Redevelopment, Food and Beer

…continuing with our family visit to the St. Louis area.  Once again we were out and about with Laurie’s sister Bonnie and her husband Bill.  This is the last…and lengthy post…from this particular trip which took place back in June.

We love redevelopment…reuse of existing but ‘discarded’ or abandoned structures.  Several years ago, a developer in St. Louis Missouri imagined the transformation of the former Federal-Mogul/Century Electric foundry into a bona fide food hall…an attraction for locals and tourists alike.

The preceding photos show the old railroad trestle and support columns that at one point were used to provide rail transport to and from the foundry. 

At the beginning of the project, ca. 2017, this nearly 100 year old structure, located near St. Louis’ Midtown, with its rust, rubble, chipped paint, and standing water had been completely abandoned for more than a decade.  Scrap thieves and graffiti ‘artists’ had left their mark as well. 

The old 15-acre foundry complex shut down completely in 2007 and, as recently at 2014 it was slated for demolition.  Century Electric Co. was once one of the ‘big three’ electrical manufacturers based in St. Louis.  The other 2 were Wagner and Emerson.  Electrical manufacturing was a major industry in the St. Louis economy following the advent of electricity.  The city was the site of early innovation in the field.  Century’s inventiveness made the development of early household appliances possible.  The first automatic electric home refrigerator was equipped with a Century Electric Motor.

As you can see from the photos above, The Foundry STL is huge and growing.  In addition to the growing Food Court, this multi-use facility now features 16 retailers, a drafthouse, a winery, a fitness center and a number of entertainment enterprises.  As regards retail, offerings range from Candles to Bicycles.  In the distance in that second photo, you can see that construction is underway for offices and high rise apartments...

Of course, ‘me’ being me and Bill being Bill, our main interest other than the redevelopment of this huge facility, was the still growing Food Court.

I bought some quality fried chicken from 4Hens Creole Kitchen.  No photo but I did get a picture of a pizza from Fordo's Killer Pizza.  I didn’t track what the others snacked on but I noted the Kalbi Taco Shack and the Kitchen Bar among many other dining or drinking opportunities.  Love the carry on of the industrial theme at the bar...

Here is one overview look of the Food Court area at The Foundry.  As you can see, the space for the Food Court is huge!  In addition to the 3 venues listed previously, here are your other current food options:

Buenos Aires Café; Berry Box Superfood Bar; Chez Ali – Afro-Caribbean Food; Good Day – soups and salads; Hello Poke; Intergalactic Burgers; Patty’s Cheesecakes; Poptimism STL – usual and exotic popsicles; Press Waffle Co.: STL Toasted – varieties of toasted ravioli; Subdivision Sandwich Co.: Sur Este – Yucatan Mexican cuisine, and Turmeric Street Style – Food from the Indian sub-continent. 

I really liked the way that The Foundry’s developers/owners utilized the industrial nature/original purpose and design of this big facility.  Love the large piece of industrial wall art as well as the incorporation of industrial features in the landscaping.

For fun beyond food at The Foundry STL, I’d mentioned the Drafthouse and the Winery.  The Sandbox VR (a virtual reality experience) and Puttshack offer opportunities for family and group recreation.  Puttshack is from the makers of Top Golf and it’s an upscale tech-infused mini golf game.

When we saw this wall with a touch of graffiti still in place at one of the entrances to the entertainment venues at The Foundry, it was only natural that I ‘had’ to take a picture of Bill at ‘his’ wall.

To learn more about The Foundry STL, you can just go to Home (cityfoundrystl.com).

From The Foundry STL, we headed over to another part of St. Louis.  This area used to be known as the “Manchester Strip” in the late 1800s.  Today The Grove is described as “St. Louis’ Bohemian Paradise”.  The area is diverse, colorful, on-trend and vibrant.  This thriving district stretches for about a mile along Manchester Avenue and it is home to more than 50 businesses that offer great places to eat and drink, several dance floors, spots to shop and more.  In addition, many apartments and condo buildings have been built in The Grove...

We stopped at Urban Chestnut, a brew pub/beer hall with large communal tables, designed for large groups or folks who just want to meet others.  As you can see, the bar itself is huge.  The beerhall wasn’t very busy in the mid-afternoon when we visited. 

We didn’t have anything to eat and earlier in the day, snacks and food options are limited.  When the kitchen opens, salads, a burger, chicken sandwich, pork schnitzel, brats, a currywurst, French fries, large pretzel sticks, a variety of pizzas and Berliners (donuts) are available.

Bill ordered some beer for our group from the printed menu available on clipboards.  Our group had a Bavarian Dunkel ($6.00), a Stan Musial #6 American lager ($6.00), an Urban Underdog Lime Beer ($6.00) and a Stutz Pale Ale ($5.00).

As I’ve mentioned previously, breweries must really have to stretch their imagination to come up with a name for their beers now that we have this hyper craft beer boom in place.  They weren’t too weird at Urban Chestnut, but Red Panda Zoo Bier and Balkan Treat Box were imaginative.  My favorite beer name on the menu was Oachketzlschwoaf…an Austrian slang word for the tail of a squirrel.  I won’t even try to pronounce it!

To learn more about Urban Chestnut and their two St. Louis locations, go to The Grove Brewery and Bierhall | Urban Chestnut Brewing Company.

I’ll end this post with a photo looking down Manchester Avenue in The Grove area of St. Louis Missouri.  As you can see, the area is popular and growing fast with new apartments on every block.  The area is also famous for its wall art.  My favorite is the wall mural/advertisement for Vails Brothers Shrimp, Chicken and Fish just down the street from Urban Chestnut.  The storefront is colorful and the mural is a piece of urban art.  To learn more about Vails Brothers, their other location and their food truck, go to Chicken Wings - NEW RESTAURANT, Food Truck/Catering/Special Events (vailsbrothers314.com).

This was a long one.  If you got all the way to the end, thanks!  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave