Highest-Rated Italian Restaurants In The St. Louis Area Right Now, According To Diners
How many Italian restaurants can one city possibly need? St. Louis seems happy to keep finding out, with neighborhood favorites, old-school dining rooms, and busy kitchens serving...
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This Missouri Deli’s Massive Muffuletta Feeds Two And Still Draws A Line At Lunch
Old blues records playing near the ceiling, the scent of cured meats and briny olive salad hitting before the door even closes, and a room full of people happily waiting for something...
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This Mile-Long Missouri Cave Tour Has No Steps And Stays 53 Degrees Year-Round
That air rolled out of the cave entrance like someone had left a refrigerator door open in the middle of an Ozarks summer, and I actually laughed out loud. I had driven out on...
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This Missouri Burger Counter Has Been Grilling Its Famous Onion-Topped Burgers Since 1907
The smell of grilled onions decided my lunch before I even saw the menu. That modest brick building with a green awning in Sikeston, Missouri has been flipping burgers since 1907,...
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This Free Missouri Park Hides Massive Sculptures Along Its Woodland Trails
A giant eyeball staring back at me across a green field made me laugh out loud in my car the moment I pulled into the lot. That was my introduction to a Missouri sculpture park,...
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You Can Tour One Of America’s Last Hand-Cranked Rotating Jails For Free In Missouri
A jail that spun its cells like a lazy Susan sounded like a joke the first time I heard about it. Then I found myself parked on a quiet Missouri street, looking up at a squat brick...
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This 1.6-Mile Missouri Trail Climbs To A 120-Foot Bluff Above The River Valley
That view from the top of a Missouri bluff caught me completely off guard. The drive out runs past farm fields and quiet county roads, so the moment the land starts folding into...
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This Family-Owned Missouri Mexican Restaurant Makes Fresh Tortillas From Scratch Every Day
The smell of warm corn masa hit me before I even reached the door of that Missouri spot. I had pulled off the road expecting a quick lunch, and instead I found a place I keep thinking...
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This Family-Owned Missouri Mexican Restaurant Has Sold More Than Eight Million Tacos
Worn booths, faded portraits of old Mexican presidents, and fluorescent lights that have been buzzing the same way since 1975. That is the scene inside this Missouri spot, a place...
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This Missouri Farm Lets You Get Lost Inside A Sunflower Maze Before Summer Ends
Summer in Missouri is full of fleeting pleasures, and few are as golden as a walk through a sunflower maze. This farm just outside St. Louis opens its fields for a limited time...
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A Customer Invented This Cheesy Missouri Sandwich And The Deli Has Served It Ever Since
A customer once paid a small fee to use the kitchen at a Missouri deli, and the sandwich he invented that day has been on the menu ever since. The Gerber Special is an open-faced...
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This Missouri Berry Farm Bakes Giant Blueberry Thunder Muffins Steps From The Fields
The blueberry field is right there, and the muffins come out of the oven just steps away. That is the simple rhythm of a Missouri farm where the bakery sits next to the bushes.
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This Family-Owned Missouri Dairy Farm Lets You Tour The Processing Plant And See How Milk Travels From Cow To Bottle
Milk travels from cow to bottle in under a day at a Missouri dairy farm, and visitors can see the whole process on a guided tour. You can meet the cows, watch the bottling line,...
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This Massive Missouri Spring Is A Dreamy Day Trip That Will Make You Forget Big City Stress
The water erupts from the base of a limestone bluff like it has been holding its breath for a thousand years. Millions of gallons per day, cold and impossibly clear, pour into...
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This Oklahoma Deli Bakes Its Sandwich Bread In-House Before Stacking It With Thick-Cut Pastrami
The smell of fresh-baked bread is the first thing you notice. A deli in Oklahoma has decided that good sandwiches start with good bread, so they bake it themselves every morning.
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This Oklahoma Italian Restaurant Fits Five Family Recipes Onto One Combination Plate
A single plate holds five different recipes, each one passed down through the same family. That is the deal at this Oklahoma Italian restaurant, where a combination plate offers...
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This Forgotten Missouri Mansion Burned Down But Its Stone Walls Never Got The Memo
A wealthy businessman once dreamed of a European castle perched on a Missouri bluff. He brought in Scottish stonemasons and quarried stone from the land itself.
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This Oklahoma Café Covers Its Famous Chicken-Fried Steak In Jalapeño Cream Gravy
A familiar plate of chicken-fried steak gets a twist in Oklahoma. The breaded cutlet arrives crisp and golden, but the gravy is the true star.
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This Missouri Mountain Retreat Lets You Sleep In A Tiny Home Built Inside A Train Car
A retired Southern Pacific caboose, once left to rot and even set on fire, has been reborn as a cozy mountain retreat in Missouri. It sits on an eighteen-acre forested property,...
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This Missouri Creamery Churns Every Scoop In Small Batches With Flavors You Never See Coming
Some ice cream shops play it safe with the usual suspects. This Missouri creamery takes a different route, churning small-batch scoops with flavors that catch you off guard in...
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This 30,000-Square-Foot Missouri Antique Mall Has Aisles Of Vendor Booths And An Entire Furniture Section
You walk in for a quick browse and emerge three hours later with a trunk full of things you did not know you needed. That is the danger of this sprawling antique mall in Missouri.
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This Free Missouri Museum Lets You Try To Lift A Real 27-Pound Gold Bar
A solid gold bar, worth nearly half a million dollars, sits inside a glass case. It weighs twenty-seven pounds. And you are allowed...
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This Missouri Restaurant Serves Multi-Course Dinners Inside A Restored 1891 Victorian Mansion
A reservation is not just recommended here, it is required. Twenty?four hours in advance, you choose your meal and claim your seat inside a grand Victorian home that has stood...
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This Tiny Missouri Cafe Serves Handmade Pierogi Beside Bowls Of Hearty Polish Stew
A tiny storefront in Missouri is serving some of the most authentic Polish food you will find this side of the Atlantic. The...
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This Missouri Cafe Stacks Three Tempura-Fried Pork Cutlets Into One Famous Sandwich
The counter holds just enough space to order and step aside. No website, no phone number, and no advertising, just a steady stream of people who already know the address by heart.
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This Missouri Dining Escape Feels Like A Scenic Retreat Above The Ozark Mountains
Perched on a high bluff, this dining room in Missouri feels like it is floating above the treetops. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the rolling hills and the shimmering lake below.
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This Oklahoma Swimming Park Feels Like A Sandy Beach Getaway Without The Coast
You could almost mistake it for a coastal getaway, but the sand beneath your feet is pure Oklahoma. A sprawling swim beach stretches along a shimmering lake, where the water stays...
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The Handmade Crab Cake At This Casual Missouri Restaurant Is Worth A Road Trip
Some crab cakes are an afterthought, but these are the reason you plan a drive. A casual seafood spot in Missouri has quietly built a reputation for crab cakes so good they have...
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This Missouri Italian Restaurant Invented The Chicken Spiedini That Became A Kansas City Staple
A skewer of tender chicken, bathed in lemon butter and kissed by the grill, became an accidental icon. In 1989, a restaurateur in Missouri took a traditional Italian dish and gave...
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This Missouri Waterfront Restaurant Gets So Packed On Summer Weekends That Arriving Early Is The Smart Move
The boats start lining up at the marina before the lunch rush even begins. Families and groups of friends stake their claim on the patio, knowing that a good spot on a summer weekend...
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This Century-Old Missouri Italian Market Still Makes Its Original Fennel Sausage
A single recipe has survived nearly a century inside a corner market tucked into an old St. Louis neighborhood. The original...
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Prices Drop Every Day Until Bin Items Cost Just 50 Cents At This Oklahoma Discount Store
What if you could walk into a store and watch the prices fall every single day? At a bin store in Oklahoma, that is exactly what happens.
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This Missouri Diner Has Served Buttermilk Pancakes And Bottomless Coffee Since 1947
A warm stack of buttermilk pancakes and a cup of coffee that never runs dry. That is the simple promise a Missouri diner has kept since the late nineteen forties.
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A Full Pound Of Bacon Is Stacked Onto The BLT At This Missouri Soda Fountain
A sandwich so tall it defies logic. A full pound of crispy bacon stacked between two slices of toast. That is what you get at...
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Blake Shelton Opened This Oklahoma Small-Town Restaurant Where Live Country Music Plays Every Day
A country music superstar turned his biggest hit into a brick-and-mortar gathering place right in his own backyard. The doors swung open in 2017, bringing live music, comfort food,...
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This Cozy Missouri Cafe Was Named One Of America’s Best New Restaurants
A Palestinian family welcomed diners to their new cafe in 2021, serving hummus made the old-world way and falafel studded with sumac onions.
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The Trees Stand In Perfect Rows At This Oklahoma Forest Right Before The Uneasy Feeling Sets In
The trees stretch ahead in perfect, unbroken lines, each one exactly six feet from its neighbor in a grid that repeats in every direction.
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This Missouri Steakhouse Serves A Three-Course Prime Rib Dinner That Makes Sundays Feel Special
A proper Sunday dinner is a rare thing these days, but this Missouri steakhouse has been protecting the tradition since the nineteen sixties. The prime rib dinner arrives in three...
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This Oklahoma Brunch Spot Tops Its Famous Chicken Pot Pie With An Entire Fried Chicken Leg
A classic pot pie is already the peak of comfort food. But one Oklahoma brunch spot decided that a buttery biscuit crust and creamy filling weren't quite enough.
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The Missouri Lake Resort That Inspired The Blue Cat Lodge On Netflix’s Ozark Is Still Open
The show may have wrapped, but the real-life inspiration is still welcoming guests. This lakeside resort in Missouri served as the blueprint for the fictional Blue Cat Lodge, a...
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This Vertical Missouri Cave Tour Descends 265 Stairs Between Walls Packed With Crystal Formations
A staircase descends into the earth, and the air turns cool and still. Each step takes you deeper into a world that has been forming for millions of years.
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This Oklahoma Taco Shop Never Closes And Serves Huaraches Pupusas And Tortas Around The Clock
A taco shop that never closes is a rare comfort, especially in the middle of the night. This Oklahoma spot keeps the lights on and the griddle hot around the clock.
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This Old-School Missouri Meat Market Still Custom-Cuts Steaks And Makes More Than A Dozen Sausages In-House
The scent of fresh meat and spices greets you before you even reach the counter. A family-run market in Missouri has been custom-cutting steaks and making sausages in-house for...
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This New Missouri Market Has Entire Aisles Devoted To Foods From Around The World
The produce comes from four continents. The dry goods aisles are divided by region. Hand-cut meats and housemade international...
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One Of The Quietest Missouri Lake Beaches Within An Hour Of Springfield Has Sand Clear Water And Plenty Of Room To Unwind
You can trade the city noise for the gentle lap of water without spending half your day in the car. Just a short drive from Springfield, a quiet stretch of shoreline offers an...
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This Quiet Missouri Lake Gets Even Better Once The Summer Crowds Finally Leave
The summer crowds have finally packed up their boats and headed home. The lake settles back into its natural rhythm, and a familiar quiet returns to the shoreline.
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This Remote Missouri Lodge Serves Reservation-Only Dinners You Can Take Back To Your River Cabin
You don't have to dress up for a fancy dinner here. Tucked deep in the Missouri Ozarks, this remote lodge serves reservation-only meals that you can enjoy right at the lodge or...
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The Oklahoma Ghost Town The Government Bought Out After Toxic Mines Made It Unsafe To Live There
Some towns fade slowly, their stories whispered by peeling paint and boarded windows. This one was erased by design, a community so poisoned by what lay beneath it that the government...
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This Short Missouri Trail Leads To The Exact Spot Where Mastodon Bones Were Unearthed
The trail narrows as it drops toward the creek, and the air shifts with the cool breath of the limestone bluffs. It is a short walk, barely half a mile, but it leads somewhere...
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This Oklahoma Italian Market Ages Its Handmade Cheese By Hanging It From The Ceiling
A gourd-shaped cheese hangs above the deli counter in a small Oklahoma market, tied with twine and left to dry. It looks like a decoration, but it is actually the heart of the...
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You Can Walk The Remains Of A Civil War Fort At This Free Missouri Historic Site
Some battlefields fade into farmland, but this one in Missouri has held its ground. The earthwork walls of Fort Davidson still rise from the valley floor, a surviving piece of...
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This Wild Oklahoma Fishing Area Lets You Camp On A Bluff Above A Waterfall
The sound of rushing water drifts up from the river below, a constant reminder of the wild setting you have chosen for the night.
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This Missouri Getaway Lets You Sleep Inside A Restored 1958 Caboose With A Cupola Loft
The whistle may have fallen silent, but the adventure is just beginning. Step aboard a beautifully restored 1958 railway caboose in Missouri, where the charm of a bygone era meets...
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This Easy Three-Mile Oklahoma Trail Circles A Peaceful Lake Without Leaving Town
A morning run or an evening stroll feels different when the path stays close to the water. A paved loop in Oklahoma traces the shoreline of a calm lake, offering a steady three-mile...
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This Free Missouri Wildlife Drive Takes You Straight Through Herds Of Elk And Bison
Roll down your windows, shift into a low gear, and let the wild come to you. At a free wildlife drive in Missouri, herds of elk and bison roam across five hundred acres of wooded...
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This Bizarre Missouri Riverfront Landmark Was Built From Six Boats Planted In The Ground
A circle of boats standing upright in a Missouri field sounds like a joke, but it is very real. Six fiberglass vessels burst vertically from the ground, arranged in a formation...
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This Vast Oklahoma Nature Park Lets Visitors Dig For Crystals Found Nowhere Else
You step onto a landscape so white and flat it feels like another planet, and the real treasure is hiding just beneath your feet.
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This Sprawling Missouri Garden Center Is Packed With Enough Plants To Make An Afternoon Disappear
You step through the gates and the world suddenly feels a little greener. A nine-acre oasis in Missouri, this sprawling garden center is the kind of place where a quick stop for...
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People Drive Across Missouri To Squeeze Into This Tiny Pizza Shop Before The Pies Sell Out
Some pizza places rely on gimmicks. This one relies on a simple, unwavering commitment to doing things right. A tiny, unassuming...
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