Outdoor Dining

Audubon’s Biergarten Across the street from Audubon’s Restaurant, Audubon’s Biergarten delivers what downtown Ste. Genevieve needed—outdoor beer garden atmosphere with live music every Saturday during season. The space embodies classic biergarten philosophy: cold beer, comfortable seating, good company, and music creating the kind of low-key Saturday afternoon energy that makes locals linger and visitors understand why small-town living appeals. The beer garden’s grand opening drew enthusiastic response for “phenomenal singer/guitarist playing, nice lighting and good atmosphere” alongside attentive bartending from owners genuinely invested in guest experience. Whether you’re exploring downtown after visiting historic sites, taking a break from wine country tasting, or seeking casual Saturday evening entertainment, the Biergarten provides accessible outdoor venue where beer, conversation, and live music merge into unhurried gathering space. Classic Biergarten Philosophy: Beer and Music Under the Sky Biergartens originated in Bavaria centuries ago as gathering places where beer culture, community, and entertainment converged. That tradition survives in Audubon’s Biergarten through fundamentals: outdoor seating, quality beer service, live entertainment, and atmosphere encouraging lingering rather than rushing. Unlike bars designed for maximum efficiency, biergartens prioritize experience. You’re meant to settle in, nurse a beer, watch performers, chat with friends. The Saturday live music schedule transforms the Read more...

Audubon’s Restaurant  The Unequivocal Center of Downtown Ste. Geneviève Nestled in the heart of downtown Ste. Genevieve at 9 North Main Street, Audubon’s occupies a century-old building that has anchored the town’s social scene since 1901. Originally the historically famous Palace Bar starting in 1903, the restaurant reopened under current ownership in 2015 with a mission to reflect the cultural identity and history of Ste. Genevieve through scratch-made cuisine. The menu celebrates the town’s diverse heritage—French, Cajun, German, and Italian dishes crafted with locally sourced ingredients. One satisfied guest summed it up: “We ended our wine tasting day with dinner at the Audubon. We had the Schnitzel, Cajun Shrimp and mushroom burger. All were wonderful! Staff is great! Facility is clean.” Where the Past Meets the Present Audubon’s philosophy centers on giving visitors a chance to taste the history and diversity of Ste. Genevieve’s community while offering locals an opportunity to taste a bit of their own heritage. The scratch-made menu balances upscale dining with comfort food familiarity—German schnitzel and spaetzle sit alongside Cajun pasta, French onion soup, Italian fettuccine, and American classics like burgers and brick oven pizza. Signature dishes draw consistent praise. The pork schnitzel comes “bigger than Read more...

Charleville Brewery & Winery  Uncork and Unplug at this Regional Tourism Icon Perched high above Saline Creek Valley in western Ste. Genevieve County, Charleville Brewery & Winery delivers what one guest called “one of the best views in all of Missouri” alongside distinctive handcrafted wines and beers. Since opening in June 2003 as a retirement project, then expanding with a $5 million renovation under new ownership in 2023, Charleville has evolved into a 10,000-square-foot destination featuring an innovative 24-tap iPourIt self-serve wall, elevated food menu, fire pit patios, and an 1860s log cabin lodge for overnight stays. The wristband-activated pour system lets you sample as much or as little as you want while the Saline Creek Valley panorama unfolds below. As one visitor raved: “Upon entering, you are given a magic bracelet that you can swipe on their ‘ipourit’ wall. You just swipe and drink. It bills you based upon how much you pour. Aaron walked us through the process perfectly. Absolutely amazing…This is probably the best food I’ve ever had at a winery. This is not a basic cheeseboard. This is coconut shrimp, fantastic pizza, & ahi tuna nachos.” iPourIt Wall: Beer, Wine, and Charle-Ritas on Tap The 24-tap Read more...

Dew Drop Inn At 710 Highway 61 in Bloomsdale, the Dew Drop Inn serves traditional Americana cuisine daily from lunch through dinner, offering fun twists on American classics alongside craft beers and wines. While its sister restaurant, The Kozy, focuses on breakfast excellence, the Dew Drop Inn takes over when appetites shift toward heartier fare and afternoon drinks. The menu allows customization toward health-conscious preferences or indulgent satisfaction—whatever your mood demands. As part of an integrated complex including The Mill Room event space and outdoor game area, the Dew Drop Inn works perfectly for solo diners wanting quality meals or groups gathering for casual celebrations. The casual bar atmosphere, daily service, and flexible menu pricing make it accessible destination whether you’re stopping between Baetje Farms tours and wine tastings or seeking Bloomsdale’s primary evening dinner option. Traditional Americana: Lunch and Dinner Daily The Dew Drop Inn’s focus on traditional Americana means familiar cooking executed with care—the kind of cuisine that satisfies without pretension. The “fun twists” on American classics indicate the kitchen respects tradition while adding contemporary creativity. Unlike The Kozy’s breakfast specialization, this is where you find lunch sandwiches, dinner entrées, and the kind of casual fare that works Read more...

Oliver’s Restaurant – Where Handmade Pasta Meets Hometown Heart Tucked away in the heart of historic Ste. Genevieve, Oliver’s Restaurant has quietly become something of a pilgrimage site for those who understand that truly great pasta isn’t mass-produced or pulled from a box—it’s crafted by hand, with patience, skill, and an uncompromising dedication to quality. This cozy little spot may not announce itself with flashy signage or pretentious ambiance, but what it lacks in size and fanfare, it more than makes up for in flavor, creativity, and genuine passion for the craft of pasta-making. A Passion for Pasta: The Foundation of Everything At Oliver’s, every dish starts with one thing: a passion for pasta. Not the dried stuff that sits on grocery store shelves for months, but real, honest-to-goodness fresh pasta made the old-fashioned way—by hand, every single morning. Before the restaurant opens, before the first customer walks through the door, the team at Oliver’s is already hard at work rolling, cutting, and shaping pasta dough. This isn’t a show put on for diners or a gimmick to justify higher prices. It’s simply how they believe pasta should be made—with hands, with time, with attention to texture and consistency. The Read more...

Quintessential Rivertown Spice & Tea At 195 Market Street in downtown Sainte Geneviève, Quintessential Rivertown Spice & Tea occupies an 1811 historic home lovingly converted into a tasting lounge, gift shop, and lunch destination where over 75 tea varieties are brewed at precisely the correct temperature using thermometers ensuring each variety reaches its optimal extraction point—because green tea scorched at boiling turns bitter, black tea steeped too cool tastes flat, oolongs demand specific ranges, and the difference between mediocre and exceptional tea comes down to temperature precision most cafés ignore. This is where proper afternoon tea meets serious spice appreciation: dainty sandwiches with crusts trimmed, finger foods arranged on tiered serving platters, expertly baked scones with clotted cream and preserves, and over 100 specialty spices (organic, wildcrafted, kosher options) creating sensory experience impossible in supermarket aisles. Open Wednesday-Friday 11 AM-2:30 PM and Saturday-Sunday 11 AM-5 PM, Quintessential Rivertown manifests Sainte Geneviève’s slower pace, appreciation for craft, and commitment to doing things properly in cups of perfectly brewed tea and plates of beautifully presented food. As one regular testifies: “Finally, a place where tea is treated with the respect it deserves—proper temperatures, real varieties, and service that understands what afternoon tea Read more...

Sirros – Nearly Three Decades of Familiar Faces, Good Service, and Homemade Onion Rings in Downtown Ste. Genevieve At 261 Merchant Street in the heart of historic downtown Ste. Genevieve, Sirros delivers what a family restaurant should: consistently good food, friendly service, comfortable atmosphere, and the sense that you’re eating somewhere deeply embedded in the community. Since opening in 1989, this casual ninety-seat restaurant has built devoted following among locals and wine country tourists by specializing in what they call “samiches” (yes, deliberately spelled that way), hand-tossed pizzas, hearty pasta dishes, and those legendary homemade made-to-order onion rings that customers describe as “munching crunchy mouthfuls of heaven.” Open daily (Monday-Thursday 11 AM-8 PM, Friday-Saturday 11 AM-9 PM, Sunday 11 AM-8 PM) with dine-in and carryout options, Sirros occupies a building with remarkable history—the 1930s soda fountain here once served as the lone bus stop between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau. Now, under longtime manager Lauren Smothers’ leadership, Sirros continues three-decade tradition of making visitors “feel at home, feel comfortable, and leave with a smile on your face.” The Name: Orris Spelled Backward (Plus an “S”) Sirros “began life backward”—literally. The restaurant’s unusual name comes from spelling “Orris” backward with an Read more...

Stella and Me – Where Award-Winning Sandwiches Meet Tearoom Charm in Sainte Geneviève’s “Little Bohemia” At 198 North Main Street, tucked into Sainte Geneviève’s art district, newly dubbed, “Little Bohemia,” a quaint café with rustic hardwood floors, local artwork on the walls, and a cozy tearoom atmosphere serves what customers describe as “sandwiches so good you forget your own name.” Stella and Me has built its reputation one carefully crafted lunch at a time, earning awards, devoted regulars, and the kind of enthusiastic reviews that make food-focused travelers detour specifically to eat here. This isn’t fast-casual chain dining or generic café fare—it’s a small, intimate space where fresh ingredients, creative combinations, and genuine hospitality create lunch experiences that visitors remember long after leaving Missouri’s oldest town. Small Space, Big Flavors, in Ste. Gen’s Premier Lunch Spot Stella and Me occupies modest square footage—the kind of intimate space where tall visitors need to watch their heads and parties larger than four or five might wait for tables. But what the café lacks in size, it compensates for emphatically in flavor, quality, and attention to detail. Those award-winning sandwiches didn’t earn recognition through volume or marketing—they won because they’re genuinely excellent. The Read more...

The Kozy At 701 US Highway 61 in Bloomsdale, The Kozy serves what most breakfast destinations wish they: fluffy blueberry pancakes, a succulent Smoked Turkey Benedict, mouth-frothing French toast stuffed with pineapples, pecans, and cream cheese, and the signature “Goat & The Egg Benedict” featuring award-winning Baetje Farms goat cheese made right down the street—this places makes morning meals worth waking early for starting at 6 AM daily. More than a just breakfast joint, The Kozy operates through lunch and dinner (open 6 AM-7 PM Sunday-Thursday, 6 AM-8 PM Friday-Saturday) serving contemporary Americana with fun twists on American classics: fish tacos, catfish, homemade burgers, hand-cut fries, onion rings, and menu items allowing ample opportunity to tweak your order towards health or gluttony depending on mood and appetite. Part of a multi-building complex that includes the adjacent Dew Drop Inn restaurant, The Mill Room event space, and outdoor game area for children, The Kozy creates a family-friendly gathering destination where breakfast excellence anchors identity while lunch and dinner expand options for different occasions and timing. Beer and wine available. One satisfied visitor testified: “We stopped for breakfast before wine country exploring. The pancakes were genuinely fluffy, the coffee was excellent, and Read more...

Weingarten Vineyard Winery & Wedding Venue At 12323 Rottler Road in the rolling countryside west of downtown Ste. Genevieve, Weingarten Vineyard Winery & Wedding Venue enters an exciting new era under fresh ownership—bringing renewed culinary vision, expanded wine offerings, and reinvigorated energy to one of the region’s most picturesque destinations. The 15-year legacy continues under new stewardship committed to honoring what made Weingarten special while pushing it forward. Open Thursday through Sunday (Thursday 11 AM-8 PM, Friday-Saturday 11 AM-9 PM, Sunday 11 AM-6 PM), Weingarten delivers wine tastings, full restaurant service through Garten Haus, private events, and wedding celebrations against stunning terrain where architectural beauty, viticultural passion, and genuine hospitality converge. One delighted guest testified: “The food was absolutely amazing. This isn’t basic winery fare—coconut shrimp, fantastic pizza, ahi tuna nachos. Probably the best food I’ve had at a winery.” That’s the Weingarten promise: exceptional wine paired with equally exceptional food, all presented in one of the most beautiful buildings in Ste. Genevieve County. A Beautiful Building in a Beautiful Setting Weingarten boasts one of the most beautiful structures anchoring the landscape—the building itself enhances rather than competes with the surrounding scenery. The architecture works with the rolling hills and Read more...