it possible for him to stay in your marriage and stay faithful to you, perhaps you benefited too. And while your husband should’ve asked for your permission to do this — while he should’ve gotten your OK — if you had found his DMs while he was alive, WIDOW, he would no doubt be begging for your forgiveness. Think of the years he gave you and the love he showed you and ask yourself if you could give him the forgiveness he would be asking for right now if he could. Then give him — give yourself — that gift. P.S. Your husband’s willingness to accept attention from gay men is another sign he was one of the good guys. Straight guys who are secure in their sexuality are much more willing to accept compliments from gay men these days — some even seek it out. P.P.S. I am, again, so very sorry for your loss. Hey, Dan: I live in North Carolina. One of our two senators, Thom Tillis, is a Republican who tested positive for COVID-19 after cavorting with the president at the White House. But when I opened the local paper, lo and behold, the top story wasn’t the ill Tillis but the admission by his Democratic opponent in the senatorial race — Cal Cunningham — that Cunningham had, in fact, exchanged “sexts” with a woman who is not his wife. I braced for dick pics or kink revelations or worse when I clicked through to the website that broke the story. At the very least I expected explicit references to sex. But nope! We’re being told to clutch our pearls — and to vote for Tillis — over some

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text G-rated messages about “lots of kissing” and a vague wish to spend a night together. I guess these laughably tame exchanges round up to salacious because both parties are married to other people. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad and if it wasn’t threatening the Democrats’ efforts to retake the Senate. Voter In North Carolina Enraged So the worry here is that the people of North Carolina are going to vote for a U.S. senator who can’t open his mouth without Donald Trump’s nutsack falling out — Senator Thom Tillis — over Cal Cunningham because Cunningham sent a few not-that-dirty text messages to a woman who isn’t his wife. Sigh. Tillis has spent the last four years tongue-bathing the balls of a man who has cheated on every wife he’s ever had and been credibly accused of sexual assault by two dozen women. By association and proximity, Tillis is guilty of far worse scandals and crimes. Whoever wins the Senate election in North Carolina, there’s not enough mouthwash in the world to get the stench of Trump’s taint off Tillis’ breath. Hey, Dan: I sent you a letter yesterday. Today I told my husband I want a divorce. So I didn’t need any advice from you after all. Once I laid it out in my letter to you and thought about the last three years and the amount of struggling with what I have gone through, I realized that it was SO. DAMN. OBVIOUS. There was no question. There was only an answer. Divorce. It has been horrible the last couple days but things are starting to feel a bit better. The worst part is the intense pain that I have caused him. He loves me so much and it is painful to tell him that I do not love him the same way. But I am holding tight to my firm belief that in a few years, he will understand that I did this out of love — for him and for me. Thank you. Even though you did not need to respond, just being there to write to helped. Writing Was Enough I’m happy it helped just to write the letter, WWE, and I read your letter and I agree: You’re doing the right thing for yourself and your husband. Best of luck to you both. mail@savagelove.net www.savagelovecast.com

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

riverfronttimes.com

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

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OCTOBER 14-20, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Riverfront Times, October 14, 2020

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