The Best Bakeries in St. Louis

A sun-drenched brunch and lunch spot where the dining room is essentially a greenhouse looking onto a gravel European garden, the patio alone drawing people who'd otherwise eat indoors without a second thought. Gerard Craft's team runs it, with a pastry chef background in the kitchen that shows up in the morning baking. The cacio e pepe eggs have their fans. Semifinalist for a James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur nod in 2025.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in St. Louis, Missouri
2. St. Louis Magazine Best restaurants in St. Louis
3. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Gerard Craft - Niche Food Group

A French patisserie in Tower Grove where the macarons rotate through flavors like a Beyoncé-inspired lemon curd and vanilla-tonka-bean number, and the triple chocolate croissant somehow stays flaky under all that glaze. The chef trained at the Ritz-Carlton and brings Creole roots into the mix, so the savory case can surprise you too. A James Beard Outstanding Bakery semifinalist, and the kind of neighborhood spot that fills up before the city has finished its coffee.

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
2. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
3. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in St. Louis, Missouri

The bread is the whole philosophy here: Union Loafers is a bakery-turned-full-service restaurant in Botanical Heights where naturally leavened loaves set the tone for everything else on the menu. The pizzas split the difference between New York chew and Neapolitan char, and the sandwiches built on house bread give you a very good reason to show up before dinner. St. Louis-style pizza is conspicuously absent, which some locals treat as a provocation.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in St. Louis, Missouri
2. St. Louis Magazine Best restaurants in St. Louis
3. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants in St. Louis

The breakfast sandwich here is finished with sea salt that catches in the griddled sourdough's crags, keeping the salty and sweet separate rather than letting them blur together. That level of attention is what drew crowds at Tower Grove Farmers Market before this bakery-cafe had walls. Bialys and sprouted-grain English muffins, milled from local grain, come out of the kitchen the same way: unhurried and precise.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in St. Louis, Missouri
2. St. Louis Magazine Best restaurants in St. Louis

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery