Five Bistro

Let me save you the trouble of going to this restaurant. I like many Unilocalers picked this restaurant based on the reviews so I had high expectations. The best part was the beginning of the night when the host (I assume owner greeted us politely). After that it all went downhill. The long and short of it is. we were the first people in the restaurant and about 3 hours later. we were the last people in there. Literally we watched every single table get seated and watched every customer leave. I would be willing to look past our crazy long dinner if the food was actually semi decent. We did the set menu and upgraded to the charcuterie board that was the best food we had. Afterwards, it took 20 minutes for our second course to come out. My soup was ice cold with under cooked squash and no salt. It was like eating solid water with hard rocks. Awful. At this point I was still willing to look the other way. 30 – 45 minutes later comes our entrée. My scallops were cold and over cooked and my fiancé’s pork was so over cooked we had to send it back. It was so tough. Oh and my scallop’s sides were yet again under cooked. Nothing worse than eating raw parsnip. YUCK! The table next to us came an hour after us and while we were WAITING for our entrée they were eating dessert and gushing about how delicious the food was. Maybe the wine pairings were clouding their palettes but I felt that I had a totally different experience. Our waitress dropped off their dessert, took our plates and disappeared. Didn’t even ask us about dessert. She stopped by 15 minutes to tell us she would be back with dessert menus. Dropped off the dessert menu and disappeared for 20 minutes. Finally we had to flag her down to tell her what we wanted and she said okay everything will be out in ‘a few minutes’. I timed her. it took 30 minutes for dessert to come out. Granted we got free wine pairings with our dessert but they did not fix our ruined Christmas dinner. We got our bill and realized half our meal was comped! Okay that’s fair. Wait closer look. it looks like she added the total up wrong. (insert eye roll) we decided to be honest and tell her that we owed her more and she gushed and praised us for being so honest. Bottom line we paid $ 200 for the longest and worst meal of our lives. Don’t waste your time here. I normally give restaurants another try but this one will be swept under the rug with a big fat NO RETURN.

My husband and I went here for his birthday in Oct of 2015. The food was pretty good we did the dinner with wine pairings and the service was absolutely fantastic but honestly for the price and the food not being absolutely amazing, we will likely not be coming back. :(But different people have different pallets, maybe you will love it. Definitely worth trying!

Five stars for customer service! Full disclosure– I haven’t eaten here yet– will update when I do. But I have to comment on their incredible customer service. We will be dining there on NYE– my friend and I are both pregnant and I needed to make sure that the pre-​fixe menu they had would include enough things for us to eat. I have been emailing with an lovely lady named Bonnie who has been talking to the Chef Anthony and the two have them have worked endlessly to make sure menu fell within the scope of our pregnancy restrictions. They even assured us that if it didn’t, they would make adjustments the night of to make sure we were happy. Wow, who works this hard to satisfy a customer? Especially on a a busy night like NYE with a pre-​fixe menu. We were already excited to dine here, now with their customer satisfaction NYE can’t get here fast enough! Thanks Bonnie and Anthony!

Amazing. This restaurant is distinctly excellent. I travel every week and have the opportunity to dine at outstanding restaurants in myriad cities. Five Bistro is in a top-​tier category! St. Louis residents are blessed to have this fantastic restaurant! Exceptional locally sourced food. Beautiful comfortable environment. Outstanding service. Ordered the four-​course prix fix meal: loved every bite!

My wife and I dined here yesterday, she opting for the 4 course and I opting for the 4 course with wine pairing.
An amuse bouche was brought out prior to taking our order. I’m personally not a fan of that. I won’t turn down a free bite, but it serves to make the wait for your order that much longer (and at this place, that is a problem). My wife’s tagliatelle and my fried green tomatoes came and we were underwhelmed. Not bad, but not great. Later I overheard our server tell another table the tomatoes were grown in her garden. That’s a special touch, but maybe let everyone who orders the dish know that.
After 20 minutes we received the second course, butternut squash soup. Normally there is a sweetness to this, but not at Five. While creamy and nice the only sweetness was provided by the paired Riesling. That is more of a personal preference call so I’d hesitate to say a certain soup wasn’t sweet, but it was unexpected for sure.
30 minutes later we received the entrees. Ribeye and Chicken. Both were awesome. Zero complaints.
Lastly 25 minutes later desert. By this point we’ve been here an hour and a half or more, the portions are to the chef’s credit large and I just want to go. The wine pairing has been brought out by the server or bartender/​sommelier depending on who was free at the time. Deserts arrive and I take a bite of a great hot desert as I eye up the dollop of ice cream sitting on top. Plunk goes a glass of port and the sommelier seems determined to tell me the entire history of what ended up in my glass as the heat melts my ice cream.
Some food was great, most was bland, the service had several miscues. I spent 2 hours on a four course meal with no more than 10 patrons during our time there. There isn’t an excuse to wait half an hour between courses when a restaurant is at 5% capacity.

Finally had the opportunity to dine at Five Bistro. Everything was 5 star except for the food. Restaurant is comfortable and visually appealing. Tables far enough apart to enable conversation and avoid the noise of so many newer and trendy restaurants. Service was outstanding and when we called for reservations we were asked if there was anything we didn’t like to eat. We tried 7 items between us and unfortunately found little to rave about. Entrees were pretty bland. I will give it a second try given that they obviously are going out of their way to please.

We really enjoyed our dinner at Five last night. The wine by the glass options were excellent. The amuse bouche was a charcuterie/​cheese/​croûton that set the tone. I had the tagliatelle and my husband had the salad — both fresh and Home grown. Delicious! We each had a special entrée — I had the chicken leg which was fall off the bone and my husband had the beef short ribs — equally fall off the bone. So glad we shared. Topped it off with the apple crisp. This place is so natural and delicious. Highly reco.

One of our finest dining experiences in St. Louis. Love the family atmosphere here. Greetedby the chef/​owners parents nice touch. The food is very limiting offering only 5 entrees and three of them were braised meats. We loved everything we ordered the salmon tartare was outstanding, loved the caesar salad. The salmon entrée and strip loin were over the top great. come here if you like the menu.

The place get 5 stars from me. I loved the décor in the restaurant and the food was amazing. I got to meet the chef. The waitress was attentive and I was never long without food between courses. I would highly recommend getting their course menu. There are lots of choices and everything is specially made that day.

I can’t believe we didn’t know about Five Bistro. Truly one of the best meals we’ve had in our own home city. Great atmosphere (although those chairs aren’t the most comfortable), amazing service and every dish was outstanding. Can’t wait to go back.

Everything here is incredible! I have dined here about 4 times now and I have never had anything that I did not like (besides personal preference in cheeses). They have a wonderful 4 course menu every night they change around different ingredients and other items to make them very fresh. They have a garden out back and at the owners house that they use for most of the vegetables and different assortments. It is some of the freshest food in St Louis. Today I got the JennaPohl Lamb Loin Roast for my main course and it was probably the most tender cut of meat I have had in a long time and thats saying a lot compared to some of the restaurants I dine at. I know I am still new to the STL area but out of all the restaurants I have tried so far this is definitely one of my favorite restaurants here already. Cannot wait to go back already.
*look though my pictures to see what I had for which course.

Fabulous! Farm to table and a lot of to hy be vegetables are grown in the back yard. Rustic food done exquisitely. Had the prix fare with the wine pairing, totally recommend that. Jake the bartender paired the wines with each coarse beautifully. Our server was Jessa and she was fabulous and explained very dish very well. The hardest part was deciding what to get in each course. Course 1-​crab cake, Course 2– cucumber purée soup, Course 3 beef liver and desert course, great selection of cheese.
The dining room itself is very charming. When we we’re leaving we noticed they have the biggest tree either one of us have ever seen outside of the Redwoods on their patio, we literally just stared it. It’s pretty damn impressive actually.
We will definitely be back

Amazing, absolutely amazing! Five Bistro deserves five stars!
On the occasion that is my dad’s birthday, I reserved Friday night for three via OpenTable, and we were expected and welcomed warmly when we walked through the door. I recommend making a reservation regardless of the day for the place seems quite popular, always booked, and filled. By filled I mean most tables were taken (the outside ones seemed more popular than indoor) throughout our stay (6:30−9:00), but it was by no means crowded or squeezed. Plenty of room between tables to have a conversation without other voices jumping in for sure.
I bet the dishes were the biggest concern, and I am here to tell you there is nothing to worry about. Despite his bold use of favors, the ingredients remained their natural flavor while borrowing the essence of the sauce. I adored the grilled trout with asparagus (it was fancier than that but I do not recall the full menu name), but the menu changes from time to time. Chef Devotin during a conservation mentioned he uses only local produce and vegetables to ensure the freshness of food (he even grows lettuce, tomato among other things to add into the dishes). The dessert was perhaps not the most delicate but it was quite good. The earl grey ice cream was amazing. Lastly, we had no issues with the service: it was quick, friendly and helpful.
Since it was dad’s birthday, he should be the judge of this place, and as he walked back into the house he said out of no where «wow, that restaurant really was quite something!» Bravo! Thank you Five Bistro for an awesome birthday for my dad!

I have a goal to try every restaurant on the Hill. Since Five Bistro was participating in Restaurant Week on the Hill, I decided this was as good of time as any to check them out.
First, I really love the ambiance here. They have both indoor and outdoor seating, which is great. I found the place to be super quiet, classy, and chic.
In terms of food, we ordered the housemade tagliatelle as our appetizer, which had roasted mushrooms, hickory smoked bacon, and parmigiano-​reggiano. It had a nice flavor, but was a little spicy for my taste. I also found the portion a little small. For the entrée, I had the halibut and my husband ordered the roasted beef. Both were pretty good. Finally, for dessert, I had the warm chocolate cake with burnt caramel, strawberries, and vanilla bean ice cream. I thought it was really good, but my husband thought it wasn’t sweet enough.
In addition to the food, Five Bistro also has a good selection of wines. I decided to do wine pairings with all 3 of my courses. I had a pinot noir with the first course, a white wine I can’t remember with my second course, and dow’s 10 year tawny port with my third course. I’m really glad I did the pairings. The wines were a nice touch and I REALLY loved the dessert port. It was definitely one of the best wines I’ve tasted in awhile. If you don’t want to spend money on their wines, you can bring in your own bottle for a $ 20 corking fee.
In terms of service, our food came out really quickly and we were seated immediately when we came in. We did have a reservation, which I would recommend if you’re coming between 5 – 7:30. They’re on Open Table so you get 100 points with your reservation. Finally, I thought our server did a great job of making sure we were taken care of while still giving us privacy.
I think the thing really holding this place back from 5 stars is definitely the price. The portions were rather small and our bill was $ 65 before tax. With that said, I’m glad I tried this place out as I think it definitely offers something unique to the Hill. More specifically, Five Bistro uses ingredients from local farms. Furthermore, the menu changes daily depending on what is in season and available locally. Finally, they do a lot in house, including butchering, charcuterie, condiments, pickles, pasta, bread, and pastries. In sum, definitely a place you should check out at least once, especially if you’re not cheap and/​or a foodie.

I have been to this restaurant a couple times now and I always had good experience.
I like the fact that they constantly update the menu based on the season and market, or even just substitute the ingredients to make it different.
We went there for restaurant week on the Hill — 3 courses meal for $ 25. Compared to other restaurant week offerings and quality, I’d say this one is worth it. Obviously, it’s not the same portion sizes. The halibut is half the normal size, the tagliatelle is about ²⁄₃^rd and the dessert is ³⁄₅^th? That is expected — I’m just stating the fact. The service was good — they were busy and slightly careless so I wouldn’t call it impeccable. The host was such a friendly and welcoming man. The waitress seemed a bit overwhelmed, forgetting things and not checking on tables. However, every employee was very friendly which makes up for it.
The tagliatelle was delicious, so flavorful and rich. The warm chocolate cake was wonderful. The entrée, halibut, was okay, over-​seasoned — simply salty. I’ve had better entrees here before!
Overall, I enjoyed my meal per usual. I will be back again.

GREAT find — two foodie friends had recommended this restaurant to me and we loved it. It’s not a big menu, but anything you order here is going to be really good.
Decided to do the four course prix fixe for $ 45 each. Very good deal since the portion sizes are the same as the a la carte menu portions.
First course:
Started with the nettle pesto tagliatelle and that was excellent. Really nice flavor, not oily the way too many pestos in the U.S. end up, and the pasta was perfectly cooked. Wife started with pancake/​ham (similar to prosciutto)/Brie — combination sounded a little odd but all the flavors were great, particularly the ham (cured in house).
Second course:
We both got the salad on the menu. Great lettuce, radishes, dressing, olives, croutons, cheese and deviled egg. Solid.
Third course:
I had the lamb loin (opted to swap that out for the pork belly) with polenta and it had a really tasty sauce. It was very good. Wife had the chicken breast (with several veggies including squash), which was good, but not memorable.
Fourth course:
I had the bread pudding (with vanilla ice cream) and it was off the charts! Very light, not dense at all, with a great flavor and some crunch from nuts, I think. My wife doesn’t like bread pudding normally but she loved it too. She ordered the olive oil chocolate cake with mint chip ice cream — excellent!
After those courses, we were given two homemade lavender macaroons which were delicious and a nice close to the meal.
The service was really top notch too — Audra was a wealth of info about the menu and passionate about their food, which we loved.
One of the best restaurants we have been to in St Louis.

Five Bistro is a cozy contemporary American style bistro that is on The Hill located at Hereford and Daggett (south of Adriana’s and Guido’s).
This non Italian «Hill» novelty is a win. It’s rare that I find a restaurant that has a menu that intrigues me from top to bottom. The menu changes to reflect fresh local ingredients and it is creative.
The owners parents who serve as hosts are the friendliest people you will ever meat and our server, Audra was a professional. I have sampled the charcuterie platter in the past, which contains everything and the kitchen sink, all made in house (mouses, pates, cured meats chutneys, etc). Absolutely delish.
Last week I opted for the $ 45 pre fixe 4 course meal. A great deal. The mushroom tagliatelle starter was light and savory. Yum! The salad with pickled veggies and Baetje Farms cheese was a perfect balance of texture, acid, etc., and the seared Tuna was AMAZING. I almost ordered the trout, but I am not a «fish with head attached» diner.
The dessert wasn’t as good as the other courses, but they did provide some complimentary homemade macaroons at the end that melted in my mouth. I will definitely be back!

Unilocal describes a 5-​star rating as: «Woohoo! As good as it gets!» I don’t give 5-​star ratings. Well, not true, I do give them, but I only give them when it truly is, in my humble but ever-​correct opinion, «As good as it gets!» Five Bistro is.
I was in St. Louis taking some testimony from an enemy witness. Things went well and the deposition ended much sooner than expected. So, my sainted sister suggested I visit the Gateway Arch and then eat at Five Bistro. Turned out these were two outstanding suggestions.
As I said, it was a business trip. Started at 4 in the morning and was marked by a hard-​fought deposition with a tough expert witness. Then, it was cold! ‘Way too cold for this south Texas troop. Plus, due to construction, it’s effectively impossible to get to the Arch. Well, again, not true. You can get there but they’ve got no signs and so you have to wander around and then walk and walk, in the COLD, (did I mention it was COLD!?) to get there. (Yes, it’s worth it. Fabulous view from the top and very cool ride in a «capsule» to get there.) So, what does all this have to do with Five Bistro. Just understand, I was in a foul mood and ready to be irritated by anything and everything. Just try to please me!
Five Bistro did. Beautifully!
First of all, I liked the quiet neighborhood location. Not too far from the busy downtown area but definitely out of there. Parking is on the street but it was not a problem on this quiet (and COLD) Wednesday evening. I got there early, around 6 pm, and was pleasantly greeted by a lovely young lady named Audra, who was my server for the meal, as well. When I first arrived, I pretty much had the place to myself. It got busy soon, but that never interfered with some very nice service and attention from Audra and the other folks who run this very nice and small and intimate restaurant.
As some of the other reviewers have mentioned, they have a fixed price tasting menu. I think it important to note that the serving size, the portions, in this arrangement are the same as if you order a la carte. I chose the tasting menu and I also chose to add on the wine pairings.
The meal was beautifully presented and served. It started with a little amuse-​bouche that was very tasty and then I followed it with the gnocchi, which was superb. I told Audra to just forget the rest of the meal and bring me a big bowl of the gnocchi and a large spoon. Happily, she ignored this request and proceeded to bring me the chowder, which was punctuated with a big chunk of swordfish. Excellent! I finished things off with a nicely prepared ribeye. All very, very well prepared and presented.
For my dessert, included in the tasting menu, I chose three cheeses. This added just a little bit to my bill, but was well worth it. I chose a variety that I knew it would be impossible to pair with any one wine. One of the cheeses was a firm cheese rubbed with espresso and lavender. Another was a creamy and light goat cheese. Pair with that! Well, they did. In fact, all of the pairings were very nice and just right.
I should mention that my server, Audra, told me that she’d only been working at Five Bistro for three weeks. I was shocked. She knew the menu top to bottom and could discuss the sauces, ingredients, and preparation. One of the earlier reviewers had complained that his server went on and on about the local sources of the foods and ingredients but Audra did not do this. She did mention that the chef really emphasizes local farms and sources, but she did not overdo it at all. I think I may have ended up being a fairly easy customer as every single thing I had I liked. But, there was a table near me that came in soon after I arrived, that was comprised of four gentlemen, one of whom was a real pain. He couldn’t eat this and wouldn’t eat that; he didn’t eat meat, or gluten, or water, or food. I wanted to smack the guy. (In Texas I would have but my yankee friends frown on that sort of thing.) But, Audra remained extremely polite, and asked all the right questions. (The guy even complained that she was forcing him to make decisions! I’m not making this up!) Then she made a special trip back to the kitchen to talk with the Chef for this goof. Eventually, when she jumped through hoops to please this braying ass, he shut up and had a great meal. Well done, Audra.
So, I have to say that I highly, highly recommend Five Bistro. I’ll be back every time I get anywhere near St. Louis. 5-​Stars.

Awesome Awesome Awesome! But you WILL pay for it. Everything we tried was top-​shelf and I couldn’t have been more pleased.
Made a reservation, but didn’t need it.
We found ourselves looking at other people’s food too, #OrderEnvy

Five Bistro provides a consistently excellent meal that is very reasonably priced for the quality. Located on the Hill, Five sits on a quiet intersection. There is a patio out front with a handful of tables, and a decent-​sized dining room inside. The décor is understated, but fits with the overall vibe.
Five bills itself as a locally-​sourced farm-​to-​table restaurant, a badge which a growing number of restauranteurs seem to wear with unabashed enthusiasm. And while this is certainly a commendable model, it’s hard not to notice the fact that generally half the menu features seafood that could not possibly be locally sourced in St. Louis. Granted, they aren’t shy about admitting this, but when they otherwise geek out so hard about where they’re getting their ingredients, it sends a mixed message.
And you will hear about the ingredients in excruciating detail. The staff will never fail to break down where each part of the dish came from, rifling off a series of local farms but providing little insight into why these ingredients were sourced where they were. It almost feels like culinary name-​dropping, and to be honest, I don’t think even the above-​average diner cares.
This is not to say that I don’t like to be educated about my food. However, I’m more interested to hear about the manner in which it was prepared, or why the dish was composed in the manner it was. I’d like to get the sense that what’s on the plate was selected by the chef for more reason than that it was simply available just outside of town.
But, there’s no denying the food is good, even great. While you can order a la carte, it doesn’t take an economist to figure out that the prix fixe menu option is the way to go. If you choose for the wine pairings for a reasonable upcharge, you’ll find that the sommelier is quite intent upon picking wines (and sometimes beers) that match perfectly with the dishes.
If there were only one complaint to be lodged against the menu, it is that it is rendered small by the decision to re-​use ingredients across multiple courses. While 4 options per course is actually quite generous, during our latest outing, the same asparagus featured in multiple dishes across the courses, from the base of the soup, to the garnish on a few of the entrees. This forces you either order your second choice to allow for some variety, or endure the same flavors for several courses in a row.
Another odd issue with our last visit was the abundance of flies indoors. Granted, it wasn’t a swarm, but there were at least 3 flies inside, one which lay dead on our table. It was rather conspicuous, so the fact that it wasn’t addressed before we were seated is something I’d like to chalk up to the staff being busy… except that we were the ONLY table in the entire restaurant for the 3 hours we were there.
Five deserves to be busier than it is. It’s a good value for higher-​end dining, and there are certainly some excellent offerings. Just a little less redundancy in the menu and a little less name-​dropping would make it a place I’d choose to visit more often.

Don’t come hungry, because you’ll leave starving.
My friend and I came here for a dinner because I heard such good things about the food. However, nobody warned me that the portion sizes are essentially miniscule. We may be small girls, but we can eat normal-​sized portions.
The food itself was quite good. I’m not knocking this place for quality. When we arrived, the waiter warned us that the three course prie-​fixe contained very «scaled-​down» portions compared to the normal menu entrees, so we opted to order straight of the menu.
Here’s what we got:
1. Tagliatelle and Pork head sugo– flavorful dish, well-​cooked pasta, but $ 10 for approx a 3“diameter portion of pasta (two bites). $ 1 – 5 more and you have yourself an entire plate of pasta at Pastaria.
2. mushroom in phyllo dough– two triangular pockets of mushroom goodness– refer to picture for size.
3. Scallops with carrots and potatoes– before this dish came out, my friend remarked, «this better not just be two scallops.» Oh my. We did laugh out loud because it was indeed 2 scallops on top of 2 carrots and a few scattered diced potatoes.
Sigh. Dinner fail. We both got wine, so it ended up being $ 35 each. We opted to skip dessert to find some more food.
If you have money to drop and you’re not hungry, come on down.
Side note: The meat dishes looked as though they contained normal sized portions. Try that?