Trattoria Marcella is hands down the best ""bang for the buck"" for a wide range of Italian dishes. However, one should note that TM's dishes don't fall into the St. Louis ""Spaghetti, Mostaccioli and other red sauce pasta dishes"" Italian style that many STL restaurants use. Instead, TM uses a wide range of fresh ingredients to create a diverse and wide ranging choice of dishes, with no main entree costing more than 15 - 18 dollars (specials can be more). The wine list is large, but not so large as to be imposing, and the range of wine prices go from the utterly affordable to the utterly frivolous. The service is wonderful - attentive without being intrusive. The restaurant is a bit small, so it's pretty intimate for all in the dining area. However, the close quarters doesn't take anything away from the experience.
Pros: Inexpensive, Diverse dishes, great service
Cons: parking can be hard
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