Sugarfire BBQ and Bailey’s Range have sat atop the best burger list in STL for some time, but 5 Star Burgers is slowly climbing its way up the ranks in the Gateway City.
Photo by Josh Eaton
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________________________________________________________________ Since opening in 2012, 5 Star Burgers has become a staple in St. Louis bar cuisine. With two locations, on Maryland Avenue in Clayton and Olive Blvd. in Creve Coeur, a top-shelf burger is easy to reach for all St. Louisans throughout the city. Its red, white and blue color scheme hints to the mouth-watering American-esque menu it offers, pairing perfectly with an assortment of local craft beers, including Schlafly, Civil Life and 4 Hands. Although it is a beer and burger restaurant, it gives off a high class vibe, attracting many with its modern features, and of course, its first class food. Tables are pushed in close together creating an almost New York feel to the two establishments, but still allowing enough room and comfort for occasions ranging from first dates to business meetings. The menu ranges in variety from fried pickles and cheese curd appetizers to turkey burgers, hot dogs and grilled salmon and lamb sandwiches, all coming in around the $10 mark. My favorite thing about 5 Star Burgers has to be their unbelievable happy hour menu. Half priced local brews, $2 appetizers, and $1.50 fried chicken, turkey and burger sliders are a few of the discounted items available from 4-6 p.m. every day of the week. It’s a rarity to find delectable food paired with a great local brew for such a low cost. My last meal at 5 Star included fried pickles, a side of fries, a fried chicken and burger slider, and two Schlafly beers for $11. Their rock bottom prices alone have kept me coming back over a dozen times, but for the guests not able to make it during the “happy hours” of the day, their food is still priced reasonably and affordably. Taking a look at the full sized burgers, The Gateway and Breakfast of Champions are the two I continue going back to. The Gateway is made with, “Creekstone Farms Angus Beef, FRESH, ALL-NATURAL, HORMONE and ANTIBIOTIC FREE! Steers are humanely pasture-raised and grain finished for outstanding marbling and flavor,” says the 5 Star Burgers website. The Gateway’s fresh patty is topped with smoked bacon crumbles, two onion rings, housemade BBQ sauce and a slice of cheddar cheese with lettuce, onion, pickle and tomato on the side, a truly amazing flavor compilation. Not many like a sunny side up egg on their burger, but The Breakfast of Champions pulls it off with class. The perfectly cooked egg blankets the American cheese, roasted tomato bacon jam and hollandaise sauce, a flavor-packed punch unlikely to disappoint; add bacon to send this burger over the edge. So if you’re in St. Louis and don’t feel like fighting the traffic to get downtown to dine at other burger joints, look no further than your neighborhood 5 Star Burgers. Their delicious menu, attentive wait staff and clean restaurants aren’t likely to disappoint.
Food: ***
Atmosphere: ***
Price: $$
Address: 11621 Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur, MO 63141, and, 8125 Maryland Ave, Clayton, MO 63105
Alexa Tippett 
Jack Gienke 
Emma Tihen