Tony's Moves Uptown - Good Food St. Louis

The patio at Tony’s is still under construction. The work tent still blocks the facade somewhat, but will soon come down to reveal an attractive corner space.

A Food Spa

When you rank restaurants, Tony’s is in a category by itself in food, service, and design. From humble beginnings in a downtown city bakery and later a steakhouse, the St. Louis icon is now following its many customers to Clayton, settling easily into the Centene Building.

The main dining room seats 68, plus a small private dining room. The mezzanine (Anthony’s Bar) has 40 seats and 16 barstools. The mezzanine can be entered from South Hanley.

Tony’s opened its doors this week with its usual upscale Italian menu. In addition to dinner fare, they serve lunch, but only from Anthony’s Bar on the second floor.

The 8,500-square foot space at new Tony’s makes it a bit smaller than their previous 13,500-square-foot restaurant. But regulars will notice that the sterling, plates, flatware, and crystal have not changed. Nor have the pristine service and cuisine.

From the Carondelet entrance, a stunning glass staircase and a small elevator make it easy to reach Anthony’s Bar on the second floor.

Sadly Missing

I will miss Vince Bommarito, Sr., who had the vision years ago to take the restaurant world class. Coco Chanel once said, “A girl should be two things, classy and fabulous.” Vince thought the same thing of his restaurant.

He made it a regular habit to visit his diners at their tables and inquire of their satisfaction. Customers loved the extra attention and Vince loved the exchange with admirers of his Italian cuisine

I’ve never had an average dinner at Tony’s. Every entree, salad, dessert is gold star. I like the graceful servers, who are nearly soundless in their movements. They pull out your chair and unfurl a large white napkin onto your lap. Yesss!

Masks, hand sanitizer, and temperature scans (see below) are all part of the COVID response.

This clever Covid-era device stands at the entrance to the dinning room and checks your temperature when you look into the facial outline. The talking device kept telling me I wasn’t in the frame.

Lunch menu in Anthony’s Bar. The elderly couple at the next table told me that they had liked the grouper plate special so much, they returned the next day to order it again.

Lunch in Anthony’s Bar (second floor) features a chicken and fruit salad combo.

Mediterranean Grilled Chicken

Favorites

James Bommarito, keeper of the family culinary flame.

According to James Bommarito most of the top dishes in the evening involve lobster. Linguine with Lobster and Shrimp; Grilled Scampi and Lobster Tail with Mustard Sauce; Lobster Albanello; and Beef Filet.

Downtown Memories

Late one evening while dining at Tony’s downtown along with my 6-person women’s group, we were given a tour of the kitchen as it was being cleaned. I learned that at the end of each day, every piece of cookware was disassembled and pots shined like new. The place was left spotless and ready for the next morning.