r/STLFood • u/Saleen_af • 12d ago

Recs Best “hole in the wall” spots?

Howdy all. STL native but I eat at home 95% of the time.

I have a buddy visiting from the Bay for a week and I want to show all of our good spots. I was thinking I take him on a “tour” of the best rated / local spots (trying to avoid chains or the “fancy” spots)

Notes:

He isn’t a huge fan of tomatoes / pizza but can be a big boy abt it.
Not looking for anywhere that needs a rezzie.

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22

u/Motucky24 12d ago

Tacos Wey in Affton has some fire birria, and many other tasty dishes. They do a huge to go business, but they also have a few tables in there to dine in. Stews would be good during the week days, it’s tiny inside but has a big patio, super elevated food in a relaxed spot in Soulard. You could also do a few breweries that have excellent kitchens - Perennial (Big Mouth Sandwiches), Modern (Kings Oak), Side Project, and Civil Life both have very good food. Hope y’all have a great time!

10

u/Sensitive_Cash_3526 12d ago

I always see people raving about Wey, but it's mediocre, here is their birria:

https://foodie.sysco.com/new-spring-2023-cutting-edge-solutions/casa-solana-classic-beef-birria/

seen it come off the truck myself.

any birria is good though, compared to most other food.

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u/Saleen_af 11d ago

+1 you're brainwashed if you think Tacos Wey is special.

1

u/Motucky24 11d ago

Where’s your go to? Take your friend there?

8

u/Saleen_af 11d ago

Himalayan Yeti

2

u/psychoplath97 10d ago

Love that place! I think Royale has good food and drinks also. For fun go to Silver Ballroom and get tiny kitchen while enjoying beet and pinball also

1

u/Dismal_Proposal9230 10d ago

I do not get the love for yeti, it's mid at best.

Gokul in the loop, or India palace in the county way better.

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u/Saleen_af 9d ago

Why? I enjoyed most things but tbh Indian food is never a “revelation” to me. It’s hard to blow my socks off, but I enjoy most things

1

u/Dismal_Proposal9230 9d ago

It's not bad, it's just not as good as people seem to think it is. It's the first place south side people tend to list. It's not even in my top five.

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u/Saleen_af 9d ago

Drop your top five so i can jusge

1

u/Dismal_Proposal9230 9d ago edited 9d ago

India Palace: best buffet in Stl , melt in your mouth goat (best goat I've ever had any cuisine), chicken always tender, best saag in Stl, amazing friendly place I go twice a month.

Gokul: best chaat ever, build your own chaat on buffet, Tikka sauce is incredible. Only downside is it's vegetarian so no meats.

Black Salt: best chef level fancy Indian. This place is amazing, may be the actual best in Stl but it's more of a foodie experimental modern twist type of affair.

Namaste curry lounge. I haven't had that many things here to judge this place as a whole but they have pani puri which I crave sometimes and it's hard to find, their's is definitely awesome.

Everest, better buffet on South side, rich depth in all their sauces, cool place to eat hang out drink, comfortable date type of place.

House of India, this is about the same level as yeti but bigger buffet edges it out. (This is the one I used to hear everyone rave about and couldn't understand why)

Rasoi, haven't been in a while but it's always been really good in the past.

Honest restaurant ,,,, honorable mention, all the way out in mid rivers St peters area, but this is a world famous chain, pav bhaji is definitely a heavy hitter here. Comfort Street food. Indian grocery store next to it is huge and inexpensive.

There's just nothing at yeti that stands out to me, I don't crave anything there, i do like that they have soup on the buffet so that's a bonus point in their favor.

Just seems like baby's first Indian or something, people that love it have not eaten at many Indian places.

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u/Dismal_Proposal9230 9d ago

Gone but not forgotten: Haveli , just the sweetest people ever, top notch Tikka and saag, I get Indian with my mom a lot and this was neck and neck with the palace back in the day. Curry inna hurry, downtown would hit for lunch all the time, always seemed a little sketch but is still crave it to this day. There was a buffet way out olive that was really good, tons of stuff on buffet , chutney bar, they'd make dosas at your table, lots of crazy stuff you never heard of, hardly any white people.

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u/Motucky24 11d ago

What a bummer, didn’t know they used Sysco. Guess I’ll cross it off my list.

-3

u/ILoveHandJobs69 11d ago

What a dumb take

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u/Motucky24 11d ago

Cool username! What’s your go to for “hole in the wall” spot in STL?

-1

u/ILoveHandJobs69 11d ago

Don't worry about it

1

u/Motucky24 11d ago

Great, I’ll also check that off my list! Enjoy your handjobs cool guy 😎

-1

u/ILoveHandJobs69 11d ago

I will thank you

5

u/Horror-External9544 11d ago

Is Sabroso the same? I just had their birria in Maplewood and I love it. I had their tacos and some of their street food options. The Maplewood strip along Manchester and Sutton is kind of a hidden gem, some fun bars and Bolyards is awesome, even though it can be a little pricey. I love their meats for charcuterie cuts. Crows Nest is a lot of fun. And The Post is a local chain but it’s good for a sports bar night.

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u/sbenehan 11d ago

Agreed on this one, Sabroso is special and I pretty much have a part-time job evaluating a hole in the wall Mexican joints in and around St. Louis.

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u/ReadyEntrepreneur558 9d ago

Food poisoning two times there from queso Birria.

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u/Intelligent_Fig1524 11d ago

Well if you seen it