Mask mandates may be a thing of the past, dining rooms are at full capacity and diners have come back out in full force. If you’re on the receiving end of the service industry, you’d be tempted to think that the pandemic is over with restaurants basking in a Roaring ’20s-style resurgence fueled by the public’s unquenchable thirst for merriment.

But while it’s true that the demand side of the equation has not simply recovered but grown even stronger since before the COVID-19 outbreak, things have not returned to normal for the industry itself — not even close. Staff shortages, which have stressed nearly every restaurant to the breaking point, signal a long-time-coming systemic reckoning wherein service-industry employees are pushing back against an old-fashioned and, at worst, abusive culture.

Supply-chain breakdowns mean that restaurants — especially immigrant-owned mom-and-pop shops — have a difficult time sourcing what they need to run their businesses. Price increases are being disproportionately absorbed by restaurants, which know that they need to charge $22 for cheeseburgers but equally know their customers won’t stomach the cost. Add to this a stressed and exhausted dining public that pushes the limits of the now-outdated adage “the customer is always right,” and you get a situation where many in the industry are asking themselves why in the hell they are even in this business.

The following places remind us why. In looking at the names that make up the Best of St. Louis Food and Drink for 2022, what’s striking is not a particular dish, a well-balanced cocktail or a stunning view but the sheer grit demonstrated by the people behind each of these places. That they have the strength to persevere in the face of such difficulty is more than impressive — it’s the most honest form of hospitality there is. —Cheryl Baehr

*Due to the volatility in the restaurant industry, please always call or check a restaurant’s website before going.