Three Generations Built This Missouri Italian Market Where The Freezers Hold More Than 60 Varieties Of Stuffed Pasta
More than 60 kinds of stuffed pasta sit in one family's freezers, and every single one comes from their own kitchen. Ravioli, tortellini, cannelloni, pansotti, mezzaluna.
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Breakfast Has Been On The Menu At This Missouri Cafe Since 1910 And There’s Still A Cinnamon Roll Worth Ordering
A cinnamon roll so big it gets compared to a human head sits in a front window, daring you to walk past. Good luck with that. It's...
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A County Jail Dating To 1860 Still Stands A Block From The Courthouse Square In This Missouri Town
Prisoners here supposedly preferred a double sentence in the state penitentiary over one stretch inside these sandstone walls. That's quite a reputation for a county jail.
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An Easy Paved Loop Leads Past Towering Trees And An Old Picnic Pavilion At This Missouri Park
A city park once had its own zoo, and the animals packed up and moved across town in 1923. That alone made me want to know more about this place.
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Blackened Grouper And House-Made Remoulade Make This Missouri Restaurant’s Fish Sandwich Unforgettable
A blackened grouper filet gets house-made remoulade, lettuce, tomato, and red onion, and the dinner menu also lists Italian cheese. That sandwich lives inside an Italian steakhouse.
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This Missouri Deli Builds Its Famous Overstuffed Sandwich On A House-Baked Onion Roll
A great sandwich starts with great bread. This Missouri deli understands that better than most. The onion roll is baked fresh...
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This Missouri Mexican Buffet Turns Tuesdays And Saturdays Into An All-You-Can-Eat Fiesta
A heaping plate of enchiladas and the sound of a live mariachi band set the tone at this Missouri buffet. Tuesdays and Saturdays transform into a full-blown all-you-can-eat celebration.
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This Missouri Bird Sanctuary Has A Spiral-Shaped Bird Blind And More Than Eight Miles Of Trails
A concrete bird blind with 293 peepholes now spirals 20 feet above a pond full of herons. Some of those viewing holes are even shaped like soaring birds.
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Pretzel-Bun Sandwiches And Little Desserts Make This Missouri Cafe A Tempting Lunch Detour
Bacon, lettuce, and homemade ranch get piled onto a toasted pretzel roll here, and it's called Stella's Sandwich. That alone made me curious.
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German Christmas Markets And A Holiday Bake Sale Will Fill This Historic Missouri Town In December
A German bake sale inside a museum sells Springerle, Stollen, and Pfeffernusse, and it only runs two weekends a year. That's the detail I can't get over.
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A Small Missouri Community Sits Beside A Massive 3,258-Acre Prairie Where Bison Roam
Thirty bison arrived from preserves in South Dakota and Iowa in 2011, and now more than 200 roam Dunn Ranch Prairie. Yep, more than 200.
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A Missouri Butcher Shop Is Making Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies Inspired By Nutter Butters
A shop known for dry-aged ribeyes and house-made andouille also keeps a case of sweets near the meat counter. Yeah, I'm definitely looking twice at that.
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This Missouri Gift Shop Is Packed With Hand-Painted Christmas Ornaments And Festive Collectibles
A tiny gold ornament shaped like Missouri's first state capitol building sits on a shelf here, plated in 24K gold. That's the kind of keepsake this little shop treats as normal.
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This Missouri Filipino Bakery Keeps Pandesal, Ensaymada, And Ube Treats On The Shopping List
A Filipino bakery with a karaoke reputation? Yep, that combo exists, and it sits in a shopping plaza in Missouri. The bakery...
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A Missouri Heirloom Seed Shop Shares An Old Homestead With Greenhouses, A Pioneer Village, And A Farm-To-Table Restaurant
A 17-year-old once printed a 12-page seed catalog. That tiny booklet grew into America's largest heirloom and open-pollinated seed company.
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10 Missouri Restaurants Worth Driving To For A Special Occasion Dinner
A restaurant in the Ozarks marks sunset with bagpipes and cannon fire. Yes, during dinner. I had to read that twice. Honestly,...
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The Dessert Case At This Missouri Bakery Goes From Cannoli And Tiramisu To Fig And Goat Cheese Gooey Bars
Fig and goat cheese, baked into a gooey bar, sitting in a dessert case right next to cannoli. Yeah, I'm definitely looking twice at that.
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Towering Trees Form A Canopy More Than 120 Feet High At This Missouri State Park
The average canopy here sits more than 120 feet above your head. Some trees push past 140 feet. Yep, that's a forest taller than...
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Two Furniture Galleries Are Only Part Of This Missouri Antique Mall’s 52,000-Square-Foot Treasure Hunt
Somewhere in Missouri, an antique mall sells vintage glassware, sports memorabilia, and locally raised Blue Bison sausage under one roof. Yes, sausage.
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This Missouri Tea Room Serves Tea For Two In A Whimsical Setting That Feels Straight Out Of Wonderland
A chandelier dripping with neon orange heels hangs over the tables here. Yep, actual shoes. That's the detail I can't get over,...
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This Missouri Farm Lets You Feed Goats And Alpacas Before Exploring A Corn Maze And Pumpkin Patch
A grain silo on a western Missouri farm doubles as a slide. Yes, kids climb up and whoosh down a giant slide built on the side of an old silo.
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The 2.2-Mile Missouri Lakeside Walk That Feels Worlds Apart From The Nearby Tourist Bustle
Bald eagles, loons, and ospreys show up along this paved lakeside path, especially in winter. Some of the oak trees shading it are more than 200 years old.
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A Ghost Town And Haunted Woods Await After Dark At This Missouri Farm
An Old West ghost town hides in the dark woods of a working farm, and live actors are waiting inside it. That alone makes me want to grab a flashlight and a very brave friend.
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8 Quiet Missouri Bookstores That Feel Just Like A Private Library
One bookstore in this lineup has two resident cats named Gatsby and Zelda.” Another keeps a piano on its main floor, and skilled customers are welcome to play it.
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A Couple Wanted A Hole-In-The-Wall Pizza Restaurant, So They Bought This Unassuming Missouri Spot
A couple loved pizza so much that they went out and bought an entire pizza place. They weren't chasing a flashy chain or a big tourist palace.
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Designer Finds At This Missouri Resale Shop Help Support Local Community Programs
A 2024 report put this resale shop’s annual gross sales at about $1.2 million, with net proceeds supporting local community programs. That is a lot of good done one blouse at...
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Why Schnitzel At This Missouri Restaurant Feels Like A Trip To Vienna Without The Flight
The schnitzel here comes with a lemon wrapped in a little cover, so juice lands on your plate instead of your eye. I love a kitchen that plans for squirts.
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The Pork And Brisket At This Missouri BBQ Joint Spend Up To 14 Hours Over Hickory Before Reaching Your Plate
Every night, while most of us are asleep, pork and brisket sit in a hickory smoker for up to 14 hours. That's a full workday plus overtime, all for one plate of barbecue.
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This Small-Town Missouri Restaurant Plans Your Dinner Reservation Around The Theater’s Curtain Call
The bathroom has a gold toilet and glitter grout. The chef did that on purpose, because she didn't want a restroom that felt dark or sad.
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Retired Telephone Workers Spent More Than 66,500 Hours Turning An 1896 Missouri Building Into This Museum
A group of retired phone company workers gave more than 66,500 volunteer hours to fix up one old house. That's not a weekend project.
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Vintage Shopping Takes Over 52,000 Square Feet At This Missouri Marketplace Beside Target
More than 250 merchants share one giant roof at this marketplace, and it sits right next door to a Target. I love that contrast. You...
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Chicken Pot Pie Gets A French Makeover At This Missouri Restaurant Guy Fieri Visited
A restaurant named after pot pie didn't serve a single pot pie when it first opened. That's a bold move, and I love it. Today,...
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A Couple Kept Bringing Bagels Home In Their Luggage, Then Opened Their Own Missouri Bagel Shop
One couple used to fly home with an empty 27-inch suitcase, just so they could fill it with bagels. That's not a quirky packing hack.
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We Ranked The 8 Best Amish And Mennonite Markets In Missouri And Here Are The Results
One Amish store on my list closes its doors from noon to 1 PM on weekdays, like the whole place is taking a lunch break. Honestly, I find that charming.
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This Missouri Pie Shop Makes A White Chocolate Strawberry Pie That Caught Food Network’s Attention
Food Network named a white chocolate strawberry pie one of the best pies in America. The bakery behind it never entered a contest or mailed a single sample.
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A Small-Town Missouri Thrift Shop Turns Secondhand Donations Into Paid Work For People With Disabilities
Every donated sweater, lamp, and board game at this little shop helps support paid jobs for adults with disabilities. Yep, your bargain hunt can help pay someone's wages.
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8 Pick-Your-Own Farms Near St. Louis Where A Few Dollars Can Fill Your Basket
A farm in Augusta has been growing since 1821, the same year Missouri became a state. Today, five dollars there gets you apples, pumpkins, and unlimited hayrides.
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A Hike To Machu Picchu Inspired A Man To Open This Missouri Peruvian Restaurant With His Mother
A guy hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, sat down in a cafe in Peru, and announced he'd open his own restaurant in ten years. Then he actually did it.
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This Missouri Shopping Spot Has More Than 400 Booths Of Antiques And Handmade Finds
Amish-made candied jalapenos share a roof with Depression-era glass and vintage cameras here. That alone tells you this place plays by its own rules.
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A Missouri Town Spent $1 Million On A Building That Piped Ten Mineral Springs Into One Enormous Water Bar
Ten different mineral springs once flowed into a single bar that was billed as the longest water bar in the world. No soda, no snacks, just water from ten springs, including a...
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Why Schnitzel At This Small-Town Missouri Restaurant Feels Like A Trip To Germany Without The Flight
Six different schnitzels share one menu here, and one of them arrives buried under melted cheese. That alone made me stop scrolling.
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A Missouri Businessman Used His Cleaning-Product Fortune To Buy 843 Acres, Then Left His Private Wilderness To The State
A man made his fortune selling a cleaner called Off, then spent decades buying up wild canyons. He kept going until his land matched the size of Central Park.
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We Ranked 10 Of Missouri’s Best Thrift Stores And Here Are The Results
One Missouri thrift store skips price tags and puts your haul on a scale instead. You pay by the pound, and the bins get rotated throughout the day.
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This Missouri Sandwich Shop Stuffs Pulled Pork, Gouda, And Mac And Cheese Into One Grilled Cheese
Mac and cheese, sweet BBQ pulled pork, and Gouda all share one grilled cheese sandwich here. Yes, all three. On sourdough, no...
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10 Blue-Collar Missouri Restaurants That Serve Huge Portions For Cheap
At one Missouri cafe, the hot rolls never arrive politely on a plate. Servers toss them across the dining room, and you're expected to catch your own.
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This Missouri Indoor Waterpark Has A Lazy River For The Ultimate Slow-Motion Escape
A 600-gallon bucket sits on top of a three-story treehouse, waiting to dump water on everyone below. Somewhere nearby, a lazy river keeps drifting along like nothing dramatic is...
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This Missouri Vintage Store Opens Just One Weekend A Month And Makes You Plan Your Shopping Around It
Most stores would be thrilled to see shoppers lining up at 8 AM, but this one makes them earn it. The doors open just two days a month, so missing a shopping weekend means giving...
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This Missouri Hike Follows An Unusual Ridge That Looks Nothing Like The Farmland Around It
A forested ridge rises up to 250 feet above flat fields of cotton, rice, and soybeans. Geologists actually call it an oddity. I...
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The Giant Missouri Antique Mall With 30,000 Square Feet You’ll Want To Explore Again And Again
Free coffee and cookies greet you at the door of a four-story warehouse packed with more than 160 dealers. That alone feels like a friendly dare.
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This Missouri Apple Orchard Was Named One Of America’s 10 Best By USA Today Readers
Seventeen thousand apple trees grow on one hillside farm, and there's a candy cannon that fires at 1 PM on fall weekends. I can't decide which detail I love more.
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This Missouri Trail Leads To Bluff-Top Boardwalks With Sweeping Osage River Views
A wooden viewing platform here sits 140 feet above a river. That's a long way down, and the view makes every step worth it. The...
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This 188-Acre Missouri Park Hides A Tree-Lined Lake Just Beyond A Busy Shopping District
A shopping trip can come with a surprisingly good outdoor detour. Just beyond the busy retail scene, a limestone path leads toward a lake wrapped in mature trees.
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This Missouri Seed Store Sits Inside A Pioneer Village That Feels Like Another Century
Seed shopping rarely comes with a pioneer village attached. That’s the fun twist here. In Missouri, the store sits among handcrafted...
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This 205-Acre Missouri Lake Is Made For Fishing, Wildlife Watching, And Taking Things Slow
Gas outboard motors are allowed on this 205-acre lake, but motors exceeding 10 horsepower must operate at slow, no-wake speed. That...
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This Nonprofit Missouri Craft Thrift Store Is A Dream Destination For Artists And DIYers
More than 1 million pounds of unwanted craft and school supplies have been rescued from landfills by one quirky shop. Yarn, fabric, cardboard tubes, party goods, and paint all...
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This Missouri Indian Restaurant Serves An All-You-Can-Eat Feast You Can Only Catch Three Days A Week
Butter chicken, rice pudding, and chai can all land on the same plate here, but only three days a week. The rest of the time, that lunch buffet simply isn't happening.
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This Missouri Country Market Is A One-Stop Shop For Bulk Groceries And Homemade Bread
Fresh pumpkin bread comes out of the oven here every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. White and wheat loaves join it on those same three days.
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11 Missouri Restaurants Where Generous Portions And Homemade Food Still Come First
A Missouri restaurant tosses hot dinner rolls across the dining room, and diners catch them midair. I love that detail so much. It...
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This Missouri Discount Grocery Makes Stocking The Freezer Feel Like Finding A Bargain
Frozen scallops at a discount grocery. Buy one, get one deals that sometimes cost just a dollar for the second item. That combo...
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