Annie Gunn's Restaurant — Restaurant in Chesterfield

I am a lifelong resident of St. Louis and have been to Annie Gunn's countless times. I am also a frequent patron of The Smoke House Market.

Sunday (1/26/25) I took my wife Annie Gunn's for her 60th birthday along with our 23 y.o. daughter. At the time the reservation was made I informed them it was a special occasion.

Our reservation was for 6pm. When we arrived, there was a very light crowd. There was not a person seated in the front room which is where the entry door is. The second main seating area is on what is the back side of the bar and at the end of this room there is a fireplace. The newest area for general seating is to the east of the second room and is very large. The tables in the newest part of the restaurant are spread out more making it a more intimate area to be seated.

For reasons I cannot fathom we were initially seated at the back of the first room which in cold weather (it was in the 20's) is always the least comfortable room to be in. Added to the constant door opening & closing due to patrons coming and going, there is a service area at the very back of the room, and of course a big bar which gets noisy when the place fills up. In addition to the birthday celebration, we had asked when we arrived to be seated in a warm area.

After we were seated, I strolled into the other two rooms to see if they were full and discovered there were several tables open. When our server returned to our table to see if we wanted to order drinks or hors d'oeuvres I ask that we be moved to another table. After several minutes we were moved to a table in the back of the second room close to the fireplace. This area for some reason was packed very very tightly with tables so the servers have to squeeze through the isles. To give you a sense of how close the table where we could hear every word of the conversations of the people seated near us - 100% - and of course they could hear ours. So much for privacy and intimacy.

Our dinner was good and other than the portion size of the side items we all enjoyed our meals. Our waiter, who was very nice, was slow in bringing us bread and clearly was not told we were there to celebrate a birthday. Generally, there is a complimentary piece of their signature apple pie with cinnamon ice cream (which are both outstanding) brought to the table when you come to celebrate a birthday. I had to tell him it was my wives' birthday. Once again, I was struck by how off their game the staff was.

Annie Gunn's is not a fancy place. There are no table clothes or nicely upholstered comfortable chairs. The style is more down home, and the furnishings are more like a country restaurant with Amish made wood furniture. The two main rooms are the same as they have been for years - still a great deal of wood and forest green walls. Repeat patrons know this is not an elegant restaurant - it is one that has really good - sometimes great food. They are particularly known for their meats, fish, and seafoods. The sides are the same as they have been for as long as I can remember. They don't change them up - even from entrée to entrée - and there are not choices like in many other similar restaurants.

They added a massive space to the restaurant a few years ago and it is difficult to understand why they have not made more effort to spread out tables and ensure the place a bit more comfortable and patrons have an appropriate level of privacy. After all, this is not a diner.

At the end of night, we all agreed that when we are next going to celebrate the next special occasion, we should choose a different restaurant. To spend $200 for meal (3 entrees and one salad) without any hor d'oeuvres, drinks, or alcohol and not receive better service and have a comfortable table with some privacy is in our view simply not acceptable.

Unfortunately, this experience left us very disappointed and only able to suggest Annie Gunn's to others with a customer service caution and caveats regarding comfort, privacy,...

Four of us had dinner here last night. We all got the Prix Fixe menu, which is the Chef's 7 course tasting menu. $275 per person may sound crazy, but the meal you get is magnificent.

My wife and I have dined at some of the top rated Michelan starred restaurants here in America and Europe and I have to say that Annie Gunn's represents itself exceptionally well.

First Course: A triple seafood tasting, one with smoked salmon and capers, the second was a fried lobster tail with a house made tartar sauce and the third was a fried oyster and beef tartar. French Champagne accompanied this course.

Second Course: A beautiful and delicious chunk of pan seared grouper. Melted in our mouths. An Italian pinot grigio was wonderful here and let me say here that the wine pours for ALL courses were exceptionally generous.

Third Course: To be honest, we don't remember what this course was, lol, except that it was delicious. It was a seafood course and like all of other courses, this one was accompanied by its own wine pairing.

This is a good part in the review to mention our server, Lisa, she was incredible. Ask for her if you can. And when each course is delivered, the Chef came out to describe it to us, which was really cool.

Fourth Course: Pan seared foie gras in a broth that was so delicious that we wished we could have done shots of it after the foie was gone. Germain Reisling paired well here.

Fifth Course: Sliced lamb on top of a white Alba truffle rice cake. Mesmerizingly beautiful. The red wine served here was a wonderful, French Chateauneuf de' Pape.

Sixth Course: A honking big ribeye beef course sliced perfectly against the grain and a spot at medium rare, with a high end California Cabernet Sauvignon, Perfect. At this point we were really filling up, but we left room for dessert.

Seventh Course: Creme Brulee. A perfect end to a perfect dinner. Maybe the best Creme Brulee's I've ever had. Served with a local Missouri Port wine.

Many thanks for making this special night even more special to the Chef, Lisa and Paul.

We've already booked 14 of us for the Chef's Table Room next November. Note to readers, is that the tasting menu changes daily, almost hourly, so your menu may not be ours. That being said, the restaurant manager called us hours before our reservation to ask about any potential food allergies we might have and or any special request we might have, so you can potentially tailor your menu to your pallet.

Top notch service from beginning to end. Many thanks to...

Annie Gunn’s Restaurant in Chesterfield, Missouri is a place I wish I could frequent if not every day, at least every week. It is that good. If you do not know how good it is, you have not dined there. If you have not heard how good it is, then you don’t know anyone who has been there. Because if you did, they would have surely raved about it.

From the outside, it looks like nothing special. Even when we were practically in the parking lot, we were not sure that we had the right place until we spotted the signage. There is, by the way, plenty of parking which is needed because this is a deservedly popular restaurant.

The interior is reminiscent of an “old time steak house.” Darker woods abound with a sizable bar and a good mix of tables and booths.

The atmosphere is laid back and friendly despite it being extremely busy. People genuinely enjoy “being themselves” here without any pretense.

We started at the bar. Quick service despite the crowd. I should say quick and friendly. Tasty red wine was soon delivered along with a history of the establishment and how River flooding had impacted the business over the years. Our bartender had worked at Annie Gunn’s for many years.

Our reserved table was ready, but we were by no means rushed over to it. Just the opposite as we were told to take our time and the table would be ready when we were.

We eventually made it to our booth and our server, Michele (who already greeted us at the bar), made us feel welcome and comfortable.

Our Jumbo lump crab andouille sausage cakes were to die for. Their signature shrimp deserving of its reputation. My oysters were so fresh I could hear the ocean. The salad featuring heirloom tomatoes was crazy flavorful. The steaks were cooked perfectly to temperature. The grouper was as good as anywhere I’ve ever been. Desert was fabulous.

Every aspect of Annie Gunn’s is fantastic. The staff, the atmosphere, the wine, the food. You will spend some money here. I’m anxious to do so again.

Make your reservations well in advance or you will b...