Where to Eat on The Hill: A Local's Guide to St Louis's Little Italy
Revised July 17, 2026
Is The Hill in St. Louis still Italian?
Yes — The Hill is still one of the largest and most intact Italian-American neighborhoods in the U.S., a 52-square-block enclave south of Forest Park full of family-owned trattorias, delis, bakeries, and markets. For a sit-down dinner, the classics are Charlie Gitto’s, Mama’s on the Hill, Zia’s, Cunetto House of Pasta, Anthonino’s Taverna, and Guido’s. For the counters that make the neighborhood, hit Gioia’s Deli (its James Beard–honored Hot Salami sandwich is essential), Adriana’s, cash-only Missouri Baking Company, and the DiGregorio’s and Volpi markets. The Hill is also the birthplace of toasted ravioli — claimed by both Mama’s and Charlie Gitto’s.
Keep reading ↓Turn off Kingshighway into The Hill and the city changes key. The streets narrow, the houses shrink to tidy brick shotguns with Italian flags and fire-hydrants painted red, white, and green, and the smell coming out of the corner storefronts is garlic and baking bread. This is one of the largest and most intact Italian-American neighborhoods left in the country — a 52-square-block pocket of St. Louis where families have been feeding their neighbors for a hundred years.
Maybe you’re coming for a special dinner, or to settle the great toasted-ravioli argument, or just to stand in Gioia’s at lunchtime and point at a sandwich. However you got here, The Hill rewards showing up hungry — and knowing which door to walk through.
This is your guide to eating on The Hill: the old-guard trattorias, the century-old delis and bakeries, the markets worth a cooler in the trunk, and the one genuinely new spot worth knowing. Consider it the map; you bring the appetite.
📌 Planning a Hill crawl? Keep this — and share it.
Bookmark this guide and send it to whoever you’re dragging along — a visiting friend, the family group text, the coworker who’s never had real toasted ravioli. It’s built to plan a whole afternoon of eating.
Every share sends one more person to a family table that’s been waiting a hundred years. That’s the point.
The Sit-Down Italian Classics
The Hill’s reputation rests on its family-owned trattorias, and a handful of them have been doing it for generations. Charlie Gitto’s On The Hill ($$$) is the special-occasion room — white tablecloths, career waiters, and a toasted ravioli the restaurant claims to have originated. A few blocks over, Mama’s on the Hill ($$) presses the rival claim, billing itself as the “home of the original toasted ravioli,” and backs it with heaping plates of handmade pasta in a warm, family-run room.
For an old-school night with no pretense, Zia’s on The Hill ($$) has been a neighborhood staple since 1985 — get the chicken spiedini. Cunetto House of Pasta ($$), open since 1974, packs them in for a sprawling pasta menu and takes no reservations, so come early or plan to wait with a drink. Anthonino’s Taverna ($$) blends Italian and Greek under one roof — its “toasted rav” and pasta con broccoli have a devoted following. And Guido’s Pizzeria & Tapas ($$) pulls off the neighborhood’s most charming trick: award-winning pizza and Spanish tapas, side by side, from a family that’s been at it since 1988.
The Delis, Bakeries, and Markets
Here’s the local secret: some of the best eating on The Hill isn’t at dinner — it’s the counters and cases that have anchored the neighborhood for a century. Gioia’s Deli ($) has been slicing since 1918 and won a James Beard “America’s Classics” award for one sandwich: the Hot Salami, a soft, spiced baked salami with Provel on cheesy garlic bread. It is the single most essential bite in the neighborhood. Down the street, Adriana’s ($) does foot-long Italian sandwiches and daily specials, lunch only, Tuesday through Saturday — the line moves, the regulars order by nickname.
For the sweet side, Missouri Baking Company ($) has been a cash-only institution since 1924 — cannoli, cassata cake, trays of Italian cookies, and bread that sells out. To take The Hill home with you, DiGregorio’s Italian Market ($) is a full grocery and deli with house salami and salsiccia, imported cheeses, and olives by the pound, and the retail shop at Volpi Foods ($) — curing meats on The Hill since 1902 — sends you off with prosciutto and sopressata worth the cooler. Read our deeper dive on what to order at Missouri Baking Co.
The Toasted Ravioli Question
You cannot eat on The Hill without confronting toasted ravioli — breaded, deep-fried ravioli served with marinara, and one of the few dishes St. Louis genuinely gave the world. The story goes that it was born here in the early 1940s from a happy kitchen accident, a ravioli dropped into the fryer instead of the pot. Two Hill restaurants press competing “we invented it” claims: Mama’s on the Hill (the former Oldani’s, where the name “toasted” was reportedly coined) and Charlie Gitto’s. The honest answer is that it was born on The Hill and both do it beautifully — so the only responsible thing to do is order it at both and decide for yourself. Locals have strong opinions and no consensus, which is exactly how a good food argument should be.
What’s New on The Hill
The Hill runs on tradition, so a genuinely new arrival is news. STL Toasted ($) took over the beloved former Mama Toscano’s ravioli space on Macklind and turned toasted ravioli into a specialty all its own — rotating sweet and savory flavors that would make the old-timers raise an eyebrow and then go back for seconds. It’s proof that even a neighborhood built on hundred-year-old recipes still has room for someone new to plant a flag — if they respect what came before.
A Little History With Your Lunch
The Hill earned its name the simple way: it sits on some of the highest ground in the city, south of Forest Park, where Italian immigrants — many from Lombardy and Sicily — settled in the late 1800s to work the nearby clay mines. They built a self-contained world of churches, groceries, bakeries, and clubs, and it largely still stands. The neighborhood is also the childhood home of two baseball legends who grew up across the street from each other: Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola. Walk the side streets after your meal and you’ll see it — the bocce courts, the neighborhood grotto, the sense that you’ve stepped into a village that happens to be inside a Midwestern city.
The Best Table for Your Occasion
Because The Hill covers every register of Italian dining, it helps to match the room to the night. For a special-occasion dinner — an anniversary, a “we’re celebrating” night — Charlie Gitto’s and Dominic’s bring the white-tablecloth polish and the career waiters who make it feel like an event. For a big, loud family dinner where the point is passing plates, Cunetto, Zia’s, and Favazza’s were practically built for it, with menus long enough to please the pickiest cousin.
For a quick, legendary lunch, nothing beats a sandwich at Gioia’s or Adriana’s eaten more or less standing up — fast, cheap, and unforgettable. Want something a little different? Anthonino’s Italian-Greek crossover and Guido’s pizza-and-tapas mashup both break the mold without leaving the neighborhood’s comfort zone. And for a casual night with a fishbowl of beer and zero pretension, Rigazzi’s is the answer it’s been for decades. Whatever the occasion, The Hill has a family kitchen ready for it — the only real mistake is trying to do it all in one sitting.
How to Do The Hill Right
A few local tips. Bring cash — Missouri Baking and a few others are cash-only, and it moves the deli lines faster. Go hungry and early; Cunetto takes no reservations and the popular rooms fill up, especially on weekends. Build a progressive afternoon if you can: a sandwich at Gioia’s or Adriana’s for lunch, a market run to DiGregorio’s and Volpi for the cooler, pastries from Missouri Baking, and a proper sit-down dinner to close it out. And save room — portions here are built for families, and nobody leaves The Hill hungry.
One more thing: The Hill is walkable in the best way. The restaurants, delis, and markets cluster within a few blocks of one another around Macklind, Shaw, and Daggett, so you can park once and wander on foot — ducking into a bakery here, a market there, a trattoria for dinner — without ever moving the car. It’s a neighborhood that rewards the slow approach, so give yourself an afternoon rather than an hour, and let one bite lead you to the next.
More Hill Tables Worth Knowing
Six trattorias barely scratch the surface of a neighborhood this dense with family kitchens. Favazza’s, open since 1978, is one of the largest restaurants on The Hill and a reliable choice for big groups, with a menu deep enough to handle vegetarian and gluten-free eaters without a fuss. Dominic’s has been a fine-dining fixture since 1971, all tableside service and seafood-forward Italian in a jacket-optional-but-appreciated room. And Rigazzi’s, the oldest restaurant on The Hill, is the old-St.-Louis charmer famous for its frosted 32-ounce “fishbowl” of beer and a fried-chicken-and-pasta menu that hasn’t chased a single trend. Lorenzo’s Trattoria and Bartolino’s round out the deeper bench of Northern and classic Italian rooms. On streets this thick with home cooking, there’s barely a wrong table — only the one you didn’t have room for this trip.
Beyond the Plate: Espresso, Gelato, and the Festivals
The Hill is a place to linger, not just eat and run. Cap a meal with an espresso and a cannoli, or a scoop of gelato, and you’ve done it the way the neighborhood intends. The area’s calendar is stitched with Italian tradition, too — from religious feast days to community celebrations, there’s often a reason the streets are full and the accordion is out. Look for the bocce courts, the neighborhood grotto, and the little markers of a culture that never left. If you time a visit to a festival weekend, come even hungrier than usual: the food spills out of the restaurants and onto the sidewalks, and the whole neighborhood turns into one long, loud, delicious family table.
Run a restaurant on The Hill? Be the name they find first.
Every month, about 6,600 people search “restaurants on The Hill” — and most get handed a national app that buries the neighborhood spots under ads. Here’s your opening: get in on the ground floor of a growing local directory and become one of the first places locals — and AI assistants like ChatGPT — surface when someone’s hungry. It works because a focused local directory shows up where the big apps don’t, and being easy to find is what turns a search into a full dining room.
And it’s simple: get your profile, add your photos, get seen by more hungry customers — easy, right? Even if you already have a Google listing, this is a second net catching the people Google misses. Even if you’re not a “tech person,” it takes minutes. Even if you’re a tiny place with no ad budget — that’s exactly who a local directory levels the field for.
Claim your spot and be the name they find first — or start with a free visibility audit to see how findable you are today.
The Hill is a whole afternoon, not a single meal — and it’s just one chapter of the metro’s food story. For the bigger picture, see our guide to the best restaurants in St. Louis.
Prefer a quick, at-a-glance list? See our where to eat in St. Louis directory page for this area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called The Hill in St. Louis?
The neighborhood is named for its geography: it sits on some of the highest ground in the city, on a rise south of Forest Park. Italian immigrants settled there in the late 1800s to work the area’s clay mines and brickyards, and the elevated area simply became known as “The Hill.”
What famous people are from The Hill in St. Louis?
The Hill is famous as the childhood home of two Baseball Hall of Fame figures, Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola, who grew up across the street from one another on Elizabeth Avenue. The neighborhood celebrates its baseball roots alongside its Italian heritage.
What food is only found in St. Louis?
A handful of dishes are local to St. Louis and rarely done right elsewhere: toasted ravioli (born on The Hill), St. Louis-style pizza with its cracker-thin crust and Provel cheese, gooey butter cake, the slinger, the Gerber sandwich, and the St. Paul sandwich. On The Hill, you’ll find the toasted ravioli and Provel-topped classics at their source.
What is the best toasted ravioli on The Hill?
There’s no official winner — toasted ravioli was born on The Hill in the 1940s, and both Mama’s on the Hill and Charlie Gitto’s claim to have invented it. Both are excellent, and STL Toasted offers a modern take with rotating flavors. Most locals recommend trying more than one and picking your own favorite.
What should I bring home from The Hill?
Stock up at the markets: house-cured salami and salsiccia from DiGregorio’s Italian Market, prosciutto and sopressata from Volpi Foods (curing on The Hill since 1902), and cannoli, cassata cake, and Italian cookies from the cash-only Missouri Baking Company. A cooler in the trunk is a smart move.
Written by a dedicated team of St. Louis locals who live, work, and play right here in the St. Louis metro. Founder Lane Forman and team are committed to building the region’s most trusted directory by verifying listings and connecting local businesses with loyal customers across Missouri and Illinois.