feed the soul | After working in catering and creating her own line of spices, Donna Vickers was ready to open her own restaurant in 2020. But like with so much else, the pandemic meant a change in plans. Now, SimplyCookingWithDonna is serving up from-scratch soul food for delivery and carryout. Located downtown on the fourth floor of the St. Patrick Center at 800 N. Tucker Blvd., the restaurant’s menu features comfort food favorites, like fried pork chops, spaghetti and smoked turkey leg sandwiches.

a visit to flavortown
Culinary personality Guy Fieri has come to St. Louis. The StL is one of the cities selected for Flavortown Kitchen, a ghost kitchen project created in partnership with Robert Earl of Planet Hollywood. The menu features Fieri favorites like Jalapeno Pig Poppers, Bourbon Brown Sugar BBQ Wings and the Bacon Mac N’ Cheese Burger. The delivery-only concept is working out of two kitchens, one in Frontenac and another in Des Peres. 

perfect for pups
Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery is partnering with Kansas City-based Mixed Mutt Creamery to bring our furry friends a sweet treat. Its four locations will be the only places in St. Louis to get the new, all-natural ice cream created specially for dogs and formulated with lactose-free whole milk and ingredients that promote canine health. To celebrate the launch, 50 cents from every pup cup purchased will be donated to Stray Rescue of St. Louis through March 31. 

on the boardwalk
Boardwalk Waffles & Ice Cream is expanding! In the coming months, it will open three new locations. The first will be at 4348 Telegraph Road in South County in April. The following month, it will open up shop in Soulard at 1001 Russell Blvd. Finally, Boardwalk will be serving up its signature frozen treats to students and theatergoers in Grand Center on the first floor of the Metropolitan Artist Lofts building. This location is slated to open in July and will feature a unique mezzanine overlooking the kitchen, which will allow visitors to watch the treats being made.

opens + closes
Sisters Tracy Calabro and Jules Karagiannis already operate the popular Espresso Yourself Coffee & Cafe in Southampton. Now, they’re expanding next door with Sisters Sandwich Shoppe at 5353 Devonshire Ave. … The team behind frozen cocktail bar Narwhal’s Crafted has launched Elevated Nachos at 1450 Beale St. in St. Charles. The restaurant specializes in, you guessed it, nachos inspired by a variety of cuisines, including Vietnamese banh mi, toasted ravioli and Jamaican jerk. … Tres Equis, a new Mexican bar and restaurant, is open at 3169 Morgan Ford Road with local food truck Locoz Tacoz taking the lead in the kitchen. … Another food truck fave has put down roots with a brick-and-mortar location. K-Bop is serving up fast casual, Korean fare at 6120 Delmar Blvd.