Cuisine of St. Louis

Culinary culture of the Greater St. Louis area of Missouri, U.S.

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The cuisine of St. Louis is influenced by the city’s German, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and Vietnamese immigrant population and African Americans who migrated from the Southern United States.[1]

The cuisine is prevalent in St. Louis, and extends to other areas in Missouri and Illinois.

## Food associated with St. Louis

[edit]

A number of foods are specific to or known to have originated in St. Louis.[2]

Name | Image | Description

|
|

Frozen custard concrete |  | Ted Drewes developed a “malt shake” with frozen custard so thick that it can be turned upside down without falling out of its cup.[3] Dubbed a "concrete", it was later imitated by a local franchisee of Dairy Queen, who blended soft serve with candy and cookies and developed the product known today as a Blizzard.[4]
Gerber sandwich |  | A Gerber sandwich is a toasted, open-faced sandwich made from halved Italian or French bread, spread with garlic butter, topped with ham and Provel cheese.[5]
Gooey butter cake |  | A type of cake supposedly invented by a German-American baker in St. Louis.[6] It is buttery and sweet, and relatively short and dense compared to other cakes.
Mayfair salad dressing |  | Created by chef Fred Bangerter and head waiter Harry Amos at The Mayfair Room, Missouri's first five-star restaurant in the Mayfair Hotel in downtown St. Louis. While the original recipe is lost, several versions are still served in St. Louis.[7]
Provel cheese |  | A white processed cheese, made from cheddar, Swiss, and provolone.[8]

One claim to its origin is that it was invented on the Hill, specifically for pizza, from Wisconsin’s Hoffman Dairy and Tony Costa, a local St. Louis restaurateur. Ed Imo bought Costa’s Grocery, which gave Imo’s Pizza the exclusive rights to sell Provel cheese in the area. Provel is manufactured by a Kraft Heinz subsidiary.[9]

St. Louis-style barbecue |  | grilled spare ribs, which is notably faster than cooking over indirect heat. The ribs are heavily sauced with a tomato-based sweet and vinegary barbecue sauce.[10]

Pork steaks are cut from pork shoulder and are well-known in St. Louis, but did not originate in the city.

St. Louis-style pizza |  | A type of pizza made with Provel cheese, sweet tomato sauce, and a very thin crust.[11] It is often square-cut.[12] St. Louis-style pizza is served at many local restaurants and chains such as Imo's Pizza.
St. Paul sandwich |  | A type of sandwich served at American Chinese takeout restaurants in St. Louis. It consists of an egg foo young patty (mung bean sprouts, minced white onions) served with dill pickle, white onion, mayonnaise, and lettuce, between two slices of white bread.

Steven Yuen is said to have invented the sandwich in the 1940s for his restaurant Park Chop Suey.[13]

Slinger |  | A late-night diner specialty made from two eggs, hash browns, and a ground beef patty, covered in chili con carne, and topped with cheese and onions.[14]
Toasted ravioli |  | An appetizer made of breaded deep-fried ravioli, dusted with parmesan cheese, and served with marinara sauce. Generally, beef ravioli is breaded and deep fried until the pasta shell becomes crispy. It is commonly served at Italian-American restaurants in the city.[15]

## Chinese American food

[edit]

See also: History of Chinese Americans in St. Louis

Chop suey, from the mid-20th century, especially declined in the West Coast and the East Coast with new Chinese immigration and with more diverse types of food available, while it retained more prominence in the American Midwest, where there was less Chinese immigration. St. Louis, Missouri, as of 2012, continued to have a number of chop suey restaurants in low income neighborhoods.[16] That year, the majority of them were in the northern part of the city, in African-American communities.[17] The restaurants were spread around since the previous Chinatown, Hop Alley, was razed.[16] In 2012, 22 restaurants directly used the words "chop suey" in their names.[17]

## See also

[edit]

* Food portal
* Missouri portal
* Illinois portal

* Cuisine of the Midwestern United States
* Red Hot Riplets

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Corrigan, Patricia (2008). Eating St. Louis : the Gateway City's unique food culture. St. Louis, MO: Doisy College of Health Sciences at Saint Louis University. ISBN 978-1-933370-70-5. OCLC 261136089.
2. ^ Baehr, Cheryl. "9 Classic St. Louis Foods — And Where to Eat Them". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
3. ^ "Why Ted Drewes' Concretes Have Always Been Served Upside Down". Feast Magazine. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
4. ^ Phillips, Stephen (September 1, 1986). "Dairy Queen's Blizzard Is Hot". The New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
5. ^ "Gerbergate | News Stories | St. Louis | St. Louis News and Events | Riverfront Times". 2020-02-15. Archived from the original on 2020-02-15. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
6. ^ Stradley, Linda; Brenda (2015-05-03). "Gooey Butter Cake History and Recipe". What's Cooking America. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
7. ^ Fletcher, Helen (2017-01-24). "This Mayfair Salad recipe comes from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair". www.stlmag.com. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
8. ^ Early, Rosalind. "Yes, You Can Make Provel at Home, Says St. Louis Redditor". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
9. ^ "How Salty-Velvety Provel Cheese Became a St. Louis Icon". Bon Appétit. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
10. ^ Raichlen, Steven (2003). Steven Raichlen's BBQ USA : 425 fiery recipes from all across America. Internet Archive. New York : Workman Pub. ISBN 978-0-7611-2015-5.
11. ^ Richman, Adam (2010). America the Edible: A Hungry History, from Sea to Dining Sea. Rodale. pp. 79–81\. ISBN 978-1605293028.
12. ^ The Lantern's Core. Northwestern University Library Staff Association. 1990. p. 315. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
13. ^ "Missouri's immigrants created the St. Paul sandwich 80 years ago. Now it defines St. Louis cuisine". KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City. 2021-08-24. Archived from the original on 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
14. ^ "Cheap Eats | Riverfront Times". 2015-04-03. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
15. ^ Post, Aaron Hutcherson Washington (2021-10-27). "Toasted ravioli is a cheesy, crispy party-time dipper". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
16. ^ a b "From Far East to Midwest: chop suey's last stand". St. Louis Public Radio. 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2025-04-14.
17. ^ a b Bogan, Jesse (2012-02-14). "Chop suey: Flourishing chop suey shops fill a need in north St. Louis". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2025-04-14.

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