About STL Vegetarian

STL Vegetarian is a directory of vegetarian and vegan food within a 100-mile drive of Clayton, the St. Louis County seat — the city, the county, St. Charles, Jefferson County (Festus is 35 miles), and Metro East Illinois (Columbia IL is 24 miles). Rolla (101 miles on I-44), Springfield IL (107 on I-55), and Carbondale (113 on I-57) sit just past that drive. We keep them as highway listings, labeled On the road. National chains stay hidden until you turn Include chains on.

Listings are labeled honestly. Fully vegan means the whole kitchen is plant-based. Vegetarian means no meat on the menu. Vegan-friendly means an omnivore restaurant that builds a real vegan plate, not a sad side salad. Gluten-free menu means they mark GF items — almost always in a shared kitchen. We do not treat that as a celiac-safe kitchen unless a listing says dedicated.

Hours here are typical, not a live feed. Menus change, Monday closings happen, trucks move. Confirm before you go. Listing photos are sample images until we have that kitchen’s own vegetarian or vegan plate — they are labeled. If a place closed or we got something wrong, send a note.

How the site is paid for

Standard listings are free. Enhanced and Spotlight packages are paid placement: a badge, a promo line, and better rank in the Directory. They are labeled Paid Spotlight or Paid Enhanced. They do not buy a Best Of recommendation or the wording of our coverage. Native ads are marked Advertisement. Until Google AdSense is approved, those slots rotate house ads for merch, recipes, and Spotlight.

Comps

We do not take free meals, drinks, or merch in exchange for a listing, a ranking, or a Best Of mention. If a kitchen comps a plate and we still write about the visit, that page will say so in plain language: “This visit was comped.” Paid Spotlight and Enhanced are advertising, labeled on the card. They are not a review and they do not buy Best Of. When we eat out to report, we pay.

Affiliate links

Paid link: pantry and cookbook links to Amazon are affiliate. We may earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. Merch is print-on-demand through our shop. Kitchens we list do not pay for editorial reviews. Amazon buttons are marked “Paid link” next to the click, not only in this paragraph.

This is independent editorial work. A kitchen being included is not an endorsement of every plate; a kitchen being missing is not a judgment. The old WordPress site on this domain is being replaced with this directory.