Top 10 First Looks of St. Louis restaurants in 2021

From coffee shops to dog park bars to wine barns, these were the top 10 places you were most excited about this year.

1. Wild Crush Wine Bar(n) in Town & Country
Wild Crush Wine Bar(n) is brings a rural winery feel a little closer to the city. Who can resist a self-serve wine bar?

2. The Golden Hoosier in south St. Louis
The gorgeous space, which was once home to Southtown Pub has been completely renovated as part of The Crown District, a stretch of Kingshighway Boulevard from Magnolia Avenue to Eichelberger Street where real estate agency Garcia Properties own and are renovating several properties.

3. Bar K in Forest Park Southeast
With two enormous dog parks, three bars and a restaurant featuring menus for both humans and dogs, Bar K surely represents the next phase in the evolution of canine-human relations.

4. Timothy's The Restaurant in Creve Coeur
The owners of Pickles Deli have stepped into their first fine dining brick-and-mortar business in Creve Coeur.

5. Coma Coffee in Brentwood
Coma Coffee has a new home just across the hall from its original space inside the University Tower building in the former home of Blue Sky Cafe and Bar.

6. Casa Don Alfonso inside The Ritz-Carlton in Clayton
Casa Don Alfonso, the new Italian restaurant inside Clayton’s The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis, is the first restaurant for the Iaccarino family in the United States. Their original location, Don Alfonso 1890, is a two Michelin-starred restaurant on the Sorrentine peninsula in southern Italy’s Campania region.

7. Bolyard's Meat & Provisions' new location in Maplewood
Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions has moved to a much larger space, a block north from the original location, and with it comes new menu offerings while retaining the focus on seasonal, local, whole animal butchery.

8. Rockwell Beer Garden in Francis Park
Rockwell Beer Garden offers a unique experience; nestled next to Francis Park’s tennis and pickleball courts, the “taproom” has no indoor seating at all, though there are plenty of picnic tables outside for guests to hang around and enjoy beer, pizza and more.

9. Bowood by Niche in the Central West End
Bowood by Niche, the newest restaurant from chef-owner Gerard Craft’s Niche Food Group, is open for breakfast and lunch in the Central West End in the space that previously housed Cafe Osage.

10. The Food Hall at City Foundry STL
Most of the concepts in The Food Hall at City Foundry STL come from previously well-known businesses and restaurateurs.