St. Louis Pizza – The Hill

The area known as “The Hill” in St. Louis offers what some say are the best Italian restaurants in the world. These restaurants like Lorenzo’s Trattoria, Mama Campisi’s, and Zias offer some of the most elegant, rich and delicious Italian Cuisine available in St. Louis.

The hill was originally was settled by German, Irish and English Quakers drawn there by the discovery of clay deposits in the late 1830’s. A French socialist community settled there later for approximately 10 years before disbanding. The true artisans of cuisine, the Italians, came in the 1890s to work in the mines and smelters, and they small modest homes to accommodate the growing number of immigrants. The Hill was named such because it is the city’s highest point. The hill now reflects an era to remember with its quiet and clean streets, brick homes and shotgun houses. Some homes are framed with free lumber the immigrants transported using wagons and took the lumber from World’s Fair exhibits.

The Hill’s streets are clean and the area boasts a low crime rate. Its homes are modest but maintained very well, and these homes are a part of an era that predates the fancy garages and bedrooms for every person living in the home. Yards are decorated with small flower and herb gardens, brightly painted flower pots, fountains, strings of lights and statues of the Virgin Mary.