Ten years ago, an intrepid restaurant critic at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch decided to put a hefty meal on his food-writing plate: listing, and ranking, the top 100 restaurants in St. Louis.
For Ian Froeb, the effort meant months of planning and dozens of interviews. The result was the STL 100 — a project still running a decade later.
“A restaurant critic often is writing about new restaurants,” Froeb said. ”But I felt that some great work was getting lost that I wanted to cover — but I couldn't also write only about old restaurants. So, this project seemed like a great way to get out there, to go back to some restaurants, see who was living up to the standard they set when they were that exciting, new restaurant.”
Over the years, Froeb has been witness to trends, twists and abrupt closures in the St. Louis food industry. Fourteen restaurants have appeared on every STL 100 list in the past decade — many others have closed for good.
Reflecting on the project’s decade of rankings, Froeb said he still expects great things every time he sits down to a new year’s STL 100. “I hope more younger chefs, or chefs who haven't opened a restaurant yet, find the courage and the opportunity to keep pushing,” he said. “The food scene only grows when people try things that are new or different.”
On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, Froeb discussed his latest rankings — including No. 1 spot Sado and Pavillion — and shared his insights from his decades-long career in food criticism.
To hear the full conversation with Ian Froeb, including highlights from his top-ranked restaurants of 2025, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
