Saint Louis, Missouri

St. Louis: Underrated, Overdue

St. Louis does not get the credit it deserves. It is frequently omitted from lists of American travel destinations despite having a world-class free art museum, one of the most unusual museums in the country, 1,300 acres of urban park, and a food scene that has generated genuine national attention in recent years. It is also, by the standards of most large American cities, extremely affordable.

The Gateway Arch

The Arch is 630 feet high and was completed in 1965 to designs by Eero Saarinen. It is a remarkable piece of structural engineering: each leg is a hollow stainless steel tube, and internal tram cars carry four people at a time up a curved track to the observation deck at the top. The tram pods rotate slightly as they ascend to stay level, which is disconcerting in an interesting way.

The ride up takes 4 minutes. At the top, small windows look east over the Mississippi and west over the city. The experience is atmospheric in bad weather especially, with clouds sometimes below the summit. Book online (nps.gov/jeff) and budget an hour including queuing. The tram books up in summer.

Beneath the Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion is free with Arch access and does a solid job covering the Lewis and Clark expedition, Native American displacement, and 19th-century migration.

City Museum

Describing City Museum is difficult. It is inside a former shoe factory, but it is not a conventional museum. Bob Cassilly, a sculptor, converted the building over decades into a multi-floor maze of repurposed industrial objects: old school buses on the roof, concrete caves and tunnels through the basement, a 10-storey slide, climbing structures made from salvaged metal, a functioning ferris wheel on the roof. Adults climb through it alongside children and both get equally confused about where they are.

It is one of the more genuinely original things in American tourism and costs around $20 entry. Go on a weekday if possible. Friday and Saturday nights become a bar atmosphere with cocktails and DJ sets, which is a different experience entirely.

Forest Park

Forest Park covers 1,371 acres and is considerably larger than Central Park. The main free attractions within it include:

  • The Saint Louis Art Museum: strong on German Expressionism, pre-Columbian art, and 19th-century American painting.
  • The Saint Louis Zoo: consistently ranked among the best free zoos in the country.
  • The Missouri History Museum: good on the 1904 World’s Fair, which put St. Louis on the international map.
  • The Jewel Box, a 1936 Art Deco greenhouse with seasonal flower displays.

Renting bikes near the park entrance is the practical way to see multiple museums without exhaustion.

Food

Toasted ravioli is a St. Louis invention: pasta stuffed with meat, deep-fried, served with marinara. The origin story involves a chef at Charlie Gitto’s on Edwards accidentally dropping ravioli in breadcrumb-coated fry oil. Whether or not this is true, Charlie Gitto’s still serves them.

Imo’s Pizza is a regional orthodoxy: thin unleavened crust, Provel cheese (a processed blend of provolone, Swiss, and cheddar that exists essentially only here), cut into squares rather than wedges. People who grew up here love it; outsiders often need time to adjust.

For something more contemporary, the Grove neighbourhood on Manchester Avenue and the Cherokee Street area south of downtown have developed food and bar scenes over the past decade. Pitted Bar-B-Que on Jefferson is old-school St. Louis barbecue, specifically the pork steak tradition unique to the region. Olive and Oak in Webster Groves (10 minutes south) is arguably the best restaurant in the metro area, a proper American bistro.

Ted Drewes Frozen Custard on Chippewa Street, open since 1929, serves frozen custard in concrete form (so thick a spoon stands upright in it). Queue. It is worth it.

Getting There and Around

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is served by all major US carriers. The MetroLink light rail runs from the airport to downtown and Forest Park for $2.50. The city is generally car-friendly and walkable in specific neighbourhoods, less so between them.

St. Louis has a complicated relationship with its crime statistics, which are high and affect specific parts of the city. The tourist areas, Forest Park, the Arch, the Grove, downtown, and the suburbs are all fine. Check current advice and use common sense.