Fitz’s: 6605 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis

Fitz’s Root Beer is one of my biggest reasons for not having plans to move to another city. Even while producing some of the greatest drinks known to man, they still find the time to run two incredible restaurants that any St. Louisan simply must eat at.

At either of the Fitz’s locations (the original in the Delmar Loop and the superior in South County) there is available an array of food featuring burgers, sandwiches, platters, and more. Personally, I always go for the Loop Deluxe Burger and the House Smoked BBQ Sampler Platter, both of which feature generous portions of tender meat and crispy, salty fries. I don’t usually get appetizers at restaurants, but the pickle chips are an exception: These fried, unbreaded pickle slices take everything good about pickles and make them somehow even better, turning them into light, greasy, salty, crispy circles of absolute delectability.

These two meals have one crucial commonality: Fitz’s Root Beer Barbecue Sauce. This alone is reason enough to go, just so that you can taste this unfathomably delicious condiment: It’s a perfect blend of the two tongue-shatteringly delicious flavors of BBQ sauce and Root Beer, taking every bite from simply “good” to “mouth-obliterating.”

Of course, the food isn’t that important. It’s some of the best in St. Louis, but there’s a reason they’re named “Fitz’s Root Beer”. Four fizzy flavors are available in frosted bottomless steins: Root Beer (diet and regular), Cream, Cardinal Cream, and Orange. In addition to bottomless drinks, you have available all sorts of bottled flavors that are an uncommon sight outside of the restaurants, and If you have a passing interest in ice cream, you need to see a Fitz’s float. They’re Shaq-sized.

As you leave you’d be a fool not to take something with you, available in the restaurants are a variety of delectable dietary destruction devices: sodas in packs that require a finger, a hand, or your whole body to carry, and on special occasion even bottles of the sweet nectar of the almighty Root Beer BBQ Sauce. Every time you go to the restaurant, always ask if bottles are being sold that day- once you try it for the first time you won’t want to go a minute without some on hand.

Fitz’s is an establishment that requires a visit from anyone with taste buds and insulin.