Pastrami in St. Louis lives on rye at counter-service delis, not in some upscale sandwich program. The city's best versions are thick-cut, piled high, and sold from corner shops that have been doing it the same way for years. Here is where the meat actually delivers.
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Adriana's leans more comfort-food deli than pastrami house, with the burger, meatloaf, and mac and cheese doing the heavy lifting on The Hill. It is a neighborhood room built for repeat weekday lunches rather than a deli-case showcase, family-friendly and unfussy. Go for the meatloaf plate if pastrami is not the draw that day.
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Ninth Street Deli's pastrami on rye holds its own against any big-city sandwich counter, and the Mediterranean chicken wrap gets just as much attention from regulars. Fries come well seasoned, the chicken wrap uses fresh breast meat and real tzatziki, and the counter-service pace suits a lunch break. This is a serious sandwich stop, not a fallback.
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No pastrami here, but the grilled cheese flight at The Foundry is worth knowing about anyway: four half sandwiches for thirty dollars, bread grilled evenly and cheese handled with care. It is a reliable stop when nothing else at the complex sounds right, casual and quick rather than a destination sandwich shop.
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Hi-Pointe Drive-In is a burger stop first, with the Frisco Melt and double burger drawing repeat visits and sweet potato tots rounding out the order. Pastrami is not the point; the kitchen runs fast even during rushes and service stays attentive. Fine for a post-zoo lunch, but deli purists should look elsewhere on this list.
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The Pastrami Reuben at Blues City Deli comes stacked with meat on rye that holds up under the load, and the Italian chopped salad is big enough to split two ways. The corner counter draws a line at peak hours, a sign the kitchen has built real loyalty. This is the pastrami sandwich to measure others against.
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P'Sghetti's trades in Italian subs rather than pastrami, with the meatball sub and large-format subs as the real draw near Cliff Cave Park. The bread gets singled out often, and the counter-service setup keeps things moving for a quick lunch. Consistent, no-frills, and worth a stop if a sub sounds better than a Reuben.
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Carl's Deli serves a Rachael, its pastrami Reuben, piled with small-cut meat on rye and sold in portions that come with a warning about size. Mac salad and potato salad arrive filled to the brim alongside it. This is old-school deli built for a real appetite, and the pastrami sandwich is the reason to walk in.
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Snarf's in Maryland Heights runs a broad sandwich menu where the egg salad, veggie, and eggplant Parmesan sandwiches get named most often, not pastrami specifically. Pricing stays reasonable and pickup is the common order. It is a dependable stop for variety rather than a pastrami specialist, useful when the group cannot agree on one thing.
We start with the review record, not a press release. Every room here is a real kitchen with a strong rating across a meaningful number of reviews, ranked on our 10-point Insider Score. We weight consistency over time and the rooms locals return to, not the ones tourists pass through once. The list updates as the data does. How we work →
Staff Writer. Born in Sarajevo, raised in Bevo Mill, lives in Affton. Covers the guides and drives the whole metro to do it, from the Delmar Loop to the Metro East. Tells you the order, the price, the wait, and the parking, then makes the argument.
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