Everything from elegant downtown restaurants to more casual eating places serve traditional ethnic fare in St Louis.

Regional specialities:
• Steaks.
• Barbecues.

There are many nightclubs and restaurants on the riverfront in St Louis, where jazz and ragtime music is performed nightly and discos can be found in most modern hotels. There are five full-gaming casinos located within 15 minutes of downtown Kansas City, whose historic Westport district is home to great blues, jazz and R&B.

Two of the St Louis area's most elegant regional shopping malls are Plaza Frontenac and the St Louis Galleria. The new St Louis Mills mall combines shopping with a NASCAR Speedcar track, rock climbing wall, a skate park and an ice rink (the practice ground for the St Louis Blues NHL ice hockey team). The city's neighbourhoods are also filled with fashionable boutiques, speciality shops, gourmet delicatessens and antique stores.

Soulard Market in south St Louis is a colourful and amusing place to shop on Saturdays. The market was established in 1845 and today offers fresh goods, such as meat and home-baked items. Union Station, the city's historic Victorian railroad station, has been redeveloped as a festival marketplace, with more than 100 shops and restaurants, and numerous nightclubs.

Branson has also become a popular shopping destination, with three outlet malls, and unique craft and gift stores throughout the city. Kansas City has nationally known stores, plus hundreds of shops and boutiques to be found off the beaten path.