Hannibal's eating-out scene is small and centred on Main Street. Mark Twain Dinette — a 1940s diner across from the boyhood home — serves the kind of American breakfast and lunch food the town runs on: pancakes, root beer, pork tenderloin sandwiches. Lula Belle's in the old red-light district building on North Main does upmarket American with a river view.
For something less obvious, Rustic Oak Cabin and Big Muddy BBQ serve good slow-cooked meat at lower prices, and the food trucks at Riverfront Park during summer festivals are reliable. Hannibal is a wine-making region; the small Cave Hollow West Winery at Mark Twain Cave is worth a stop for a tasting.