BEST TEAMWORK

Local Restaurant Collabs
Is there anything better than watching local restaurants support one another and do business together? We love it so much! And this past year, we’ve seen a few fun collabs that are matches made in heaven. First, Dani’s Flour Pot Bakery began using The Royal’s restaurant space, offering sweet and savory baked goods during the daytime hours, before The Royal opens in the evenings. Then, we started to see a sweet collab between Culture Counter and Cherry Picker Package x Fare as customers created DIY affogatos by buying a scoop of fresh Culture Counter ice cream and then taking it over to Cherry Picker to have it topped with espresso. And most recently, Prairie Pie has joined forces with Therefore, Pizza—a mobile wood fired pizza purveyor who is starting to serve fresh pizzas from an alleyway takeout window at Prairie Pie.

BEST HANDHELD INDULGENCE

Loukaniko Pita Wrap from Greek Belly
Our mouths water just thinking about the loukaniko pita wrap from Greek Belly (320 E. Walnut St., Springfield). A soft, warm pita is filled with Greek loukaniko sausage, fries, tomato, onion and the pièce de resistance: a hefty helping of spicy tirokafteri feta dip. It’s perfect. One staffer unabashedly indulged in it twice in one week. The heart wants what the heart wants.

BEST GLOW UP

The Sandwich Scene
In 2020, Secret Sandwich Shop opened up as a mini-restaurant inside Sweet Boy’s Neighborhood Bar, using their kitchen to create incredible sammies and then serving them from the Sweet Boy’s space. They quickly became a beloved downtown spot, and in 2021 they moved out of the bar and down the road to their own space, re-opening as The Sandwich Scene (208 W. McDaniel St., Springfield) and serving those same delicious dishes from a colorfully branded walk-up window.

BEST USE OF SAGE

Filetto Parmigiana from Avanzare Italian Dining
There are a lot of reasons to love indulging in the Filetto Parmigiana entrée from Avanzare Italian Dining (1908 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield). The hand-cut filet is always grilled to perfection, and sides are classically good. What really gets us isn’t even the killer Parmesan cheese and butter-sage sauce that comes on top. No, the thing that puts this dish over the top is the little bit of fried sage leaves sprinkled over the dish. They are crispy perfection.

BEST HANDHELD BREAKFAST

Scrambled Egg Rolls from Morning Day Cafe
The bright artwork on the windows is enough to make you want to start your day at Morning Day Café (105 S. Main St., Nixa), and the food doesn’t disappoint. We are fond of the Scrambled Egg Rolls, perfect handheld starters. They are made with bacon, sausage and avocado (one of each) plus cheese and eggs. Dip them in bacon gravy and poblano cheese sauce.

BEST EVERYDAY CELEBRATION

Fancy Cakes from Charity Fent Cake Design
Can we all agree to make 2022 the year of celebrating the little things, all the time? One of our favorite ways to bring the fun is with one of the pretty treats from Charity Fent Cake Designs (2648 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield). The flavors are incredible.

BEST LITTLE SEASONAL BITES

Eurasia Coffee
On the menu at Eurasia Coffee Co.’s Culture Café (445 E. Commercial St., Springfield), you’ll find all of your favorite coffee and espresso drinks, including a Slow Bar with preparations like Chemex pour-overs. But it’s the food that we find most interesting. The menu features tastes inspired by the owners’ world travels, such as the tikka wrap with hints of Indian flavors. The seasonal menu items are always faves, like the smoky chili we tried in the fall that blew us away.

BEST WAY TO EAT FRIED SQUID

Calamari from Level 2 Steakhouse
Fried calamari is the classic, crunchy, indulgent app that is supremely shareable. We’ve had it many different ways at many different restaurants, and one of the versions we love the most is found at Level 2 Steakhouse (inside Hilton Branson Convention Center, 200 E. Main St., Branson). Instead of the rings and tentacles you might expect to see, this calamari is sliced into strips. They’re thicker and more tender, with a light batter that adds just the right amount crunch. On the side you’ll find a zippy key lime miso mayo for dipping.

BEST PATIO MAKEOVER

Team Taco
We’re a little obsessed with the patio expansion at Team Taco (1454 E. Cherry St., Springfield). The little dining room is no longer open, and instead guests order at the walk-up window and can choose a seat in one of the two outdoor patios. Both are fenced in for a cozy vibe, and one is covered. The result is more space for guests to sit and a bright, airy community vibe. Our favorite way to enjoy Team Taco? We grab some B.A. Baracus tacos and munch on them under the shade of the covered patio on a warm afternoon.

BEST FLOATS

Pineapple Bliss
If you haven’t visited the cute little building in Joplin that houses Pineapple Bliss (1021 E. 20th St., Joplin), you’re missing out. They serve a variety fruity soft serve flavors (plus dark chocolate), and you can opt to have them made into a super-creative float. Maybe you want mango soft serve in pineapple juice with spicy Chamoy on top. Or grapefruit soft serve in citrus-hibiscus-orange Stubborn soda and freeze-dried Skittles on top. No matter what ingredients you put together, you know it’ll be creative, surprising and super-brightly Instagrammable.

BEST SUBTLE LATTE FLAVOR

Lavender-Sage Latte from Kingdom Coffee
With single-origin pour overs and a delicious house roast, the coffee is incredible at Kingdom Coffee (211 S. Market Ave., Suite 100; 2896 S. Lone Pine Ave., Springfield). And when we’re in the mood for something a little sweet in our brew, they seriously deliver with their lavender-sage syrup. It’s not too sweet, not too floral, and not too herbal. It’s just the right amount of all of those things for a delightfully balanced latte indulgence that we truly can’t resist.

BEST VEGGIE SURPRISE

Green Tomato Cake from The Ozark Mill Restaurant
When you think of the perfect dessert, do you think of microgreens and green tomatoes? No? Honestly, neither do we. Yet somehow both of those things come together beautifully in the green tomato cake from The Ozark Mill Restaurant (at Finley Farms, 802 Finley Farms Lane, Ozark). This layered cake is the sweetest sage-green hue thanks to its vegetal key ingredient, and the microgreens garnish somehow works oh-so-perfectly with this sweet concoction. If you’re not sure you want a veggie in your cake, let us remind you how delightful carrot cake is. It’s a flavor in that vein, but more moist and more subtle—and it’s one of our favorite sweet local bites.

BEST MOCKTAILS

Tie & Timber Beer Co.
Usually it’s the local brews and the amazing outdoor dining area that gets us excited about Tie & Timber Beer Co. (1451 E. Cherry St., Springfield). But on a recent visit, we were surprised by the well-crafted mocktails that we didn’t even realize were on the menu. How had we missed them? They come in a handful of flavors, but the one we adore is a mango concoction that is sweet, tart and a little bit spicy thanks to the tangy Tajin rim. It turned out to be bright, refreshing and a super-fun sip for anyone interested in a change of pace.

BEST SURPRISE IN KIMBERLING CITY

Lake Time Bistro
On your next visit to Table Rock Lake, make sure you stop for a meal at Lake Time Bistro (13272 Missouri 13, Suites C-D, Kimberling City). This unassuming little restaurant is serving up some seriously delicious food. Take for example the shrimp New Orleans, with its flavorful broth, tender shrimp and crusty bread for dipping. Bonus: They also serve a Sunday brunch, so you can round out your lake weekend there before you head home.