Search
Close this search box.

dining

With Springfield’s incredible diversity of dining options, it would be easy to dine out nearly every day of the year (for a couple of years!) and rarely go to the same place twice. From upscale dining to popular casual chains to quirky “hole-in-walls,” you’ll find a happening food scene with delicious adventures for every palate. Need a Springfield, MO restaurant guide? Look no further.

Pedigreed chefs. Sophisticated presentations. Amazing food. Elegant but unpretentious ambiance. With dozens of top-notch culinary experiences, our local fine dining options satisfy even the most discriminating foodies. Enjoy mouthwatering steaks at Flame. Pan Asian at Ocean Zen. seafood at Char. Italian at Gilardi’s, experimental cuisine at Progress. Or experience the hyper-seasonal a la carte menu at Harvest, where Chef Craig von Foerster uses only the freshest farm produce. It’s easy to indulge your finer taste in Springfield.

Have a favorite national chain? You name it, there’s a good chance we have it. Springfield’s insatiable appetite for restaurant food has attracted a wide variety of top national chains, and there are always new restaurants in development. But if supporting locally owned businesses is more your thing, don’t miss our thriving independent eateries or follow your nose to the Food Truck Park. Our downtown, in particular, is a hotbed of culinary activity with plenty of unique options for Mexican, Italian, American, pizza and even crepes. We also have one of the only brewery/restaurant facilities in the world built by a brewery equipment fabrication company.

While Springfield might be most famous nationally as the hometown of cashew chicken, our international food scene has undergone a recent resurgence that’s making culinary adventurers take note. You’ll find authentic Indian food. Lebanese and Greek. Fine Peruvian cuisine. Top-notch sushi. Modern Mexican. Must-try Thai. Even a steadily growing fleet of food trucks where you can pick up everything from Navajo tacos to Thai-Mex fusion cuisine.

In every city, there are always a handful of restaurants that only locals know about. They’re unassuming on the outside, but treasures on the inside. And most have been in business for as long as anyone can remember. Springfield is no different. Here, you’ll find some of the best chili in town in an odd Quonset hut called Casper’s. You’ll find some of the best barbecue in town at old-school “dives” like Crosstown BBQ. And you can always count on a breakfast that hits the spot at historic Gailey’s, a former drug-store soda counter turned hip morning café. Just ask a local, and they’ll give you the lowdown on all the favorites—they might even join you!

The number of java joints in and around Springfield will impress coffee drinkers who love to sip a good Sumatra or lounge with a latte. Downtown is dotted with coffee shops from Coffee Ethic to Kingdom Coffee to Mudhouse, the elder statesmen of center city. New players like Seattle Roast and Black Lab are sprouting up all the time. But downtown doesn’t have the market cornered on coffee. All over town, there are baristas serving up delicious caffeinated drinks. Big Momma’s on Commercial Street, Classic Rock on the west side and Architect down south are all among Springfield’s purveyors of piping hot beverages and cold brew you can sit and enjoy or take with you.