12 reasons we love Sam's Steakhouse in South County

This South County gem calls out to us whenever we’re craving a well-executed, grilled-to-order cut of meat. However, the steak is only part of the story. So many delightful sub-plots unfold across each visit to Sam’s, where evenings promise a heady dose of intrigue, entertainment and deliciously indulgent food and drink. These are 12 reasons we keep coming back to Sam’s.

1. It's business in the front, party in the back. The restaurant’s front dining room is the place where you’ll see families dining together over white tablecloths. It’s where wedding proposals happen and milestones are celebrated. The big bar is where people let loose. Here, you’ll find live music and all the comfort and fun of a neighborhood bar.

2. The wedge salad. It's the perfect steakhouse wedge: crunchy iceberg, blue cheese, cherry tomatoes, bacon.

3. The steaks are good. What makes them special is the saucy glaze they receive just before serving. The sauce is a 35-year-old recipe created by one of the restaurant’s founders, Sam Andria. It has over 40 ingredients and gives the steaks a salty-sweet finish. The filets are our go-to, leaving room for more of Sam’s fabulous, classic steakhouse hits.

4. The shrimp cocktail. Juicy, jumbo Gulf prawns are served with a housemade cocktail sauce, which tastes really fresh and bright with punches of lemon and horseradish that is ground fresh in the kitchen every day.

5. Sam’s crabcakes are super thick and generous, with big chunks of blue crab, served with a remoulade sauce and fennel slaw.

6. Twice. Baked. Potato.

7. Holiday lights are abundant and go up in mid-October, really putting you in the spirit of the season.

8. The tiny custom pepper grinder shelf inside the bar.

9. The toasted ravioli are crispy rounds, custom made for the restaurant by Nonna’s Homestyle Foods.

10. The very solid dirty martini served with blue cheese-stuffed olives. They buy olive juice especially for this drink, so it’s the same every time.

11. The people-watching in the bar is unsurpassed. It is a space where memories are made. Whether you're discreetly using the giant mirror to observe bar patrons, or lingering to watch the comings and goings of people in the parking lot, you will be thoroughly entertained.

12. Did we mention the twice-baked potato?

10205 Gravois Road, Grantwood Village, 314.849.3033, samssteakhouse.com