Wow. It is easy to see why Charlie Gitto's has garnered 4 1/2 stars overall on this site. It was…read morethat good. I was taught by brother that you should book your first dinner reservation as after flying all day, one is tired, and not able to make good decisions...hence eating at a TGI Fridays in New Orleans on our first night. I have heard about that since. Charlie's had the perfect vibe going as it has a great reputation. Wendy was also simply amazing and shared may stories of St Louis and was just a tremendous server. The only thing that tricked us was the Toasted Ravioli. It has meat in it, and my wife is vegetarian. The Arancini was terrific and the table bread was also quite tasty. My wife had the Manicotti and I had the Chicken Lemonata. So great. The bottle of the house Gitto's Red was the perfect wine as well. A great experience at a restaurant that is a legend in St. Louis and I am glad it was our first meal in the city.

We enjoyed our visit to Charlie Gitto's On the Hill. We had a 5:00 reservation and arrived about 20…read moreminutes early but were seated right away. The vibe inside was warm, cozy, and sophisticated. There is also a small patio area that seemed to have a much different vibe. We were seated in a busy area of the restaurant, so there was frequent traffic passing by our table, which took away from the vibe a bit. It didn't bother us but I can see how it could bother others. Everyone we interacted with from the hostess to our waiter Brian and the other servers passing by our table, was friendly and welcoming. The manager even stopped to chat with us while we waited for our Uber. Now for the food, we started with the toasted ravioli we had heard so much about and it was good. For the main dish, we went with the lobster spaghetti which was one of the day's specials. The portion size was generous making it the perfect dish to share with my son. The dish was filled with lobster, shrimp, and other seafood, all tossed in a rich buttery sauce. We both really enjoyed it. Even though we were full from dinner, we didn't want to leave without trying dessert so we took a slice of carrot cake back to the hotel. It made a great late night snack. The cake was moist and the cream cheese icing was delicious. Overall, this is a nice spot for an Italian dinner.

The food was fabulous: fresh, hot, flavorful. The service was top-notch. Andres was our amazing…read moreserver but you could see well-trained professional staff from the hostess to the kitchen team & expeditor who brought piping hot food to our table as soon as it was ready. The restaurant is traditionally lovely casual with wood beams, rock details & outside dining. An excellent dining experience!

I was visiting St. Louis for the first time and I wanted to try foods that St. Louis was known for…read more(according to online research) and toasted ravioli kept popping up. Being from the Bay Area in California, I had never heard of toasted ravioli so I added it to my itinerary. I found this place on Yelp and saw that Guy Fieri (another Bay Area native) had featured it on his show so I settled on Anthonino's. I walked over from the Botanical Garden on a Friday afternoon around 12pm so that I could get a better feel of the streets, locals, surrounding shops, and the Hill neighborhood. The area was very calm, clean, safe and had a sense of pride. I enjoyed the sights and sounds throughout the streets and by the time I arrived at the front door, I was super excited to eat. I was seated quickly at the bar and given a menu and water. The bar staff were friendly and pleasant to talk to and also took my order within a few minutes. The restaurant quickly filled up behind me and it was a lively environment. I really appreciated that the TVs had sports shows on (huge sports fan and was in town to visit Busch Stadium) so it gives you something to look at. I ordered the toasted ravioli and a tiramisu. As a solo traveler, I have to limit how much I can order so this was the perfect amount for me. The food was amazing and I wished that I could have tried more plates. The ravioli had great flavors and texture and the tiramisu was so creamy and fresh. I would definitely return if the opportunity presented itself. The customer service from all staff members was amazing! Thank you for this experience :)

Our waiter was excellent as was all of the staff. The food was superior and the portions were the…read moreright size to leave you satisfied but not stuffed. We chose the 4 course option.

Classic Italian food. Do the 4 course tasting. We did 3 of them and turned our dinner into a 12…read morecourse tasting menu by sharing everything. We had the crudo, Gnoccho fritto, smoked burrata, egg ravioli (GET THIS) , tagliolini, Cacio e Pepe, Barramundi, steak, lamb, chocolate lava tort, cheesecake, and Panna cotta. Corkage was a fair $30. Service was friendly. I liked that our server offered us an aerator or decanter for the wine that we brought; that was a nice touch. Ambiance was nice. I really liked the art on the walls, and they were quite affordable. Parking was a biiiiiiish to find. We risked it and used the Schlafly lot.

This was a little hidden gym for me to try out recently for dinner. You have to utilize street…read moreparking so that can be a little difficult to find depending on how busy it is. On the outside it looks smaller, but there's a lot of dining space inside the staff is very friendly and helpful with menu suggestions. They also have a small patio area for outside dining as it gets warmer outside. They have a wide variety on their drink menu and a large wine selection. They start your meal off with bread and hummus, which was pretty tasty. I got the rigatoni with shrimp and it was a pretty good dish. I think it could've used a little more seasoning, but overall it was a solid meal.

Best Lasagna in St. Louis. The portions are huge (at least the lasagna was). The lasagna was served…read morewith a sauce and I was unsure I would enjoy this but it was AMAZING! I had left overs for 2 days. This was our first visit and it was a Friday night and very busy. We sat at the bar for dinner as we were going to the theater and could not afford to waste time. Service was very kind and attentive, offered several recommendations for dinner. I should have made reservations so Make the reservations, it will be worth it. I also do not typically like toasted ravioli but these were also excellent. The service was great! I would highly recommend and will absolutely return.

While visiting St. Louis for a trade show, our group was looking forward to trying Mama's on The…read moreHill after hearing several recommendations. I never actually saw the inside of the restaurant because one member of our party needed handicap accessibility, and unfortunately the entrance only had steps with no alternate accessible entry available. Thankfully, it was a beautiful evening and we were able to dine comfortably at one of the outdoor tables. Our server was kind, attentive, and very helpful throughout the meal. We started by sharing a few appetizers including the toasted ravioli, which St. Louis is famous for, along with calamari. Both were enjoyable and a great way to begin the meal. The meals came with bread, butter, and a bottle of seasoned oil for dipping, which was a nice touch. My entrée included a salad with a sweet Italian dressing that I absolutely loved -- honestly, I would have been perfectly happy eating a larger portion of just the salad. For my main course, I chose the veal parmigiana. The flavor was good, although the veal itself was slightly tough, and the pasta side came with shells rather than traditional spaghetti. To finish the evening, we shared tiramisu and a cannoli for dessert. Both were enjoyable, but the cannoli definitely won the flavor battle for our table. Overall, despite the accessibility concern, we enjoyed the experience, the service, and many parts of the meal.

My family and I live across the river in Illinois, and we love dining on The Hill whenever we get…read morethe chance. One of our traditions is trying a different Italian restaurant each visit based on reviews and recommendations from friends. This time, our party of five chose Mama's, and for most of us it was our first visit. I got a reservation weeks in advance and was clear about what we were celebrating. Starting with the positives, our server was friendly and attentive throughout the evening, and the food was good. Every entree at our table was enjoyable, and nobody left disappointed with their meal. Unfortunately, the overall dining experience fell short of our expectations because of the atmosphere. We were celebrating a significant occasion and were seated in the basement dining area. The space felt very sterile, with white walls, white floors, and a white ceiling. It lacked the warmth, charm, and character that many of us associate with dining on The Hill. The room was also packed with large parties, making it quite loud. Rather than feeling like a special night out, the atmosphere reminded me more of a banquet hall or VFW gathering than an Italian restaurant known for celebrations and family traditions. For me, great dining is about more than just the food. While the meal itself was good, ambiance, setting, and overall experience matter too, especially when celebrating something important. Based on this visit, I wouldn't recommend Mama's for a special occasion, and I don't see myself returning. Good food and friendly service can only carry an experience so far when the atmosphere doesn't match the occasion.

My mom and I used to come here a lot when I was little, so she decided she wanted to run it back…read moreand go here for her birthday lunch. It really is consistently good and we've never had a bad experience here. We started with cocktails and I had the espresso martini. It was very good! She had more of a fruity martini and also enjoyed it. They give you bread which is always a plus, and we started with an appetizer of mozzarella fritti which was fresh mozzarella and fried. Delicious. We also obviously had to get the salad and it was so good with the house dressing. We had the chicken piccata and the pollo Soto. My piccata came with a side of pasta and was very tasty. I loved the lemon and the capers. Our server was kind and helpful. I definitely recommend making a reservation because we went at noon on a Saturday and it was poppin! I'll be back :)

We've been to "The Hill" in South City countless times, but we'd never tried Zia's. That changed a…read morecouple of days ago. Honestly? We've been missing out. The interior is nothing fancy, but it has that standard charm of The Hill. The service was excellent, we had Katie. She could have told us she went to WashU and majored in waitressing and we would have believed her. Prompt, professional but slightly personable. Good combo. The food was GREAT. We couldn't decide which was better, the Chicken Picatta or the Chicken Speidini. They were both super high quality poultry mixed with a rich and flavorful sauce, yum. Katie even let us make the side shells "pink", by mixing marinara and Alfredo for us. The only reason I'm subtracting a star is that our salads were a bit wilted -- my Mom kept running into some weird looking greens. Regardless, we'll be back.

I loveeee pastaria!! It's dangerous how close I live because I do frequent this place often and I…read morecan't believe I hadn't left a review yet! I pop in for gelato frequently, but I also enjoy the pistachio raviolis a lot. You really can't go wrong with any pasta choice, and I haven't tried their pizza but it looks and smells amazing. I usually enjoy my dinner with a glass of wine -- they have a great selection. If it's nice out, we try to sit outside. I do recommend getting a reservation because they get really busy during peak dinner hours! The staff is always friendly, from the hostess to the waiters to the bartenders, I've never had a bad experience. Highly recommend this place!

What a great find in Clayton. Was in town visiting my daughter and was looking for a causal spot…read morewith good food. I stumbled across Pastaria and was immediately drawn to the place. I sat at the bar and was immediately greeted and given a menu. I ordered the Citrus Salad and Fried Risotto Balls. OMG the risotto balls are something that cannot be passed up. Simply amazing. The salad was so good, could have used a touch of acid but was superb. The service was top notch and will not only be coming back but recommending Pastaria to anyone that I like. The restaurant vibe is fantastic. Welcoming and hopping but not too loud that you couldn't hear yourself think.

Memorable pre-St Louis Marathon pasta dinner at the legendary Cunetto's!…read more Great service made us feel right at home. Huge portions of delicious pasta! Delicious desserts to finish the night.

We dined at Cunetto House of Pasta on what seems to be a very slow night for a "Hill" restaurant…read moreespecially for a Friday night. Absolutely no wait for a walk in table; I know why now. The service was slow and the food (except for the Tortellini Bolognese) was not edible. The sole forno was the worst offender. It tasted like fish and raw flour with no seasoning. If you want to recreate the flavor imagine eating a half tablespoon of canned tuna with a tablespoon of flour. The service was bad because the server was taking care of far too many tables. She was lovely, but management set her up to fail. I don't post bad reviews without contacting establishments first which I did, I was told the owner or someone else would follow up with me soon. So far sixteen days later nothing... maybe they are working on the recipes.

Maggianos, you hold such a special place in my heart. We had Maggianos catered at my wedding in…read more2014 and my sisters rehearsal dinner was at Maggianos in 2023. My family would do yearly holiday dinners here with extended family. Such a classic, inviting ambiance with delicious, comforting food. But unfortunately the last few visits were not the Maggianos I remember. They've surely been impacted by the economy and many of the changes are due to that, such as smaller portions for higher prices - RIP free pasta to take home. But there are some things that are perhaps creative choices that left me wanting more. A biggie is the change in bread - made just a few months ago according to our server. I adored the crisp on the outside, soft on the inside pillowy loaf you would get along with olive oil, Parmesan and fresh cracked pepper in the past. I was surprised to see rolls and butter brought to our table as the bread service. I gave this new roll a chance but it was overly salty and not very good. The bread was what I look forward to most when I go to Maggianos. Please bring the OG bread back! That said, one of my fave entrees - the spaghetti and meatballs - still was delicious (and I was slightly nervous with a name change in the menu - wagyu meatballs). Service has not been as good either. The Maggianos of yesterday reigns supreme - hopefully Maggianos can make some changes to bring back the original charm and taste they had established for years.

Went to Maggiano's Little Italy with a party of 10. We had reservations and showed up on time but…read moredidn't get seated until about 15 to 20 minutes later. It was really crowded so we understood, and they do have a bar area to wait which was nice. Service was pretty slow, but our server was helpful when we had questions. The food was good overall. My favorite was the Our Famous Rigatoni "D" with chicken and mushrooms. It had really good flavor, I just wish it came out hot instead of lukewarm. Overall, decent food but the experience itself wasn't the best.

This is your traditional Italian restaurant. The weight staff was super nice and helpful. Our…read morewaiter was actually amazing. They had a great menu with lots of options. Everything came out quickly and tasted good. It was cutely decorated on the inside. We had a reservation, but the night we came there were tornado warnings and so it wasn't super crowded. For us the chocolate covered strawberries was a stand out.

What a hidden gem! We heard about this place due to their "Eviction notice pasta" (aka penne…read moreamatriciana) for very pregnant people. We called on Saturday evening and were able to get a reservation on the same night. Turns out I've driven by 100 times and never noticed. The vibe is white tablecloth, intimate lighting, and attentive service but somehow still casual. I love that they have the story of the family business right there on the first page of the menu. We had the pasta that we came for and the tortellini as well as the escarola and calamari to start. The escarola was great. The escarola was great, everything else was "pretty good" as my husband put it. In other words, the pasta didn't blow us away. But, the atmosphere, the drinks, and the quick, attentive service sure did. Due to Yelp reviews, we also got the chocolate ravioli which was DECADENT and like no desert I've had before. We'd come back for a date night or to entertain visitors!