Dave Lowry | May 29, 2025
Crab Rangoon is not on the menu at Si Kao Life Chinese BBQ (567-A Melville), which recently opened in the Delmar Loop. It’s the latest in a proliferation of St. Louis restaurants offering authentic Chinese food that’s several time zones away from beef and broccoli, egg rolls, and fortune cookies.
The 50-seat interior is plain, as small as the menu is large. There are about a dozen tables with only one large enough to seat more than four diners, though when crowds from nearby WashU start arriving, some of those tables are quickly shoved together. It’s those students who have already made this restaurant a gathering spot that’s bustling nightly. And while Chinese is the dominant language here among staff and many customers, the restaurant welcomes anyone who takes a seat.
