Best Restaurants in Springfield, MO

Editors' Picks

Our editorial team names some of our very favorite recent Springfield and southwest Missouri bites.

Best Hearty Handheld

Winner: Sausage Roll from Blue Heron Farm
We can’t get enough of these comforting, flavorful treats! They make an excellent lunch when you’re on-the-go. You can pop into Blue Heron and grab one for the road. Its flaky pastry, tender homemade sausage and poppy pickle and mustard accouterments are a combo made in heaven.

Best Expansion of a Beloved Brand

Winner: Springfield Brewing Co.
Springfield’s OG brewing company has been a staple for so long that we were both surprised and delighted when they announced two new locations on the horizon: a production facility and tasting room in Willard and a tasting room in Rogersville.

Best Late-Night Menu

Winner: Skully’s Ramen
The tasty little additions to Skully’s menu in the evening hours prove that this spot offers expert flavors in more categories than just ramen. The crab rangoons are addictive, the fried rice bites are a true indulgence, and the mushroom eggrolls are a veg-friendly comfort food.

Best Skillful Bartenders

Winner: The Order
We love that we can say “surprise me,” at The Order, and the bartenders always come back with something perfect. The cocktail lists are impressive, and they hit the right note with classic faves too. Plus, the Walnut Street Smash never disappoints.

Best Super-Hot Bite

Winner: Hot Sauce from Caracas House
We have a borderline unhealthy obsession with the hot sauce that comes with your arepas order at the Venezuelan food truck, Caracas House. It has a lasting burn paired with excellent flavor, and we only wish they sold it in bottles to buy and take home. (But they don’t; we asked!)

Best Homegrown Pantry Staple

Winner: Butter from Ozarks Artisan
Ever since nabbing this stuff at Farmers Market of the Ozarks, we’ve been obsessed with it. The salted butter is a classic, the berry-honey butter is an English muffin’s best friend, and the black pepper butter spices up homemade garlic bread.

Best Cheese-Centric Customer Service

Dana Osburn, Hy-Vee

“It’s a real thing to become a cheese specialist!” says Dana Osburn, who is a Level 1 Cheese Specialist at the Sunshine Street Hy-Vee location. Osburn still seems in awe of the role she holds here. Up until five years ago, she was living in Austin, Texas, where H.E.B. is the grocery store of choice and cheese was nowhere on Osburn’s radar.“I grew up on Velveeta,” she says.

But after moving to Branson to find and connect with her birth mother and sisters, Osburn’s attention was drawn to buzzing news about Hy-Vee. She showed up the next day and got a job in Aisles Online. “Then they realized I had some other skills, and they asked me to work in cheese,” she says.

One of those skills—the one that earned her this Best of 417 award—is stellar customer service. We heard from readers that Osburn has become their go-to-gal for all things cheese, and that they can’t stop ordering one particular spreadable item behind the counter: Cheese Smack.

Cheese Smack is Osburn’s recipe, and it’s her take on the pimento cheese that she loved to eat back at home in Texas. “One day, I had an epiphany,” she says. “I missed what I could get in Texas, so I decided to make my own version of it.” She whipped up her own concoction of two cheeses (one sharp, one mild), dill, pimentos and mayo. After she offered samples to customers, they wanted more.

Through word-of-mouth alone, her side project to satiate a craving has become a hugely popular item that now comes in four flavors—some spicy, some smoky. Since Osburn made the first batch in May 2023, the store has sold almost 2,500 pounds of the stuff, and they can barely keep it in stock.

How does 417 Magazine pick winners?
Throughout the year, our team has kept up with what’s new, hot, in style, delicious, making waves, going viral, selling out and making a big impression in 417-land. Then our editors combined them into a slate of nominations for 417-land to vote on. There were killer contestants to vote on for each category, plus voters had the option to write in anyone we left off the list. (Ugh, why didn’t we think of them?!) After the voting period ended, we compiled your votes, and the winners are published right here.

How do I tell you about my business?
If you think your business deserves to be on next year’s ballot, we want to know about it! Send a note to our editorial staff at [email protected]. We take calls, letters, emails and skywriting from our readers about what to check out. We’re sure you’re awesome, so tell us why. Don’t be surprised if some of our staffers come around to check out what you have to offer. In fact, exploring new, fun local stuff is our favorite part of our jobs! We are always looking to share the best with our audience.

Do advertisers automatically win?
Nope! Let’s put this rumor to rest. Still skeptical? Ask one of our advertisers who didn’t win. We take serious measures to keep our integrity intact and maintain boundaries between our sales and editorial departments. In fact, we’re required to in order to uphold our good standing with the City and Regional Magazine Association (CRMA). You can’t buy a Best of 417 nomination or win with money. You can only earn a spot on the list by being the best, getting the word out and raking in the votes!