5. The Lexington

The Lexintong ("The Lex" to generations of locals) is the quintessential St. Paul restaurant. The drinks are generous, the food excellent (nobody serves a better steak), the atmosphere elegant in the formal room and clubby in the bar, and the service always friendly and helpful. My parents took me there, I've taken my children, and they, now grown, will doubtless take theirs. It is said by St. Paulites that if you eat at the Lex, you'll always see someone you know. I always do!