Favazza, an Italian restaurant at the Hill in St. Louis

It was one fanatastic evening at the Lavazza at the Hill in St. Louis. Authentic Italian food for extremely reasonable prices. We were given beautiful patio seating but we chose to be in the warm dining area inside near the fireplace.

The Hill is a unique area in St. Louis where the Italian immigrants settled when they came to this part of the country around 1830. Most of them worked at the clay mines, lived here and created a 'Little Italy' for themselves. It attracted other Italians and is now a close-knit Italian community.

The Hill was originally a part of Charles Gratiot's League Square, granted to him by the Spanish territorial government in 1798. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the League Square had been subdivided into large tracts. Several of the Hill restaurants were started years ago and still continue to thrive because of their fantastic food.

There are several other restaurants in this area and I plan to try them all out one every month if possible.