In some cities, the good things are obvious. When I lived in Los Angeles, it was a cliche to talk about being able to ski and surf in the same day — but yeah, you could do that, and both the ocean and the mountains were visible from most high-rises. In Phoenix, the same could be said for the desert vistas, the sunsets, the high-end resorts. The best places in these cities were ones any guidebook could easily detail.

St. Louis is more complicated. Here, the best bar might be tucked into a ramshackle city block, the tastiest restaurants are likely to have been opened by immigrants with a dream and a cheap storefront and the most interesting art happens on a street where the rent, miraculously, remains affordable. Many of the gems in St. Louis truly are hidden.

That’s where this issue comes in. In it, you’ll find our detailed treasure map to more than 160 of our favorite people, places and things in St. Louis — as well as the 130-plus places and people you voted winners. We’re out there digging for gold every day in this oft-bewildering town, and I’m pleased to report that we struck the motherlode for this Best of St. Louis issue. Save it, savor it and use it to expand your horizons as you explore all the wonderful spots that make this city such a complicated keeper. —Sarah Fenske

St. Louis isn't the easiest city from which to launch yourself to social media stardom. The most-Instagrammable of backdrops — white sand beaches, picturesque mountains, McLaren dealerships — are hard to come by in these parts. But Tony Bame hasn't let that get in his way. He has taken what St. Louis has to give — potholes, primarily — and turned them into Instagram gold. TikTok, too. Bame's videos typically feature him beside either a gaping pothole or a horrific car crash as he delivers his classic salutation, "St. Louis city. Wouldn't you know it?" before riffing on whatever godforsaken road condition he's putting on display. Do we totally get it? No. Do we get how crypto is involved? Also no. Do we love it? Sure.  —Ryan Krull

Few people rep St. Louis better than Andy Cohen. He's kind. He's graceful. He tells it like it is. And despite his great success as a TV host and reality television star, Cohen has never shied away from his Midwestern roots. He's even working with NBC on a coming-of-age comedy based on his upbringing in the St. Louis suburbs, while he proudly displays St. Louis memorabilia on the set of his Bravo hit Watch What Happens Live. He rightfully received a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in April, during which he let St. Louis and the rest of the world know, "I'm proud to be from St. Louis. Go Cardinals!" —Monica Obradovic

The McPherson blog has been quiet as of late, but maybe that's because the man behind it, Jack Grone, has moved his commentary over to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. @McPherSTL's posts often highlight what isn't being said in the political conversation du jour: the silence of city officials as Kim Gardner's office crashed and burned, their generally quiet acceptance of Mayoral Dad Virvus Jones' trolling tweets. A resident of the city's new, hotly contested Ward 9, Grone was also particularly well-positioned during #Aldergeddon to document the glut of direct mail that polluted his and his neighbors' mailboxes. His observations are consistently cutting without being mean. Best of all, you get the sense he doesn't spend all his time on social media. There's already plenty of very-online people to be found online. —Ryan Krull