I Lived in Missouri, Here’s the One Day Tour I’d Book to Get to Know My State

I lived in Missouri well before my palate formed. I was born in the Show Me State, so my first meal was probably baby formula. By the time I left, I was in first grade, belting out “Karma Chameleon” for Show and Tell and declaring grilled cheese the apex of cuisine. They’re still my comfort food, but let’s just say my taste buds have grown up.

So, the first thing I’d book after my plane ticket back to Missouri would be a food tour. Not for gooey butter cake or toasted ravioli, as fine as they are, but for barbecue and beer. That’s why the Private St. Louis Gastronomy Tour, featuring BBQ joints and breweries matched like fine dance partners, is my dream itinerary.

Missouri has always been a barbecue battleground, with Kansas City and St. Louis dueling for smoky supremacy. In St. Louis, you’ll find ribs cut a little differently (spare ribs trimmed into neat rectangles, dubbed “St. Louis–style”), sweet tomato-based sauces, and a fierce pride in pit-smoked perfection. On the beer side, this state has brewed its way into global fame. Anheuser-Busch planted its flag here in the mid-1800s, harnessing the city’s German immigrant tradition and natural caves for beer storage. St. Louis didn’t just drink beer, y'all, it engineered it, refined it, and shipped it worldwide. These twin traditions of barbecue and brewing run so deep that touring them feels like touring the city’s bloodstream.

Enter Wayne, your guide, concierge, and chief mischief-maker for the day. This is more than just a checklist of restaurants... it’s a curated wander through edible history of St. Louis. You might start at the Anheuser-Busch Biergarten, where the sheer scale of beer production makes you question your own life achievements, then pivot to Side Project Brewing, a tiny, obsessive operation crafting world-class barrel-aged ales. It’s the boutique meets the behemoth, and Wayne knows exactly how to tell the story of both.

Of course, beer without barbecue is just… lacking. So the tour winds through icons like Pappy’s Smokehouse, where the ribs are dry-rubbed, slow-smoked, and once crowned the best in America. At Bogart’s Smokehouse, apricot-glazed ribs are torched to caramelized glory, while pastrami and tri-tip sneak in like surprise guests at a party. Sugarfire Smoke House adds the chef-driven flourish, with pitmaster Mike Johnson turning smoke and spice into nationally award-winning dishes. Each stop isn’t just a meal: It’s a snapshot of St. Louis’ culinary identity.

The breweries keep pace with equal swagger. Schlafly Tap Room helped relaunch craft brewing in the city after Prohibition, 4 Hands Brewing pushes flavor experiments from hazy IPAs to spirits, and Civil Life pours the kind of beer that makes you want to linger over a story or three. Urban Chestnut anchors the Grove with industrial style and a German soul. Every pint is part history lesson, part invitation to stay awhile.

The beauty of Wayne’s tour is its rhythm. Big, small, smoky, malty: he balances each stop so your palate doesn’t wave a white flag halfway through. And with private transportation, you’re free to lean fully into the experience, camera in one hand, rib in the other.

So if you’re planning a trip to Missouri, make sure St. Louis is on the itinerary. After all, this is a city where you can sip a saison aged in bourbon barrels, bite into ribs sticky with sweet smoke, and then glance up to see the Gateway Arch slicing the sky. Book this incredible Missouri beer and BBQ day trip, raise a glass, and let the barbecue sauce stain your fingers. That’s not mess, y'all, that’s memory.

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