The Biergarten at Anheuser-Busch Brewery

Anheuser-Busch has brewed beer on this South St. Louis site since the 1850s, and the sprawling red-brick campus surrounding the Biergarten was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. Today the grounds operate as the Budweiser Brewery Experience at 1200 Lynch Street, where tours run daily and visits with the famous Budweiser Clydesdales are part of the draw. The Biergarten itself — a Bavarian-style beer garden with long wooden tables — is the campus's public hub, and crucially, you don't need a tour ticket to eat or drink there: it's open to walk-ins daily from 11am to 7pm.

For zero-proof drinkers, the hook is irresistible: you can order a Budweiser Zero at the brewery where Budweiser is born. The Biergarten's current menu lists five non-alcoholic beers — Bud Zero, Michelob Ultra Zero, Michelob Ultra Lime Zero, Mango Cart NA and Stella Artois Liberté, the last poured from 12-ounce glass bottles. They sit alongside 18 draught beers served in signature glassware, customizable beer flights and a long packaged list, so mixed groups of drinkers and non-drinkers can order off the same menu without ceremony.

Explore St. Louis, the city's official visitor guide, calls the Biergarten 'a St. Louis favorite any time of year,' thanks to an outdoor patio with urban views, a heated tent in the winter months and an intimate indoor space. The kitchen runs a full menu of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, entrees and a children's menu, and the patio is pet-friendly. Note that the venue posts occasional full-day closures for private events, and no table reservations are taken in the Biergarten — check budweisertours.com before a special trip. It's an unbeatable first stop on a St. Louis alcohol-free itinerary: equal parts brewery pilgrimage, history lesson and low-key afternoon out.