City: Clayton, MO

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (314) 726-5055

Address: 8100 Maryland Avenue

Description: Cardwell’s is an upscale restaurant that works well for business lunches and special dinners. The dinner menu is extensive and features lots of fresh fish, wood-grilled meats, pastas, and seasonal game. The lunch menu features somewhat lighter fare, including a variety of salads, soups, and sandwiches, along with a half-dozen entrees from the grill. At dinner there’s a “casual fare” menu that includes items like Chinese barbecue chicken salad, portobello-filled tortellini in a porcini mushroom broth, and grilled sirloin burger, as well as roasted rack of lamb, grilled veal chops, and a roasted Tuscan vegetable plate. An excellent wine list and some truly decadent desserts round out the stellar menu. Reservations recommended. Closed Sunday.

City: Clayton, MO

Category: Restaurants

Address: 101 South Hanley

City: Clayton, MO

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (314) 863-7888

Address: 16 North Meramec Avenue

Description: The menu at Miso fuses Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese cooking styles for an eclectic lineup of dinner options. In addition to the extensive sushi menu, there’s a variety of soups, salads, small and large plates. Enjoy Asian-fused tapas like grilled teriyaki salmon (served on a bed of jasmine rice and grilled asparagus) and beef tenderloin (with a red wine sherry sauce and served with mashed taro root and fried leeks). Cocktails offered include specialty drinks made with sake, like the Rising Sun Martini, which is a mixture of plum sake, orange juice, and a splash of grenadine. Or try some Asian Firecrackers—cherries soaked in Bacardi 151. Closed Monday.

City: Clayton, MO

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (314) 725-6588

Address: 15 North Central Avenue

Description: Portabella is one of Clayton’s premier restaurants, and its rustic Mediterranean cuisine has won rave reviews from area critics and diners. The lunch menu features upscale versions of the usual midday meal fare, such as a tilapia BLT, pasta dishes, shrimp or prosciutto pizza and a griddled ham and Gruyère sandwich. For dinner, the specialties include the pan-seared rainbow trout, grilled smoked pork tenderloin, and duck confit white bean and foie gras cassolette. The wine selection is vast, and it includes selections from top-name wineries in California, Italy, and France. Open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner; dinner only on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are recommended.

City: Clayton, MO

Category: Restaurants

Address: 222 South Bemiston Avenue