sluc+f1972 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 walking back to humphreys from chaifetz after the x game the other night, i got to thinking what the corner of spring and laclede used to look like, and points west, all the way down to vandeventer... john clark's fridays occupied the northwest corner, in an old what was i think a corner grocery or pharmacy in the days of old...nights in fridays used to feature a textbook fire code breaker!...a big long bar along the north wall of the joint, with booths on the south wall and a mezzanine deck over them...so many people squeezed into slu's first 'singles bar' and college hangout that you could literally have your nose stuck in some babe's hair...screamingly loud jmmy hendrix or beatles blasting away...10 oz draft buds for less than half a buck...we used to hit fridays after night classes, and weekends too...no fraternity houses on campus?...no problem, somehow all 7 fraternities would have about 15 members in attendance at any one time at fridays...eventually, i recall john received a demand from newly arrived in stl 'tgi fridays' to cease and desist, and he switched names to 'clarks'...that was one helluva bar... across the street, former fridays bartender bob manglesdorf opened humphreys, following that location's somewhat sorry attempt first at a coffeehouse and shortly after as a quiet bar called 'free advice'...i believe one of the frats (adg) had actually rented the dump and just started having 'private parties' there, and later started charging admission and handed out pitchers and cups...it became legit, expanded under bob's ownership, and doubled up again before he died young...under his wife jan's management, the place obviously still thrives as the home of slu basketball...who can forget thursday night ladies night, and crazy bob getting up and standing on the bar, pouring out drinks and ratcheting up the music...lou reed, jefferson airplane, pink floyd, the who...and remind me: who was the recording guy who seemed to stick a microphone down his throat and sing through his guitar?...dang that place used to be crazy...and we used to drive home after all that?...God helps us all... moving westward we had bogarts, then the loading zone, and a little later the fifth house, calecos and the billiken bench club...we hit 'em all, but the loading zone on vandeventer near what is now fr. biondi's parking lot always held special meaning for me...deafeningly loud music, endless pitchers of cold bud (no bud light back in the good old days) and legions of beautiful women seemed never to end...wasn't it wednesday nights that we stumbled out at 1:30 closing time and headed to schneithorsts or parkmoor for dinner?... finally, jimmy and andy's on boyle was a favorite...hq for pre- and post-slu hockey games...cold falstaff, good old fashioned bartenders and a small, tight floor plan...no worry...150 people seemed to fit in quite comfortably!...hungry?...no problem, order some barfood, or make a quick exit over to sarah and laclede, and duck (literally, or you'd crash your head into low overhanging pipes) over to the basement pizza place known as rossinos...chicken pizza, the house specialty...a del pietro family legend...sometime late in the 70's, owner dutch zimmerman was killed late one night driving on the forest park parkway, when a pharmacist also heading home fell asleep and crossed over the median... there were others - the fox bar on washington (or was it delmar), garavellis, talaynas, santoros, oh my the list goes on and on...hiccup... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsrmajic Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Wasn't around for any of that, but it all sure sounds like fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I had a couple of accounting classes w/ Joe. Pretty sure he dropped out of SLU as he got the itch to open the bar. Fridays was a little corner grocery store, but can't remember the name. I don't recall the others being open when I left SLU in May of '72. But Fridays was a welcome addition to the SLU campus. As for Bogarts, I had a good friend who got involved with the guy that opened the first one. He then went to work as his accountant as Bogarts started to expand. He eventually became a part owner of the one at LaClede's landing. Did quite well for himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_Ken R Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 The grocery store was Usselmans (sp?) 10 cent bologna sandwiches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 The grocery store was Usselmans (sp?) 10 cent bologna sandwiches. You nailed it, Bill. When I visited campus in January I took a walk down Grand and noticed across the street from the Fox the little steak house was still open. It's definitely upgraded it's storefront. But every time I watched the SNL skit on cheeseburger.... cheeseburger... cheeseburger, it reminded me of that place. You stood in line and watched 'em cook your steak, no waitresses or waiters. I'm not sure of their nationality but the guys who ran it all sounded Greek. But for like $2.49 you got a steak, granted a little girzzly on the edges, a baked potato, they didn't charge extra for sour cream and butter, and a big slice of Texas toast. You were living large when you went there for a steak dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Ballhooters was across Lindell from Tegler Hall and the old Mercantile Bank. They didn't seem to adhere to the liquor laws of the land circa 1975. Pie-In-The-Sky was a pizza joint above Fridays then. The food on Sunday's was so bad in Griesedieck, my old roommate and I would play cards five nights a week to see who bought the pizza on Sunday nights. The Billiken Bench Club was Pastori's then. Fifth House was more a disco dance club then and populated by mostly eastern guys in Saturday Night Fever leisure suits. Did NOT go there. Harpo's opened on West Pine just went of Vandeventer in one of those old mansions. Jake's Leg was the band at 20 North. Somebody eventually open a place on Olive behind the old Scottish Rite Cathedral but walking over that was dangerous. Billy Goat Hill was down by the med campus. Brian Clark (no relation) was a one-man-band singer back then ==== did a rousing version of "My Dead Dog Rover" ------------------ "I'm looking over,my dead dog Rover, that I overlooked before, One leg is missing,the other is gone, one leg is strewn out all over the lawn, Ohhhhhhhh I'm looking over my dead dog rover, that I hit with the power mower ................" The place to be eventually became The Pub in old Busch Center. In there for Happy Hour on Thursday's. Unlimited peanuts and two dollar pitchers. Half the work staff were RAs or folks you knew. Sometimes, the two bucks was "optional." In the town Budweiser owned, no one seemed to bother to stop you --- in the bar or walking between them with pilfered mugs or unreturned bottles. The Pub closed at midnight so stumbling back to your room was easy and early ------------------- or you headed out to Fridays, Humphrey's or Bogart's for more "big game adventure hunting." Hungry? The drive thrus at Nagle's or Jack in the Box or the White Castle under US 40 on south Vandeventer worked well. Hamburgers were like.18 cents each;a box of fries .22 cents. Your digestive track was off kilter until Friday night ------------------------ when you likely did it all over again. As a Phi Kap, we had the only "frat house" back then --------------- a store front on Laclede around the corner from Jimmy and Andy's . ADG eventually got one on Laclede on the street Rossino's was on. Phi Kappa Kappa thenhad the first live-in house (resurrected post WWII) at 10 North Newstead ---- right across from J&A's. Old habits hard to break, I guess. Young guys beware!!!!! Time sure does move fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairie Bill Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 ...make a quick exit over to sarah and laclede, and duck (literally, or you'd crash your head into low overhanging pipes) over to the basement pizza place known as rossinos...chicken pizza, the house specialty....Make that "West Pine" under Melrose apartments. Sometimes credited with being STL's first pizzeria. Provel so hot that it burned the roof of your mouth. But CHICKEN pizza? Unthinkable in my day either there or at Bandero's, its nearer-campus competitor to the east. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Christ, Taj, I thought we were old. Some of these guys go back to the Stoned Age. (And Jesus, xman, you decided to come over here and hang out after all these years? ) Was the Fifth House still open while we were there, or was that when you were in freshman-sophomore year and then it closed? One of the great mysteries of Midtown is why that place has been vacant for more than 30 years. And good call on Harpo's -- I think that lasted all of six months (the guy who owns Cafe Ventana next door has been renovating that building for about two years, allegedly as a higher-end Italian joint). The U News staff broke our Friday's ritual one week to try it because it, too, had $1 pitchers late Friday afternoons. Pastori's had George the bartender, who wouldn't card you if he knew you but whom you could tell to card new folks that you didn't like. Rossino's had the busboy, scraggled and roughly 62, whom we called "dumb brother." Rossino's itself wasn't the first pizzeria in St. Louis (or the entire Midwest) -- it had started its life in the 1940s as the Melrose Pizzeria: Amedeo Fiore opened Melrose Pizzeria, the first place in the Midwest to serve pizza, in the 1940s, (owner Nancy) Zimmerman said. Later it became Parente's, and in 1954, Zimmerman's father, Roy Russo, and a partner, Frank Gianino, took over the restaurant and combined their last names to create the new moniker. Gianino soon left the picture, leaving Zimmerman's parents to run the place. "A lot of movie stars hung out in here, Browns players and Hawks players and Cardinals players, " Zimmerman said. "When stars came to St. Louis, they came to Rossino's. People said it reminded them of being in New York City or Chicago." She and her husband, Tom Zimmerman, bought Rossino's from her parents in 1963. Tom Zimmerman was killed by a drunken driver in 1986. The Ladle was the early-hippie-age fern bar joint that opened a half block down Sarah from Rossino's. There was, briefly, a second location of The Pub in the basement of Lewis-now-the-Coronado, in the space that was Chuy's and Joe Boccardi's recently. But for you old guys: Was it ever The Coal Hole while you went to school here? I know that The Coal Hole moved to Clayton sometime in the late '60s or early '70s, but I don't know if it existed in Midtown until then. On Lindell on the way to Rossino's via the back way, you could hang out with the overcooked-green-beans cafeteria crowd at the Salad Bowl, which was the first place I ate when we came to St. Louis. The other way on Lindell/Olive, you had El Sarape a half-block over, facing away from campus; the Mojo barbecue; and, I think later on, the Mammer Jammer (which finally closed just this past month in its new location in near North County). Santoro's and Talayna's (Mike just died a few months ago, just days before his latest restaurant opened) were a bit of a shlep from campus, though, no? Much more of a WashU crowd, given that they both bordered WashU. If we're allowed to go that far over -- or even just two blocks further west from J&A's -- I'd toss in the 34 Club and Europa, along with Duff's and Dressel's, both which gave my old roommate some pocket change when he played piano there. Now excuse me while I go listen to my old Chicago Transit Authority album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Rossino's was classic. Still the best toasted ravs I've ever had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Ballhooters was across Lindell from Tegler Hall and the old Mercantile Bank. They didn't seem to adhere to the liquor laws of the land circa 1975. Pie-In-The-Sky was a pizza joint above Fridays then. The food on Sunday's was so bad in Griesedieck, my old roommate and I would play cards five nights a week to see who bought the pizza on Sunday nights. The Billiken Bench Club was Pastori's then. Fifth House was more a disco dance club then and populated by mostly eastern guys in Saturday Night Fever leisure suits. Did NOT go there. Harpo's opened on West Pine just went of Vandeventer in one of those old mansions. Jake's Leg was the band at 20 North. Somebody eventually open a place on Olive behind the old Scottish Rite Cathedral but walking over that was dangerous. Billy Goat Hill was down by the med campus. Brian Clark (no relation) was a one-man-band singer back then ==== did a rousing version of "My Dead Dog Rover" ------------------ "I'm looking over,my dead dog Rover, that I overlooked before, One leg is missing,the other is gone, one leg is strewn out all over the lawn, Ohhhhhhhh I'm looking over my dead dog rover, that I hit with the power mower ................" The place to be eventually became The Pub in old Busch Center. In there for Happy Hour on Thursday's. Unlimited peanuts and two dollar pitchers. Half the work staff were RAs or folks you knew. Sometimes, the two bucks was "optional." In the town Budweiser owned, no one seemed to bother to stop you --- in the bar or walking between them with pilfered mugs or unreturned bottles. The Pub closed at midnight so stumbling back to your room was easy and early ------------------- or you headed out to Fridays, Humphrey's or Bogart's for more "big game adventure hunting." Hungry? The drive thrus at Nagle's or Jack in the Box or the White Castle under US 40 on south Vandeventer worked well. Hamburgers were like.18 cents each;a box of fries .22 cents. Your digestive track was off kilter until Friday night ------------------------ when you likely did it all over again. As a Phi Kap, we had the only "frat house" back then --------------- a store front on Laclede around the corner from Jimmy and Andy's . ADG eventually got one on Laclede on the street Rossino's was on. Phi Kappa Kappa thenhad the first live-in house (resurrected post WWII) at 10 North Newstead ---- right across from J&A's. Old habits hard to break, I guess. Young guys beware!!!!! Time sure does move fast. Quincy's was the bar on Olive. We watched Game 7 of the '82 World Series there. Humphrey's and Bogart's were the Thursday night places in the summer of '82. I painted at SLU that summer, went home in August, returning in 3 weeks, and Bogart's had become Knight's ... By the time we arrived at SLU, the place across the street from Humphrey's was Clark's. My then future wife and I had our cheap dates in the upper deck at Clark's. I loved the Steakburger's there; of course she had the salad. Dr. Stevenson, the SLU Economics professor, often informed our class about when the place was called Friday's, its beginnings and its name change. One of our main pizza places was Pizza-A-Go-Go, then south of SLU at Grand and Gravois. It has since moved to Scanlan near Arsenal and I-44. We always liked the guys tossing the dough. The steakhouse across from the Fox Theater was Best Steakhouse, and it is still there. I took my son there within the last decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOldie Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 There was a pizzeria at Choutea and Manchester now an oil change place What was the dive on I believe locust. it was called club69 or on a st pat's day certain students tried to carry it's piano onto the sidewalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 The owner of the Best Steak House is a SLU grad and a fraternity brother of mine. It's always good to support one of our own. Rossino's is where Mrs. And Won and I had our first date. I really miss that place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbofive Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 The owner of the Best Steak House is a SLU grad and a fraternity brother of mine. It's always good to support one of our own. Rossino's is where Mrs. And Won and I had our first date. I really miss that place. I'd really prefer it if we could refer to the missus as "Mrs. Box" going forward. Monosyllabic brevity and such... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Pine Jim Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Good calls, everybody. Pastori's : best pepperoni pizza ever imho, delicious mozzarella so molten it would leave blisters on the roof of the mouth, but worth it. Garavelli's, larry 72, gets my vote as the king of the t-rav purveyors. Rossino's : New York atmosphere in the fashionable CWE. Best Steak House : I still eat there regularly before Bills games, if it was good enough for Ann-Margret, it's good enough for me. Sloopy's sub shop on Lindell : good for a late-nite snack, but seemingly dangerous to walk back to Griesedieck with a bag o' subs. While working for a living in 1973, our play in Forest Park softball team was sponsored by Falstaff who gave us nice big patches for our jersies. Playing Pizza-a-Go Go was always an easy win. Spencer's Grill was a tough rival. Bonwich has the right idea, think I'll listen to "The Letter" by The Box Tops or maybe something by The Stone Poneys w/Linda Ronstadt. Seems perfectly natural since it's time to fire up the RADIO for the Duquesne game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 i was a 90% humphrey's guy, however i would hit bogarts on most wednesday evenings. buds in that night class liked to go there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonoma bob Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Nostalgia rules, how about Gaslight Square? In 1964, our senior year Mike Dolan, Jim Harris and I opened the "key club" we called it above a place that played dixieland jazz on Olive St. our senior year. We all lived at home with our parents and did this on the QT, so we'd have a place to party. We could suck up cheap beers, get a buzz going then go down on the street and meet the hipsters who were bar hopping. The pad was minimally furnished but adequate for our needs. The floor would vibrate when the band played downstairs, but we got a complaint from the landlord that we made too much noise! My father got a letter from the realtor and raised hell with me since I am named after him that I was ruining his reputation. He was in the midtown Kiwanas club that met at the Salad Bowl. He moved his office from the Continental Building to Clayton before I got to SLU. Too bad, if he had not we could have commuted together from Richmond Hts. It all ended when we graduated that year, and I guess the neighborhood went to pot soon after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I'd really prefer it if we could refer to the missus as "Mrs. Box" going forward. Monosyllabic brevity and such... I specifically avoided doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 The owner of the Best Steak House is a SLU grad and a fraternity brother of mine. It's always good to support one of our own. Rossino's is where Mrs. And Won and I had our first date. I really miss that place. Willie and Mrs Willie also had their first date at Rossinos. Of course back then they hadn't! Invented electricity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMDG Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 to bring up more recent places, a friend of mine brought up bullfeathers the other night. I hadn't thought of that place in years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Is Cyranos still strictly a desert place. Best Sundaes I've ever had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_Ken R Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Cherries jubilee at Cyranos was excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Is Cyranos still strictly a desert place. Best Sundaes I've ever had.Restraunt/Bar with great deserts They are located near Webster U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairie Bill Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 My go-to spot on campus for food when I was up too late or too early was the Toddle House (Lindell, across from Coronado/WIL), now some sort of sandwich joint. Great pecan waffles, and home of the masterburger, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_davola Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 The owner of the Best Steak House is a SLU grad and a fraternity brother of mine. It's always good to support one of our own. Rossino's is where Mrs. And Won and I had our first date. I really miss that place. That was one of EastsideHoe's favorite spots. Place had tons of character! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Plus, Rossinos was a hangout for a lot of visiting Pros. I met more than a few NY Giant players there when they were in town to play the Cards. Mike was a great guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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