ChiliSpot offers impeccable Chinese food in University City

Sauce 75: the essential St. Louis restaurants right now

If you’ve never experienced the ways green Sichuan peppercorns invigorate a dish, the boiled fish with Chinese green pepper at ChiliSpot is a revelation. There’s that signature numbing heat, but with an herbal, floral quality that adds a surprising, pleasing twist. ChiliSpot also offers this dish with chicken or beef, but the smooth, flaky texture of the fish is a pitch-perfect complement to the silky broth, which also includes green peppercorn oil. Their eggplant with garlic sauce is so good it’ll change your idea of what eggplant can be. This is one of the most common veggie dishes on Sichuanese menus, but it can be among the most difficult to get right. This one is cooked impeccably in a beautiful blend of oil, dried red peppers and sizable, aromatic pieces of garlic. ChiliSpot’s impressively thick menu could read as overwhelming, but the bounty of beautiful photos inside provide the diner with a thorough education in Sichuan cuisine. And let’s be real – you could open the menu at any random page, point your finger and land on something delicious.

7930 Olive Blvd., University City, 314.925.8711, chilispotusa.com

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The Sauce 75 is a photomosaic of the best in St. Louis dining in 2024. This list is a celebration of the diverse skills, techniques and culinary traditions that meet across our region. In sum, it tells a story about where St. Louis has been, where it is now and where it’s going next. Many great and good St. Louis restaurants have not made the cut. (Seventy-five is a lot fewer than you think!) Restaurants are constantly growing and evolving and go through ups and downs. Newly opened restaurants can take time to find their feet: There are a few exciting new places we’re cheering for, but which we feel haven’t yet fully hit their stride. Read the entire list here.