St. Louis, Missouri is a city with a vibrant culinary scene, but it's best known for its traditional flavors. From toasted ravioli to Provel cheese pizza, here are ten essential foods that you must try when visiting the Gateway City. At the top of the list of must-haves in St.
Louis is toasted ravioli. This delicious snack is found on most menus in the city, although the quality varies greatly. Toasted ravioli are breaded and fried pasta filled with meat or cheese, and are served sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and marinara sauce for dipping. Another must-try food in St. Louis is frozen custard.
All Ted Drewes custards are vanilla flavored, but guests can add sauces, candies, fruits and nuts for more flavor. There are also milkshakes or ice cream available, but the ultimate treat is called The Concrete, which is so rich and thick that the cream won't fall off if you turn it upside down. Other popular options include the Fox Treat, made with hot chocolate, raspberries and macadamia nuts, and the Dutchman, with chocolate, caramel and walnuts. If you're looking for something unique to St. Louis, try St.
Louis-style pizza. This style of pizza is made with a thin dough like a cookie that is cut into squares, but the main thing that makes it stand out is that it is made with Provel cheese, not mozzarella. Provel has a much stronger flavor than mozzarella when added to pizzas and other foods and has a sticky texture when it melts. Louis-style pizza can be found all over the city; the best place to go is Imo's, which has dozens of locations across the region. St.
Louis' original food is sticky buttercake. This coffee cake has a sweet custard-like top layer that is served sprinkled with powdered sugar. It was reportedly created in the 1930s when a local baker mistakenly mixed the ingredients of a traditional coffee cake. Find sticky butter cakes at bakeries, pastry shops and grocery stores in St.
Louis. It is traditionally made with vanilla, but versions of chocolate, pumpkin and other flavors are also popular in the city. Gooey Louie is a local store that specializes in making many varieties of sticky buttercakes, and you'll also find a delicious version at Russell's.When you're in St. Louis it's time to eat barbecued pork steaks, an inexpensive cut of meat that's cooked on a hot grill and sautéed with lots of sauce.
It's usually a food you can make yourself, but you'll find pork steaks on the menu at several restaurants in St. Louis-style ribs are another barbecue staple in Gateway City; these pork ribs are generally fattier than small ribs and are often simmered for several hours, providing tender and flavorful meat. The ribs are seasoned with a dry dressing while cooking and can also be covered with barbecue sauce; for some of the best ribs in St. Louis there's no better place than Pappy's Smokehouse. The St.
Paul Sandwich is on the menu at almost every Chinese restaurant in St. This sandwich consists of a fried egg foo young pie on two slices of white bread with mayonnaise, lettuce, pickles and tomato; most restaurants offer several versions of the Foo Young egg pie including vegetables, chicken, beef, pork and shrimp.
Merb's bionic apples
are the go-to standard for candy apples in St. Louis; this popular candy store has been selling its candy-coated apples for more than 40 years. Giant Granny Smith apples are coated with Merb's homemade caramel and then rolled into savory nutty chunks for a delicious combination of sour, salty and sweet; bionic apples are a seasonal treat so you'll only find them in the fall from early September until Thanksgiving at any of Merb's Candies stores or select stores in St.Louis. The Slinger is best enjoyed between midnight and 3 in the morning; this restaurant food consists of French fries eggs and a hamburger dipped in chili and topped with cheese and chopped onion; sophisticated versions of the slinger can be found at exclusive breakfast restaurants with Andouille sausages or vegetarian chili with black beans; for a true slinger experience go to dive places such as Eat-Rite Diner near Busch Stadium or Courtesy Diner in south St. Louis. Finally don't forget about fried fish. St Louis has a large Catholic population that adheres to Church's teaching not to eat meat on Fridays during Lent; to adapt to those dietary restrictions many local churches began offering fried fish to feed masses; now going to fried fish is tradition for many people whether Catholic or not; groups meet to choose new place to fry fish every week; most local fries offer similar menu of fried or baked fish French fries coleslaw potato salad green beans macaroni etc.
