Arch Eats

It’s mid-December, which means that it’s time for George and Cheryl to take a look at the year in restaurants. In this episode, the co-hosts chat about their favorite new dining spots for 2025. They’ll cover all the fun additions to the St. Louis food and beverage scene, including a new Italian-inflected amaro bar, an Instagram pizza business-turned brick and mortar, a hotly anticipated restaurant from two pop-up ...

Move over, Mariah! St. Louis has its own Queen of Christmas. George and Cheryl are thrilled to be joined by Julie “Fa La La” Lally, the city’s resident expert on holiday pop-ups, who shares everything you need to know to enjoy these festive fetes. From the first-ever holiday pop-up, Miracle, in 2016 to the brand-new Cocktails and Claws, Julie has been to them all and shares the inside scoop on what makes each one ...

Dubai chocolate and dirty sodas. Truffle fries and tomahawk steaks. It seems like every day there is another food trend coming across our feeds—but are they worth the hype? In this episode, George and Cheryl give their unapologetic thumbs up or thumbs down on some of the biggest food trends over the last few years. And in a rare detour from the way things typically operate at Arch Eats, there’s quite a bit of disag...

This week on Arch Eats, George and Cheryl have some breaking news about one of St. Louis’ most anticipated restaurants. Ever since he first announced his revolving sushi restaurant and ramen bar, Sakatanoya, owner Anthony Wang has been the talk of the town—and for good reason. The forthcoming restaurant, which will soon open in the Delmar Loop, is the most novel place to open in St. Louis in recent memory, and...

Is craft beer dead? If you listen to local beer lovers’ chatter, read recent articles in the national press, or watch with sadness as some of the area’s most beloved craft breweries either close or struggle, you might think the answer is yes. However, SLM’s resident beer expert Jordan Palmer is here to set the record straight. In this episode, Jordan, an Emmy award-winning produc...

Bad lighting and too-loud music. Servers on cellphones and wobbly tables. We all have our restaurant pet peeves—just as restaurants have their gripes about customers. This week, Arch Eats hosts George Mahe and Cheryl Baehr are devoting the entire episode to its most popular segment, the microrant. They’ll good-naturedly dish on restaurants’ biggest offenses and, to keep things even, share what restaurants wish the...

What is the best burger in St. Louis? It’s a question that co-hosts George and Cheryl get asked all the time, and one that is nearly impossible to answer if you consider the number of outstanding choices throughout the metro area. In this episode, they’ll come one step closer to tackling this question by exploring the city’s thick burgers, sharing their love of tried and true classics while uncovering some un...

Cannabis-friendly restaurants. Ozempic menus. Dirty sodas and focaccia sandwiches. These are just a few of the trends George and Cheryl picked up on in St. Louis Magazine’s annual A-List, a celebration of the best of all that the region has to offer. Using this year’s A-List as a jumping off point, the co-hosts shine a light on what they anticipate will come to define eating and drinking in St. Louis in t...

It’s peak peach season in St. Louis, and who better to talk about this most glorious of summertime fruits than our area’s very own peach expert, Chris Eckert? Hot on the heels of Eckert’s Farm’s record peach crop, the seventh-generation southern Illinois farmer dishes about all things peach, including his favorite ways to enjoy the fruit, fun facts, and why some of the old wive’s tales you’v...

It’s peak produce season in St. Louis, and George and Cheryl have been busy scouring the area’s farmers markets for the perfect tomatoes, peaches, and sweet corn. Along the way, they’ve come across some hidden gems that make these markets some of the spots to enjoy the region’s culinary bounty—and they’re letting you in on the secret. From a must-visit new pastry stand at Tower Grove to one of th...

The heat and humidity may be taking your breath away, but they aren’t the only indicators of summer in St. Louis. Everywhere you look, produce aisles, farmers market stands and restaurant tables are brimming with peak-of-the-season ingredients that make you understand why many consider this to be the best time of the year for food. In this episode, hosts George Mahe and Cheryl Baehr scour the menus of some...

With summertime heat and humidity reaching unbearable levels, Arch Eats hosts George Mahe and Cheryl Baehr are looking for any way they can find to cool off. There are the usual suspects—the classic frozen treats like custard, snow cones, and slushies—but in this episode, they’re covering the under-the-radar, unexpected desserts that have been in their rotation this season. From fish-shaped waffles stuff...

In this episode of Arch Eats, hosts Cheryl Baehr and George Mahe talk with Danni Eickenhorst of HuSTL Hospitality Group about the May 16 tornado and its impact on the Delmar Maker District—home to two of her own restaurants. Eickenhorst shares how the local hospitality community has rallied in response, highlights the success of the Take Back The Block concert she organized, and offers practical ways ...

When Tony’s served its last guests this past February, it was more than a restaurant closure; it was the end of an era. St. Louis has been mourning the loss of this beloved titan of its restaurant community, which defined fine dining in the city more than any other establishment. On this episode of Arch Eats, George and Cheryl sit down with James Bommarito, son of Tony’s legendary Vince Bommarito, Sr. and...

Everyone has their favorite spots for ribs or pulled pork or brisket, but where do you go when you get a hankering for something a little more unusual? On this episode of Arch Eats, hosts George Mahe and Cheryl Baehr search St. Louis smokehouses for their most unique dishes—everything from Jamaican-inspired chicken to a vegan specialty that can fool even the most avowed carnivore. Tune in to hear abou...

In a special edition of the Arch Eats podcast, co-hosts George Mahe and Cheryl Baehr are back with an exciting scoop for St. Louis food fans. Joining them in the studio is Kurt Eller, the visionary behind the beloved Taco Buddha restaurants. Kurt reveals exclusive details about his highly anticipated third restaurant—from its location and design details to the planned opening timeline. ...

Just a few years ago, St. Louis felt like a bagel wasteland as boiled bread enthusiasts mourned the loss of the beloved Bagel Factory, and with it their access to respectable versions of the form. Today, we suffer through this bagel-shaped-bread era no more thanks to a bagel renaissance that, over the past few years, has brought excellent options to the metro area. On this episode of Arch Eats, George and Cheryl walk listeners...

The St. Louis restaurant community may know her as the matriarch of the beloved late restaurant, Café Natasha, but for many, Hamishe Bahrami is “mom.” On this special Mother’s Day edition of Arch Eats, George and Cheryl sit down with the beloved restaurant mom and her daughter, The Gin Room and Salve Osteria’s Natasha Bahrami, to talk about what it was like...

Sure, we could talk about the oldest restaurants in St. Louis—but let’s be honest, age doesn’t always mean excellence. In this episode of Arch Eats co-hosts George Mahe and Cheryl Baehr spotlight over a dozen iconic eateries continue to deliver with character and consistency. The youngest is 50 years old; the oldest is 127. Let your cravings guide you back in time—and maybe back...