St. Louis has an area in town called The Hill – which is their Little Italy. There are many places you can visit for authentic Italian food. I chose to check out Anthonino’s Taverna.
The restaurant is located on the corner in the heart of The Hill. It looks small from the outside, but when you walk in you see that they expanded the restaurant in the back. It’s always wonderful to see a business succeed and expand; it’s great not only for them but for the community as well.
After looking over their menu I can certainly see why they are so popular. They have everything from pasta dishes to pizza and a large selection of burgers – which I was not expecting at an Italian restaurant.
I started off with the crispy artichoke heart bottoms that was served with a garlic butter sauce. The breading was light and crunchy. I have never had artichokes cooked this way before and I really enjoyed it. The salty flavor of the garlic butter sauce paired well with the tangy flavor of the artichokes. It was a great dish to share. The garlic butter sauce would have also been perfect over a bed of pasta.
I also ordered the toasted ravioli. I see these every now and then when I travel but they are normally not homemade. After the first bite, I could tell right away these were homemade. The dough was not too thick and they were filled to the max with a blend of beef, ricotta, and pecorino-romano cheese. The outside of the ravioli was covered in a thin layer of breadcrumbs that were loaded with Italian seasonings. They were delicious. The meat and cheese just melted in my mouth. They were served with homemade pasta sauce but I barely used it because the flavor of the ravioli was perfect on its own.
If you headed to St. Louis, plan a trip to The Hill. You can check out all the restaurants and what activities will be going on at www.thehillstlouis.com. And you must make a stop by Anthonino’s Taverna www.anthoninos.com
Enjoy!
T
