for Best Chefs America
Like any up and coming culinary destination, the city of St. Louis is dependent on forward-thinking chefs who take initiative to create concepts that fill holes in its budding food scene. Jason Tilford, the Best Chef behind Milagro Modern Mexican and Mission Taco, decided to bring creative, chef-focused Mexican food to The Gateway City.
He starts with the tortilla. Tilford makes his corn tortillas from scratch. They are thin and durable — no need to double wrap. No other restaurant in St. Louis serves house made tortillas. Each day they are pressed and cooked to order. Tilford grinds the masa using volcanic stones. He says his staff makes over 3 million tortillas each year.
Best Chef Jason Tilford (featured left)
Mission Taco is famous for its late night happy hour where customers, often in large groups, looking for a good time, get tacos and tequila shots for 2 dollars. The list of cocktails at Mission range from margaritas to conquistador coffee, which blends tequila, mezcal, pineapple juice, espresso liquor, BluePrint cold press coffee, and vanilla agave.
Menu highlights at Mission include: street corn “off the cob,” portobello tacos (stuffed with goat cheese, crispy onions, arugula, and smashed black beans), and giant burritos smothered in roasted ancho sauce and melted cheese. Their most popular item is the baja fish taco, which can be ordered fried or grilled. And don’t forget to end your meal with a homemade churro with Mexican chocolate.
Tilford calls the cuisine at Mission Taco Mexi-cali. It’s inspired by the Mission district of San Francisco. Tilford and his brother (who are both partners in the Tilford Restaurant Group) grew up in California and would often travel to Northern Mexico together.
Interior of Milagro Modern Mexican
Milagro serves more traditional Mexican cuisine. It’s the test kitchen of sorts for what appears on the menu at the three Mission Taco locations. Each restaurant has a different theme, with different murals in the interior made by different local artists, all inspired by the bright energy of the California coast. The newest location of Mission Taco is located on Euclid Ave in the Central West End of St. Louis.
At Milagro, menu items are more upscale. The ticket price is a bit higher. Classic dishes are featured with inventive ingredients. Think of chile rellenos, beer battered and fried with fresh chorizo and goat cheese and cilantro-lime crema, cochinita pibil (achiote rubbed pork shoulder braised in banana leaves), shrimp and grits with a fiery chile de arbol sauce, and ahi tuna ceviche. Tilford uses as many varieties of chiles as possible in all of the homemade sauces and salsas that accompany his dishes.
Huitlacoche Empanadas with roasted corn, poblano, chihuahua and goat cheese, and the daily salsa
The people of St. Louis love it. Mission Taco was named “Best Mexican Restaurant” by Riverfront Times. This year, readers of Sauce Magazine sauce voted the Mission Taco Food Truck as the best food truck in St. Louis.
Tilford started the Mission Taco food truck a year ago, mainly as a marketing arm. Most often people book it for events. However, when it’s not at a giant party, you can find it driving around the city during lunch hours.
Other Restaurants by Best Chefs to Visit in St. Louis:
- Vista Ramen - Modern Asian food, specializing in ramen and other small plates (Chris Bork)
- Taste - A cocktail bar with New American food, executed with fine dining techniques (Gerard Craft)
- Peacemaker - A fresh, coastal seafood house in the Midwest, famous for lobster and crab (Kevin Nashan)
- The Scottish Arms - A Victorian-style pub serving European fare (Carl Hazel)
