Best Mediterranean Food In St. Louis According To Me

Balkan Treat Box Takeaway. Treat yourself to Balkan Treat Box whenever you're in the area, and they're open. One of the best restaurants in St. Louis with a general food score of 9.3 / 10 from me. Hard to classify exactly what food type a "pide" or "doner". Not a sandwich; it's more a Mediterranean delight. The pita may be the best I've ever had, and it's definitely the best in St. Louis. I order a bag to go every time.

They even fixed the biggest downside - their hours. They're now open from 11-8 Friday and Saturday.

Still closed on Sunday and Monday. You should check availability before making the trek to Webster Groves.

Service is fine. You order at the counter, get a number, and go to your table. It usually takes 10-15 minutes to get your food; even if a long line runs, you only have fifteen minutes to wait. My favorite place to sit is outside when the weather permits. They have a dedicated lot in the back or street parking out front.

Sultan Mediterranean Restaurant Takeaway. The Mediterranean food at Sultan flat-out delivers. Friends swore by it, so we made it a double date night. Sultan did not disappoint. It deserves a solid, round 8.5/10. An 8.5 is a very good score for me, putting it in the top 20% of restaurants.

The restaurant setting is practical, but the food is awesome. The Baba Ganoush was exceptionally garlicky and smoky, and the Ali Naza beef kebab was fantastic. The vegetarian rice pilaf didn't taste quite as good as it looked, and the same could be said for the pita.

But those are nit picks, Sultan was great.

If you're after Mediterranean food done right, Sultan is worth the trip. It's a place that's been around for a while, surviving the pandemic, yet had somehow flown under our radar. Parking on, or around, Manchester should be easy, even during prime time.

Afghan Kebab House Takeaway. Afghan Kebob House has authentically awesome Afghan flavors that mostly deliver on taste but stumble on execution. I'm giving it an 8.1/10 for the food, but a lower overall score because of the service.

The chicken kebabs are cooked to absolute perfection, juicy and tender in a way that kebabs almost never are. The aushak (leek-filled dumplings with yogurt and meat sauce) is a standout dish with unique, complex flavors you won't find anywhere else in St. Louis. The tikka masala has a great creamy sauce, and the meat kebabs won over most of my group.

But the logistics were rough. They missed part of our order, the timing was off by 10-15 minutes, and I had to make a 40-minute round trip to get the rest of our food. If you're in the area near Lindenwood Park or Ted Drewes, it's absolutely worth stopping by.

But I wouldn't make the 25-minute drive from across town specifically for it.

Bar Moro Takeaway. Spanish tapas for a fancy date night. I don't have a great local comparison on roast rabbit, so go with my overall score of 4.39 / 5. The food is an 8.2 / 10, but it's super expensive for the area. The price always brings down my overall score because you can eat this well for less elsewhere -- just not rabbit.

The service was excellent. It's an upscale, modern space where the service is the point. My big nitpick is that it's too dark. I couldn't see my food, which negatively impacts taste, in my opinion. I would rather come at 6:30 in the summer than in winter because you could see your food.

With limited seating, we got 2 bar seats at 6:30 on a Saturday. You would have needed a reservation to sit at a table. Parking is on Wydown; you'll walk three minutes, tops.

Milano Kabob Takeaway. Falafel donuts are hole-y delicious. My favorite falafel in St. Louis. A new spot in the Loop where Al-Tarboush used to be located. 8.2 / 10 overall, led by 8.6 / 10 falafel and 9.0 / 10 garlic sauce. The falafel has a unique donut shape and I could quite literally drink the garlic sauce. The fatoush, sides, fries, and chicken tenders rate out at average restaurant quality of 7/10. I didn't get a kebob…

Milano's service was friendly. My sons and I were the only ones there on a Friday night, so we chatted with the owner. Although they have been in the restaurant business for a while, this is their first time in this location. They did a great job of renovating the frontage and space to bring it up to modern times. There's only a handful of seating in the restaurant, so expect more grab-and-go. Parking is available in the usual places on Delmar.

Rozanna Mediterranean Restaurant Takeaway. Rozanna is one of the best Mediterranean spots I've found in St. Louis. It earns a solid 8.1/10. The shish tawook sandwich (with garlic sauce) and top-tier fries deliver the goods, but the real stars are the appetizers. Get a couple apps (baba ganoush, hummus, etc) and a sandwich, and the bill lands around $25 a head -- a steal for food this good.

It's worth driving over, especially if you're grabbing dinner with a group before hitting the room escape across the street. Just maybe skip Friday nights if you want to actually hear your friends talk.

Parking is ridiculously easy with a massive lot. Service is quick and responsive. And it sits right across from the room escape, so a pre-activity dinner couldn't be easier.

You can see why I come here with all this escape room talk 🙂

Yiro Gyro Takeaway. Yiro Gyro yields one of the best gyros I've found in the St. Louis area so far. I give it an 8.1/10, with killer tzatziki sauce that perfectly balances creamy thickness with bold dill flavor, and seriously crunchy fries that rival the best I've had.

If you're already out shopping at the outlets in Fenton, this is absolutely worth stopping by for lunch or dinner. The service was quick, the owner was friendly, and there's plenty of parking right out front. It's a half hour from my house, so I'm not making a special trip just for a gyro, but if I'm ever out that way again, we're definitely coming back.

Florentin Takeaway. You'll find fantastic falafel and a pleasant pita at Florentin. $14.95 for four pieces of giant fluffy falafel wrapped in a light, fluffy pita. A solid 7.9/10 for lunch, it's a bit on the expensive side. I ordered four $.95 pitas to go. The $12.95 baba ghanoush delivered on flavor but not on value. They charged me an extra pita for the baba, which seemed kinda nickel-and-dimey.

Very good Israeli food, but probably not worth the twenty-minute drive across town for me.

Florentin has an extremely modern and clean feel. With straight lines across your eyesight on the patio and tables inside, you feel like you're eating at a brand-new restaurant -- because it is. On a Wednesday afternoon around noon, they had speedy service, no hiccups. I did notice they'd already run out of lamb and bagels. Parking was easy in the lot next to the building.

Layali Halab Mediterranean Takeaway. Layali Halab hits hard with some heavenly highlights but doesn't quite nail the entire menu. My search for the best food in St. Louis continues, and Layali Halab lands with a solid 7.2/10, carried almost entirely by one unbelievable menu item.

This is a must-visit for one very specific reason: the french fries. I'm serious. They are, quite literally, worth the drive all by themselves. The main dishes are decent, solid restaurant-quality food, but they don't hit the same spectacular level as the fries.

It's a small, couple-run spot, so the service is friendly and personal, but don't expect lightning speed. Parking is a breeze with its own dedicated lot, making it an easy stop if you're in the Creve Coeur area.

The Vine Takeaway. The Vine serves up solid shawarma in Tower Grove. I give it a respectable 7.5/10 for delivering good Mediterranean food at an excellent price point. The chicken shawarma was flavorful and one of the best deals for the money in the area, though it ran a bit dry without enough sauce to push it over the top. The fries were just okay, landing at a 7/10.

If you're in the neighborhood craving Mediterranean food, The Vine will satisfy that craving without breaking the bank. But it's not a spot you'll cross the city for like Pizza Head.

Inside you get a nice Mediterranean vibe with warm tones and simple seating. Service was smooth with easy call-ahead ordering. Street parking in Tower Grove means you'll either pay or hunt for a free side-street spot, depending on timing.

Pali Grill Takeaway. A spotless new hole in the wall where the fries outshine the falafel. I came in rooting for it, since it sits on a strip I already love, but the sandwich I'd actually order couldn't clear my bar. 6.5 / 10.

The packaging had me ready for a win, which makes this harder to write, because I want to support new local spots. The flavor still lands below the flood line of a 7.0, my bar for standard restaurant quality, so I probably won't be back.