With the Sheraton bookending each end of Westport and easy access to the highway, it’s no surprise so many restaurants have collected in one shopping center. I’ve tried all of them. Some are great, some are forgettable, but they’re all incredibly convenient. In addition to the , and , Westport is home to eight diverse, full-service restaurants.

You can click on the links for a detailed review or use our handy cheat sheet the next time you can’t decide where to grab a bite. For your convenience, they’re arranged from best to worst.



Every single thing about this restaurant is well done. Yes, the name sounds more like a TV law firm than a restaurant, but that’s probably because it's trying to convey a sense of professionalism and quality unmatched in Maryland Heights. I’ve reviewed more than 100 restaurants spread across St. Louis, and this one earned one of only two A+’s.

By night, is a steak house. By day, it serves upscale Americana (try the meatloaf). You’ll find familiar steak-and-potato foods with elegant touches and impeccable execution.

Dinner prices start around $30 per person and go up from there. However, the lunch menu is priced competitively with St. Louis Bread Company. The high-quality ingredients, beautiful presentation, decent portion sizes and delightful flavors are just as good at lunch as dinner. The friendly, fast, professional service is unbeatable any time of day. I can’t recommend this place highly enough. If you haven’t tried Dierdorf and Hart’s, you’re in for a treat.



earned my second A+. This is a restaurant people either love or hate. I’ve never met anyone who hates Dierdorf and Hart's, but that’s a more conservative restaurant. IceKitchen takes some risks. (Try the tacos.)

It's mostly known for interesting cocktails and small plates, but the Asian-fusion entrées and lunches are top notch. Everything from the simple winter bowl of chili to the light summer hosin sea bass is well executed and wonderfully flavorful. I could eat the steak kabobs on roasted paprika sauce every day. Whenever I’ve visited, the service has gone above and beyond, the food has come out with all my party’s picky modifications perfectly executed, and the bill (for everything but drinks) has pleasantly surprised us. If you succumb to multiple small plates (my usual choice of lunch) you’ll spend a couple bucks more than you would at St. Louis Bread Company, but the bill will still be less than $20 including tip.




If you’re not there on a weekend evening, Trainwreck is one of the few really family-friendly restaurants in Westport. It has a trio of $4 kid’s meals. If your kids want more than toasted ravioli, chicken fingers or grilled cheese, the burgers and sandwiches are all $10 and less.

After 8 p.m., Trainwreck is home to live music, drink specials and plenty of singles. Since it knows its crowd, the menu focuses heavily on appetizers and burgers. I’m a big fan of the inexpensive upgrade to a bison patty on any of the burgers. Portions are large, prices are low, and the food is sturdy fare designed to absorb plenty of alcohol. It  serves some of the best bar food you’ll find anywhere near Maryland Heights.

Trainwreck is hands down the most popular restaurant in Westport. I’ve never been in when it wasn’t packed. The noise level is a little high, and the service is a little slow. If you have time for a leisurely meal and want to enjoy a couple affordable drinks, this is the place to go. If you’re trying to impress a date, head over to IceKitchen. If you’re trying to impress clients, take them to Dierdorf and Hart's.



may be the most expensive restaurant in Westport. If you’re looking for affordable, basic sushi, head over to for a nice, made-as-you-order sushi buffet. If you’re looking for interesting rolls you can’t get anywhere else in town, be prepared to pay $10-15 for each one.

It offers the best fusion sushi available anywhere in the area. No questions asked. You’ll need to drive to Clayton or the Central West End (home of another Drunken Fish location) for anything comparable. It’s not cheap, but if you love sushi, everything is beautifully presented, well executed, and full of the interesting ingredients that make a trip to Drunken Fish so much fun. The sushi chefs are also up for a challenge, so don’t be shy about making major modifications to any of the rolls.

It’s almost impossible for me to get out of here for less than $30—more if I have a drink or two. Alas, the alcohol is as tempting as the entrées. Drunken Fish has a good list of interesting, well-made cocktails. If you feel like showing off, Drunken Fish is a great place to take either a date or a business client.



I really wanted to like this locally owned sport’s bar. The hard-working servers will do everything in their power for you, but at the end of the day, 's food just doesn’t match up to the well-written descriptions. Everything sounds like a wonderful Cuban-inspired fusion, but there’s a generic blandness that puts the meals on par with a T.G.I. Friday’s.

Like Trainwreck, this place is hopping on weekends. It’s no surprise the best dishes are all hearty appetizers meant to soak up a reasonable amount of booze. If you want to watch a game or go out for a night of flirting with singles, you can make a good meal out of a couple hearty, decent appetizers while enjoying some reasonably priced drinks. Both will be a little more expensive than Trainwreck, but you’re paying for more space and a different atmosphere.




I was seriously put off by the quantity and variety of insects sharing my meal. 's food itself was generic, bland Americanized Mexican. While the quantity was generous and the prices were low, you’ll get better flavor and fewer uninvited guests at a Qdoba.




This is one of the few restaurants I’ve reviewed twice (). It managed to significantly improve its rating the second time around. However, the atmosphere, décor, and menu made it impossible not to compare it to Dierdorf and Hart's, located mere steps away. To me, this feels a bit like dummed down Italian food presented in an upscale environment. The main seasoning agents were Provel and salt. The prices were higher, the service was (much) slower, and the quality of what came out of the kitchen was a shadow of what was available next door.

If you’re looking for an affordable, upscale lunch experience, this is not your best choice in Westport. For dinner, head across Maryland Heights to the delightful for an example of great local Italian food.

I’d honestly love to see a friendly competition between Westport’s two upscale restaurants. , I challenge you. If you don’t like being compared to Dierdorf and Hart, outshine it! Make more in-house, improve your service and speed, and send your chefs down to Penske’s Spices. Turn Westport into an upscale battleground instead of a clear black and white choice. You can do it.



Neither I nor our other restaurant reviewer was impressed with . The portions of New York-style pizza were certainly large, but the flavors were uninspiring. I visited with a party of eight. We were one of three tables in the entire restaurant. As soon as we sat down, they cranked the music up to painful volumes. When we asked if they could turn it down, they said it was to attract people outside. Instead, it drove us and the other two tables away as quickly as possible.

The restaurant managed to mess up the toppings on all three of our pizzas, brought the wrong sandwiches, and then wanted to bill us for the food they took back to the kitchen. Adding insult to injury, the manager told us we should’ve ordered out (possibly, I think, so we couldn’t complain about the inaccurately filled order). We never had a single drink refill and couldn’t get boxes for our leftovers.

There are much better places for pizza elsewhere in Maryland Heights.