5 new St. Louis restaurants to try this month

Beast Southern Kitchen & BBQ
Husband-and-wife duo Meggan and David Sandusky are at it again with their third Beast barbecue spot. Like the other restaurants in the group, the new location features a distinct menu of classic Southern dishes as well as St. Louis-style barbecue. Boudin balls, made with Beast’s housemade pork sausage, are stuffed with peppers and rice and served with a tangy remoulade. The massive chicken po’boy is served on sturdy baguette toasted with Creole-spiced beef tallow and chunks of crunchy fried chicken thigh brined in buttermilk for 24 hours before frying. Both the seasoned fries and smooth pimento grits are welcome additions to any entree. If you can add the house-made pimento to any of the dishes, do it. Finish your meal with the downhome flavors of the not-too-sweet bourbon pecan pie with bittersweet chocolate baked inside.

Clara B's Kitchen Table
This Belleville breakfast food truck is worth the hunt. The sausage biscuit, made with sausage from local butcher Kenrick’s Meats & Catering, features perfectly cooked eggs under a blanket of melty Swiss-American cheese on a housemade biscuit. The avocado toast is reminiscent of molletes, a Mexican open-faced sandwich. Cumin and jalapeno-spiced black beans, avocado, cheese, tomatoes and eggs atop a slice of house-made ciabatta made for a filling vegetarian plate. The tacos at just $3 each were a lighter option; we tried the chorizo and the black bean, which came on an all-butter tortilla from the popular Texas grocery chain, H-E-B. (If you know, you know.) Make sure to get the Reaper drizzle on the side – it’s a salsa made with sweet potato and carrot spiced with fermented Carolina Reaper chiles, which added bright acidity and a dash of heat.

Golden Grocer
A longtime Central West End natural foods store has moved into a larger space in Forest Park Southeast. The expanded footprint allows for an expanded juice bar by Soular Smoothie & Juice and a cafe helmed by Adina’s Vegan Cuisine. When we went, the rotating daily menu was Mexican-themed, so we indulged in piquant red sauce enchiladas, made with mushrooms and vegan cheese, warm orzo with Mexican spices, and a kale salad with zesty lemon-lime dressing. The sweet and earthy Chlorophyllian smoothie featured a shot of chlorophyll and greens powder blended with mango, strawberry, chia seeds, beet sugar and your choice of coconut water or almond milk. While you wait for your smoothie or juice, take a look around the retail part of the store and pick up some fresh produce, supplements, natural beauty products or even a hula hoop.

Pizzeria da Gloria
Pizzaiolo Joe Kurowski’s new restaurant on the Hill is required eating for anybody seeking St. Louis’ next great slice. After studying at some of the best pizzerias of New York City and Naples, Italy, Kurowski returned home looking to create something of his own. Choose from awesome wood-fired pies featuring delicious ingredient combos like Ezzo pepperoni and pickled jalapeno, roasted eggplant with garlic-chile oil, or mozzarella stretched in-house from curd atop tomato sauce. If that wasn’t enough, Pizzeria da Gloria’s new natural wine program is sure to offer some perfectly paired sips. 

Songbird
If you love the Kitchen Kulture breakfast sandwich at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market, you’ve got reason enough to visit Songbird, the new Forest Park Southeast spot from Mike Miller and Chris Meyer, the duo behind both Kitchen Kulture and brick-and-mortar Kounter Kulture. The Combo, a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich served on buttery sourdough, builds on their breakfast sandwich’s cult status; it’s available with a recommended-but-optional honey drizzle. The menu also offers new breakfast ideas like a house-made rye biscuit made with Janie’s Mill rye flour and topped with their own cured lox, creme fraiche and dill. The sausage and egg biscuit elevates the familiar with a sprouted grain English muffin, local turkey sausage and brown butter aioli; each component gets the star treatment. While you’re there, caffeinate with a beverage from the coffee menu, crafted just for them by Sump Coffee.