From 1627 to 1737 Clarkson Road is about a hundred address numbers, a stretch that starts at the Trader Joe's center. Since August, three new restaurants have taken addresses there. One is a Korean fried chicken chain founded in South Korea in 1995. One serves only vegetarian Indian food, with no meat or eggs in its curries. One cooks hibachi at the table.
Most of Chesterfield's fall food news sits in neighborhood shopping centers on Clarkson. The one new food storefront in Chesterfield Valley, Dolce Napoli in The District, is mostly a back-of-house operation with a small shop out front.
Three new kitchens in one block of Clarkson
Here is what landed on Clarkson Road between August and October, going by local dining roundups and the restaurants' own sites.
| Address | Restaurant | What it serves | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1627 Clarkson Road | bb.q Chicken | Korean fried chicken and Korean dishes | Listed among October 2026 openings |
| 1731 Clarkson Road | Laddus | Fully vegetarian and vegan Indian | Opened August 2026 |
| 1737 Clarkson Road | Ninja Japanese Sushi Bar & Steakhouse | Sushi, steak and hibachi | Opened August 2026 |
The three menus barely overlap. Korean fried chicken, North and South Indian vegetarian cooking, and Japanese hibachi all sit within about a hundred address numbers of each other. For a household that splits on dinner, the three options are a short drive apart.
bb.q Chicken moves into the Trader Joe's center
The 1627 Clarkson address sits in Chesterfield Crossing, the shopping center anchored by Trader Joe's. Ladue News listed bb.q Chicken among its October 2026 restaurant openings and labeled it an additional location for the chain.
The brand was founded in South Korea in 1995, and its menu centers on Korean fried chicken and sauces, according to Sauce Magazine. Sauce also reported that the Chesterfield store is part of a growing Missouri presence, with another location planned for the Kansas City area.
In that Sauce Magazine piece, Alicia Jang of bb.q Chicken said the company "saw an opportunity to bring authentic Korean fried chicken to an area where there is growing interest in Korean food and culture."
The chicken comes in four signature flavors:
- Golden Original, crispy and unsauced
- Honey Garlic, sweet and savory
- Secret Sauce, sweet and tangy
- Spicy Galbi, Korean barbecue flavor with heat
The menu goes beyond chicken. It also has Ddeok Bokki, a spicy rice cake dish, Kimchi Fried Rice, and So Ddeok So Ddeok, a skewer of rice cakes and sausage.
For a first visit, Jang told Sauce to order in this sequence:
- Start with Golden Original to taste the chicken without sauce.
- Add Honey Garlic or Secret Sauce.
- Round it out with Ddeok Bokki and So Ddeok So Ddeok to share.
Sauce described the room as casual and built for everything from a quick meal to a family gathering, with sharing as part of the appeal. A shared order fits a stop on the way home from Trader Joe's.
A hundred numbers up: vegetarian Indian and hibachi
At 1731 Clarkson, Laddus describes itself as a fully vegetarian and vegan Indian restaurant. Its menu covers North and South Indian cooking, street food and Indo-Chinese dishes, and its curries contain no meat or eggs. Laddus offers dine-in, takeout and catering. It serves lunch and dinner every day except Tuesday.
The entirely vegetarian menu takes in street food and Indo-Chinese plates as well as curries. Its catering also makes it an option for a holiday gathering where some guests don't eat meat.
Next door at 1737 Clarkson, Ninja Japanese Sushi Bar & Steakhouse serves sushi, steak and hibachi, with chefs cooking at the table. Of the three new Clarkson Road restaurants, it is the one built for an occasion, like a birthday dinner, rather than a quick takeout stop.
Ladue News listed both restaurants in its August 2026 openings roundup, with 1731 Clarkson identified as Chesterfield.
The Valley's new opening is mostly a kitchen
Across Highway 40, The District picked up one new food business this fall. Dolce Napoli opened Sept. 2 at 17089 N. Outer 40 Road. It's a gelato, Italian pastry and sandwich shop from the Napoli family, according to St. Louis Magazine's monthly roundup.
The shop sits close to the group's Napoli Bros. Pizza and Pasta. The space is split unevenly, as St. Louis Magazine reported:
- About 600 square feet in front, where customers order gelato, pastries and sandwiches
- About 2,100 square feet in back, a commissary kitchen producing bread and desserts for the Napoli restaurants
The kitchen in back is about three and a half times the size of the shop in front. The Napoli Group runs six restaurants across the St. Louis area, with locations in Kirkwood, St. Charles and Town & Country. Dolce Napoli is the commissary for all six. The bread and desserts made in that Chesterfield back room go out to the rest of the group's dining rooms.
The Pietoso family, owners of the Napoli Group, hired pastry chef Meaghan Coltrain to run the shop. Coltrain was previously executive pastry chef at Gerard Craft's Niche Food Group, and she has held the same title at the Missouri Athletic Club and Bellerive Country Club. Besides the shop's own menu, St. Louis Magazine reported that Coltrain plans to reinvent the dessert program across the Napoli restaurants. She'll use the large commissary to create desserts tailored to each one.
The savory case has more than a dozen items. They include a Pomodoro pie and a bolognese arancini, which are risotto croquettes filled with bolognese and mozzarella. St. Louis Magazine reported that a research trip to Chicago inspired the arancini. The small shop out front is the only place to buy these pastries over the counter.
Still on the way, and one sweet stop already open
Two more openings round out Chesterfield's fall list. Each one also fits the pattern of new food going into spaces next to shopping that already draws regular visits.
Marble Slab Creamery opened Aug. 20 at 128 Hilltown Village Center, according to St. Louis Magazine's roundup.
Yummy Bowl Mongolian Stir Fry & Sushi is listed as coming to 17308 Chesterfield Airport Road in late 2026. That's the former Red Robin space. The same roundup lists a second Yummy Bowl, also in a former Red Robin, in Edwardsville, Illinois. The Chesterfield Airport Road location takes the stir-fry concept into the Valley. The Clarkson Road restaurants are in shopping centers on Clarkson, starting with the Trader Joe's center.
Since August, Chesterfield's new food businesses have gone to established addresses: an existing shopping center, a familiar Clarkson Road block and a former chain restaurant. Those add up to three new dinner options within one block of Clarkson, plus Napoli desserts baked on N. Outer 40.
At Colleen and Team, we follow changes like the openings along Clarkson Road and in The District when we price homes nearby. If you live near either stretch and want to know how today's buyers are valuing your home, request your free home valuation and we'll put together a pricing picture based on your street.