Público

The décor was really cool and funky inside… a pleasant change for the St. Louis restaurant scene. The menu was not very big and we tried the pinto beans, lamb cheeks, smoked fish tacos and beef brisket tacos. All in all each item was tasty but VERY salty… and the salt dominated over all other flavors, sauces, seasonings. We left parched and craving something more. We were worried that even the dessert might be salty so we avoided ordering one. I will say that the manager was informed right away about our comment about the saltiness that we made to our waitress. He came over and had a nice talk with us about our concerns and appreciated our feedback. We appreciated his gesture and that small effort on his part might make us give this place a second chance in the future.

As a native Arizonan, I have high standards when it comes to Mexican food, and Publico is unbelievable. The areas are probably the best I’ve ever had. You can also taste the authentic wood fired flavors on the fish tacos.

This place is so popular! We lucked out at a spot at the bar. We had the guacomole arepas, aqua frescas (cantaloupe!), whitefish tacos, vegetarian tacos, and the lamb tacos… DELISH. Everything came very quickly — and was just perfectly tasty. Yes, it’s pricey… about 60 for 2 drinks, 1 of each taco & 1 arepa. But definitely tasty. I would consider it a date night or girls night place, not somewhere I’d take my kid to.

Ok so, I was at publico the other night and the waitress went through every item on the menu. one by one. it was really awkward and quite frankly, degrading. My family and I can read.
My Mother then went on to order a margarita and they brought it without ice — I know that happens sometimes but it was just weird and didn’t feel right. Blegh.
Ok so the food. Honestly not horrible but just not that great, not my type, and I’d say my type is preferable.
Anyways just my two cents ;) everyone has their own experience. That’s what life’s all about, right? Not to get all deep but why not !

******MIND BLOWN*****
Público isn’t for everybody, but I understand why it’s so popular. The food is fancy AF and with that comes a price. Most people say they love Mexican but really they want cheap food and complain about the prices at Mission Taco. If you think they’re high, then don’t even bother coming to Público. This is staple to the diverse flavor STL’s culinary scene has to offer.
First off, get a reservation. I know lots of people try to walk in but this place is way too popular for that. Your best chance is using Open Table to make a reservation online since they aren’t open during the day. You might be able to walk in on a non-​weekend time if you’re feeling adventurous.
The food is amazing. Everything here is done small plates style. Yes, it’s expensive but you’re paying for something unique that you can’t get without driving 5 hours. Even then, I’m not sure Chicago has something on par. They cook most of their dishes over a wood fire and put so much flavor and love into each one. I still have dreams about everything we ordered.
–The arepas are pretty much a must try. Probably the most simple thing on the menu but also something you want to indulge in every weekend.
–Get the octopus if you love seafood. This dish was kind of like a soup. The flavor was so unique I was perplex by how unique and delicious it is.
–If you want a taco, the smoked fish taco was bomb. I’ve never really had a smoked white fish. Usually it’s like a salmon and I want to only eat smoked white fish now. Thanks for ruining me, Público.
–The Flank Steak will change your life. It totals out to about 6 pieces/​12 bites. Holy cow. Literally, that cow came straight from the heavens or the chef put some sort of blessing on it to be one of the tastiest steaks I’ll ever sink my teeth into. Thinking about the sauce on top of it makes my eyes roll in the back of my head like a warg from game of thrones. I must return for this dish alone.
Don’t even get me started on the cocktails. Público is easily top 5 when it comes to cocktail bars in STL. They have a large and unique menu of liquid concoctions that you will thoroughly enjoy exploring. I’d come back for the cocktails alone.

Holy hell, this place is good. We had the brisket tacos, carnitas tacos, guacamole arepas, and the flank steak. Everything was fantastic. My fav was the brisket tacos. melt in your mouth delicious. Highly recommended.

It was good. But, definitely not for the price we paid. I personally like Mission Taco way better. The atmosphere and vibe are way cool; but again… too overpriced for the portion and taste.

The guacamole arepas are to die for! Grilled Brussels sprouts with honey and queso fresco are a work of art. Can’t wait to try this place again! Please please please try the ribs!

Well James Beard must have been hungry when he left. The food is creative and inventive but the portions are quite small. The place is proud of their food and have priced it accordingly. We had many items and enjoyed most of them. We liked the guacamole, white fish tacos, duck confit style. We did not like the octopus at all. Portions were not large

When you come here for the first time, sit at the bar and let Nick make you a drink. He’ll ask you what you like and divine the perfect concoction.
Then order the baby octopus and the sprouts. Trust me on both (although a larger portion size on the octopus would be greatly appreciated).
The rest of the menus varies from an eclectic series of street tacos through the whole fish of the day. I’ve never had a dish here that wasn’t worth five stars.

All I can say is this place is the best
Went for a special occasion
Services where outstanding
Food was great loved sharing different dishes
They went out of there way to make our night there special

Food 3.5−4
Drinks 3.5
Service 3
This place is «cool» and I can see why it’s a trendy spot in town right now. Since James Beard’s name was tossed around, I decided to give this place a try. I’m all about checking out new places and really do enjoy craft cocktail and small-​plate type of restaurants. Publico is a cute place located in the Loop with fun décor and a sleek ambiance. Don’t get me wrong, the food was overall good. However, honestly, for the price, I didn’t see much value. I’m all about paying for what seems relatively right. I know sushi and steaks are expensive, so I will pay beaucoup dollars to get delicious sushi and steaks. I get that. The fish tacos here were delicious and bursting with complex flavors, but I don’t think I can justify coming back to spend $ 12 on two very small grilled fish tacos. The guacamole arepas were good and definitely something different, but to pay $ 10 for some guac on little coaster-​sized pancakes seems like a lot. I also had the baby octopus, which came out submerged in some stew – this one, not so good at all. The margarita I had was good but not the best, and also $ 12. Service was adequate and maybe a little pretentious. No one went out of their way to be friendly, but basic needs were met. We sat at the bar where the bartender greeted us relatively quickly, but then took 20 minutes to actually take an order. Once we actually ordered, food came out quickly via a food runner.
Ultimately, go for the experience, because it is a relatively unique place in St. Louis. If you have the disposable income, go again and try more stuff! If you don’t, then you’ll probably be better off getting $ 3 tacos and better service at Mission Taco down the street.

I’m giving publico 5 stars for the food, I debated taking off half a star for the price point.
The rum old fashioned was amazing. We had a few other cocktails that were all really good, but I forget the names. I would say the cocktail game here is definitely a selling point.
Food! OMG the guacamole areaps were one of the best things I’ve eaten. If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life this might be it. The Brussels sprouts were also delicious– crispy and interesting with a honey glaze and some queso fresco. My friend got the sweet breads and thought they were really good– spicy and complimented by sweet pineapple. The oysters were five stars. The lamb tacos were apparently good (didn’t try then my self).
All in all, everything we had here was amazing. The portions were pretty small and the prices were high in that sense. Plan on spending around $ 40/​person. I will definitely come back!

So I made reservations because of all of the positive reviews I had read on Unilocal recently and since it was date night, it seemed like a good place to try out. I booked a reservation and when we walked in I was very impressed.
The décor was very simple but tasteful and the smell of the wood burning oven was very appealing. After perusing the menu we decided on a taco plate each and the waitress, even though she was nice, gave us a very strange look, and when our food came out I could see why.
Sitting in front of two grown adults were two of the tiniest tacos I have ever seen. We both looked at each other and laughed, thinking we were being pranked. We decided to make the most of it and 3 minutes later, dinner was done. I had just spent almost 12 dollars a plate on something that was slightly above average. We paid out bill and quickly left the restaurant.
I never expected to have to pay that much for so little. We ended up going down a couple blocks and getting a much better, similar product that is more reasonably priced and ultimately, more enjoyable.
So I won’t tell people not to go here, but I will say that if you are the slightest bit hungry, you should probably leave your fiscal responsibility at the door. Anything less than just wanting to try a slightly upscale Mexican joint should proceed with caution. The food is good, but the price is just ridiculous.

That was fantastic. I know it’s gushy, but the whole dinner experience was just all around enjoyable for us. The only open reservation was for 5 pm, when Publico opens. But it was cold, and I didn’t want to have to stand outside waiting for a table. So I reserved it, said we had to leave now, and promptly got stuck in traffic and arrived at 5:15. Fortunately, the place was still half empty, and our reservation was still good. But by 5:30 all the tables in this fairly small restaurant were full. We had the option of a booth or sitting at the open kitchen counter. We took the kitchen option, and enjoyed watching these professional chefs work while we ate. It wasn’t a noisy, hoit environment — rather, we watched obviously trained chefs skillfully cook and prep meals while politely answering questions when we asked. Give it a shot if you get the chance to sit there.
Along those lines of skilled workers, kitchen managers and our server, Sara, were very pleasant and informative. Each time a dish would arrive for us, the manager would explain to us how it had been prepared and why it had the different flavors that it did. I doubt that happens for all the customers, but we had asked a few questions and chatted early on, and he could probably tell we would be interested. Sara also was a real joy. She checked on us frequently with a smile and wit, and why we would prefer certain dishes, etc.
All the dishes we had really were bursting with flavor. In addition, they all had a pleasing presentation that made you expect a similar flavor. I can see why the Post-Dispatch’s restaurant critic, Ian Froeb, topped his list of best new restaurants of 2015 with Publico. With his original review giving it 3 ½ stars out of 4 (the highest other review I’ve ever seen him give was 2 ½ stars), I had high expectations. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. Maybe I just got lucky, or maybe I was just feeling overly generous with my own ratings. But I think it reflects my experience.
The guacamole arepas (corn «pancakes»), were about the size of a coaster (the dish came with two pancakes) and about ½ inch thick, with guacamole itself piled a couple of inches high on top. An extremely savory queso & salsa sauce (redundant, I know), completed the dish. These arepas must have had much more than simply corn, based on the complex flavor, but I couldn’t tell you what. Guacamole was fresh, and the queso, salsa shot an activation signal through the salivary glands.
Brussel sprouts — if you had them properly prepared, they are quite good. And these were. A light smoky flavor, with spiced honey glaze fired on top to add a sweet complexity to it.
The smoked brisket tacos really shone. Fresh, street size, corn tortillas; brisket that was slow cooked and full of smoky, juicy flavor, with a great accent of yellow/​amarilla queso, some type of jam, and cilantro. Again, how did so much flavor get in them?
But really, for me, the surprise of the night was the pork ribs. These aren’t your normal barbeque ribs. There was just a bare hint of smokiness. Instead, the fall off the bone meat was completely infused with a strong pork rib, fatty (sounds odd, but was delicious) and deep flavor. A spicy-​sweet chili lime garlic glaze that was fired on the surface gave a crispiness that accented both the flavor and texture. When I commented on the flavor of the ribs, the manager said that they are slow-​cooked/​not-​quite-​boiled so that it is almost a confit preparation where the flavor of the meat and fats are allowed to meld. Then some time in the smoker imparts that part of the flavor to the ribs. Man, it was different, but it excelled.

³⁄₅ for the food, ⁴⁄₅ for the drinks, ²⁄₅ for the service.
7 of us came here for dinner. Our server messed up some of our drink orders, completely forgot about one of my friend’s dishes (even after we asked about it once), and wasn’t really attentive to our table. I’m hoping this was an isolated incident.
The food was alright. The grilled oysters were a bit too salty and had an overwhelming amount of bread crumbs. The tacos were delicious but very small and not filling. I enjoyed the baby octopus dish.
Everyone at the table loved the frozen paloma. We all had 2 or 3 by the time dinner was over. The El Diablo was also well received.
I can see myself coming here again for drinks, but I am not so sure about dinner.

I’m really not sure how I feel about the food at Publico. I really want to give it 3.5 stars. I applaud them for putting a different twist on tacos, but at the same time, I’m not sure how I felt about the flavors. We started off with cocktails — the Tommy Margarita for me and the Mescal Margarita for Majordomo. The Tommy has a distinct lime flavor, and the Mescal tasted very potent to me. Majordomo said it grew on him.
We started off by sharing the Higado. An arepa (sort of like a corn pancake) with turkey liver butter and maple syrup. To me, the turkey liver butter was more of a liver pâté but it was wonderful. A small serving so think about eating it yourself. We decided since two tacos come to a plate, that we would share some of them.
Our first choice was the Smoked Brisket tacos. I have to say that the taco shell itself was delicious and the menu says that are made in house. To me, the brisket could have been any type of meat like a chuck roast. It didn’t have a brisket flavor but it was tasty. Onto the ribs. Very tender and a great garlic flavor. Our next tasting was the guacamole arepa and the lamb tacos. Majordomo said the lamb tacos didn’t blow him away. They were okay. I liked the guacamole but it was very spicy to me. I am older so you must remember that what is spicy to me, might not be spicy to the next person.
This is a small, intimate space like Randolfi’s (owned by the same person). A fairly good size bar which was where we sat. I’m not sure if they take reservations, but if they do, it would be a good idea to make them.
Would I come back here? It was something to try but I’m not really sure.

Food is amazing. Cocktails are good. Expect to pay $$.
I have been wanting to try Publico for some time. When the husband and I had an impromptu date night, I suggested we try it out. We got to the restaurant at 8:30 without reservations. The hostess said it would be a 20 – 30 minute wait for seats at the bar. She took our number and we went for drinks at Ciceros. 30 minutes later she called.
We decided to try the margaritas. The mescal margarita had smoked salt and Tommy’s margarita was mostly supplemented with lime. Both were good but small and expensive ($ 10 and $ 12, respectively).
Next we started with the guacamole areas — oh my, these were beyond delicious! They are a must get, if available. They were out of several things (one being brisket tacos) but we ordered pescado blanco (white fish tacos) and pork shoulder tacos. Both were incredible, we couldn’t decide our favorite. The fish tacos had a delicious jalepeno cream cheese and the flavor of the pork was wonderful.
Our bill ended up being $ 60 which seems like a lot but ¹⁄₃ was drinks, so I suppose you might feel like you got a better deal if you skip the fancy cocktails.
We will definitely be back for more (when we can afford it!)

A twist on Mexican food more towards the upscale side. I had a nice dinner at the bar as a solo dinner visiting the city and got great service from the staff at the bar.
The part lacking though is the cuisine. While trying to be inventive it falls flat with either too much or too little happening on the plates. The lamb sweetbreads with jalapeño and pineapple were a nice twist on a delicious ingredient, but the puerco tacos were bland and lacked any kind of flavor which was a real bummer to end the dinner. If you are a Mexican food joint you gotta nail the tacos and flavor profiles.
I would go back and skip the tacos to try some other unique dishes they have on the menu.

Wonderful place with tasty food.
Love the intimate atmosphere and the décor was beautiful. We sat at the bar, which had hooks on the bottom of the counter for your bags… FINALLY!!! For that, I was thoroughly impressed.
The octopus was the delicious — my fav of the night. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
The stuffed oysters was so-​so, don’t get me wrong it was good, just not wow.
The brisket was tender and tasty and so was the duck. The duck sauce could have been a bit more flavorful, which I think would have complemented the duck meat better.
Overall, we had a wonderful night here!

We heard about this outstanding new restaurant via TASTE magazine.
We were greeted graciously & warmly and the experience continued to be wonderful through the entire evening.
A margarita and an Agua Fresca to start, then chose to share a few different items.
* We started w/​the Guacamole Arepas (Fresh guacamole, queso w/​2 different salsa sitting on top of a Puerto Rican corn pancake)
* We then moved on to Grilled Oysters (baked in the shell w/​green chorizo, corn & breadcrumbs)-Think oysters Rockefeller style!
* We shared a Black Bass (served whole w/​crispy tortilla strips, fresh lime squeezes, cilantro & fresh greens that we made into soft shell tacos utilizing their tortillas)
* Impeccable service from the FOH staff, amiable & interactive chefs who showed their ownership of the Publico’s open fire hearth.
* The ambiance felt organic w/​corn stalk etchings, soft paint colors, tree sculptures that allowed us to feel calm & relaxed.
We will tell friends & be back!
Best regards,

Oh it’s good. If you go to Mexican expecting chips and queso, this is not the place for you.
If you’re looking for small unique plates and high quality cocktails, come join the wait.
I’ve been here a few times since their opening, and it’s worth spending a little bit more for dishes that don’t come in combos. Sit at the bar or under the awesome tree-​like wall art.
Favorites include the guacamole arepas and the hongos tacos. Didn’t care for the Mo Rice pudding.

We had a date with the D’s before attending a lecture at the Missouri History Museum. Publico was so convenient to Forest Park, it worked well for a light dinner. We are not huge fans of «small plate» places, finding them normally an expensive way to eat. The menu for Publico looked good, especially the taco offerings. I am also skeptical of upscale or fancy tacos, but liked the sound of all five that Publico had listed and looked forward to trying. Publico is a very nice place, newly opened this year and freshly decorated.
We had good food at Publico, we all liked it and agreed we would return. They have a limited list of local craft beers, but most of us found one we liked from Civil Life. We started by sharing an order of arepas with guacamole. These little corn pancakes were delicious. In addition to the guacamole, they were topped with queso crema and a salsa. The order was two pancakes so we each had half of one. I would order again for sure.
We just jumped in and ordered all of the tacos on the menu. That gave us 10 four– inch tacos to split. It worked perfectly. The list included smoked white fish, al pastor, smoked chicken, mushroom and braised lamb. Each was topped in a different way, somewhat creatively, but not silly. We liked them all to differing degrees. The fish was notably delicious. I would have no problem ordering any of them again. We had an order of pinto beans to go with the tacos. The food comes out fast, so you can treat this like tapas, even though the servings are a little larger than that. You can order one or two plates of tacos and then order more without waiting long.
The points for improvement were not significant. My only issue is that tacos do not hold heat well and stay warm very long. It did not help that the serving plates were cold. This might be an argument for ordering only one or two plates at a time.
Another point that deserves mentioning is that if you are a big eater, this is an expensive way to get a taco fix. It was $ 21 (without tip) for each of us to have 2−½ small tacos, ½ of an arepa, 1 beer and two bites of pinto beans. For «fancy» tacos these were good, significantly better than the disappointment that is Mission Taco Joint. I would hands down come here. However, I am a devotee of the places like La Tejana and Taqueria Durango for tacos caseras. You give me a choice, I’m going there for ¹⁄₃ the price and better food.
All that said, I wish Publico well. The construction on Delmar has to be a problem. They were almost empty on a Tuesday night. I would certainly take guests to Publico for a nice dinner.