At just 31, the chef’s impressive 17-year restaurant résumé includes time at Juniper, Byrd & Barrel, Basso, Privado and Louie, as well as late, great favorites such as Monarch, The Libertine and Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant at the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM). Those last three restaurants would prove the most formative for McDonald early in his career: At SLAM, McDonald worked with chef Cary McDowell, now with Euclid Hospitality Group, and at Monarch and The Libertine with James Beard-nominated chef Josh Galliano, now at Companion.

At Louie (706 De Mun Avenue, Clayton; 314-300-8188), Matt McGuire has created the sort of restaurant where everyone wants to eat — which makes it an incredibly difficult reservation to score. The small, shotgun dining room, simply appointed with wooden tables, exposed ductwork and a wall of striking, floral-print wallpaper, fills quickly. If the dining room is lovely in its simplicity, the food is even more so.

And it isn’t just because they offer a dry Lambrusco—although that does have a lot to do with it,” says Castellano of the new DeMun neighborhood restaurant from St. Louis chef Matt McGuire. With an Italian-inspired menu and short but well-curated Italian wine list, it’s a hometown gem that’s generated quite a bit of buzz since opening in December. “Everything about Louie is just right,” Castellano says.

Dave and Kara Bailey, Baileys’ Restaurants: “From us, it’s The Inebriation from Baileys’ Chocolate Bar, with layers of chocolate stout cake and bourbon ganache accented with caramel and passion fruit—it’s an item that’s been on the menu for 18 years. Or The Salty Caramel shake from Range on Shaw. The shakes are all good, but this is the best one to dip your fries in and eat alongside a burger.

Louie's is a cheesesteak shop on steroids—with deliciously messy, gooey cheese dripping off of each perfectly grilled bite. The East Coast fries are especially indulgent, topped with top-secret house-made seasoning and "showered in cheese". You can find Louie through the locating feature on the website's homepage, but be ready to take a nap afterwards from the food coma.

You’ll swear that this oven is occasionally interrupted in its normal task of producing molten iron to turn out a pie or two. The frog-mouthed hellspout exhales temperatures that bake a pizza in less than a minute—“and I have to turn the pizza three times to keep it from burning,” says the restaurant’s pizzaiola. The Margherita’s superb.

Louie, a small Italian eatery in the DeMun neighborhood, truly embodies understated elegance, from its paintings, photographs, and plates decorating the walls, to its minimalistic but carefully curated menu. It's no wonder that Louie has won best restaurant in St. Louis on numerous occasions.

Speaking of foodie neighborhoods, the Demun neighborhood is another high up on my list. Louie has a great ambiance and even more incredible food. It’s right by Sasha’s if you want a nightcap or Clementine’s if dessert is more your style.

If you are looking for a hidden gem, look no further than Louie on Demun. It’s somewhat hidden with a sign no larger than a shoe box. You can just tell that all their food is made with pride and love (killer pizza and pasta).

Steak Louie Chef Paul Listenberger fuses St. Louis flavors into the ordinary cheesesteak. With local ingredients and a Hill inspired sauce, Steak Louie takes the cheesesteak from ordinary into extraordinary.

706 De Mun AveClayton, MO 63105(314) 300-8188 Visit Website See Menu Open in Google Maps. Louie, which opened in June 2016, is a modern restaurant specializing in Italian delicacies.

Even a great restaurant is fortunate to create one dish so immutable in its design and so beloved by regulars that it becomes known by the most generic term possible.