St. Louis Archives

What happened to Eat-Rite Diner

Dave Farquhar St. Louis February 28, 2022December 4, 2022

Eat-Rite Diner, the 516-square feet flagship of a greasy spoon empire, sat on Route 66 for decades in St. Louis, at the intersection of Chouteau and Seventh street. Today it’s gone, but not forgotten. Here’s what happened to Eat-Rite Diner, the icon that struggled to make it into the 21st century.

The Eat Rite Diner at 622 Chouteau in St. Louis operated under that name from 1970 to 2020, with one interruption in 2017-2018. Today Fleur STL, an upscale take on traditional diner food, lives on at the old Eat Rite flagship location.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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National Lead Co, St Louis

Dave Farquhar St. Louis January 25, 2022July 14, 2024

From 1924 to 1979, National Lead Co operated a titanium dioxide plant at the confluence of River Des Peres and the Mississippi River, on the site of what is now River City Casino.

The street address had been 8900 South Broadway. The site was approximately 88 acres, bounded by River Des Peres on the north, the Mississippi River on the east, the Union Pacific railroad tracks on the west, and extending more or less as far south as Hoffmeister Avenue.

Dave Farquhar

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What is the Up South

Dave Farquhar St. Louis January 18, 2022April 9, 2024

What is the Up South? Where is Up South? The phrase has its origins in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. During those decades, Black migrants were moving from southern states into midwestern cities, seeking jobs, education, and an exit from the Jim Crow south.

What they found was that the Jim Crow laws in midwestern cities like St. Louis were in effect. The housing and schools were segregated. Maybe there were fewer restrictions than in the deep south, but there were still restrictions on them.

Dave Farquhar

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Mississippi Nights, St. Louis

Dave Farquhar St. Louis January 10, 2022January 25, 2022

Mississippi Nights was a St. Louis nightclub that featured live music. It was open from 1979 to 2007.

Mississippi Nights stood at 914 1st Street, on Laclede’s Landing. Originally a country venue, it is primarily remembered as a rock club, particularly for hosting modern rock, both national and local acts.

Dave Farquhar

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Brains 25 cents: The story behind the meme

Dave Farquhar St. Louis December 6, 2021May 29, 2023

There is a popular photograph of a rundown urban building with a painted sign that says “Brains 25 Cents” with an arrow and words “drive in” pointing toward the back of the building. What’s the story behind the sign?

The “Brains 25 Cents drive in” painted sign was on the second story of Harvey’s Sandwich System, a diner at the corner of Chouteau and Carr Lane Avenue in St. Louis. The restaurant closed in 1976, the sign was demolished in 1983 or 1984, and the building was demolished in 1993.

Dave Farquhar

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Abandoned castle in Oakville, Mo.

Dave Farquhar St. Louis November 23, 2021December 4, 2022

The existence of an abandoned castle in Oakville Mo. will either be the most obvious thing in the world to you, or an absurd thought that would never cross your mind. And yet, behind Bee Tree Park, abandoned in the woods, there are, or were, ruins of a Scottish castle overlooking the Mississippi River that dated to the 1920s that was never finished.

Oakville had an abandoned hospital in the woods on the north edge of town. So why not an abandoned castle in the woods on the opposite end of town?

Dave Farquhar

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History of St. Louis style pizza

Dave Farquhar St. Louis November 8, 2021September 1, 2023

Few things in Missouri are more divisive then St Louis style pizza. From how you define it to who invented it to who copied who to even whether it qualifies as pizza at all is divisive. And the history behind it is surprisingly badly understood. So who invented St Louis style pizza, and when? What is the history of St. Louis style pizza?

Amedeo Fiore, proprietor of Melrose Pizzeria, served a prototypical thin-crust St. Louis style pizza starting around 1945, and created the market for pizza in St. Louis, in addition to probably deserving credit for inventing the style. Joe and Lou Parente, proprietors of Parente’s Pizza, were probably the first to use provel on pizza, sometime in the early to mid 1950s.

Dave Farquhar

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What happened to Southwestern Bell

Dave Farquhar St. Louis June 10, 2021June 5, 2021

What happened to Southwestern Bell? The once prominent name disappeared, but the company itself still exists.

Southwestern Bell didn’t go out of business, it’s just changed its name twice since 1995. In its current incarnation, it’s worth $229 billion.

Dave Farquhar

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Pantera’s Pizza history

Dave Farquhar St. Louis May 20, 2021August 11, 2023

On Fridays, a lot of families order pizza to celebrate the weekend’s arrival. In the 80s, we often went out for pizza instead. And while for a lot of Gen Xers that meant Pizza Hut, it wasn’t the only game in town. In eastern Missouri, including St. Louis, the dominant pizza chain was Pantera’s. Let’s take a look back at Pantera’s Pizza and its history.

Pantera’s Pizza is a mostly defunct pizza chain that specialized in a 5-pound pizza it called The Hunk, and its commercials featured two characters named Betty and Mario, often containing the catchphrase, “What a hunk!” It was up to the viewer to decide whether Betty was referring to the pizza, Mario, or both.

Dave Farquhar

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Crystal Palace, St Louis

Dave Farquhar St. Louis February 15, 2021February 6, 2021

The Crystal Palace in St Louis was a short-lived but legendary night club. It predated Gaslight Square, but moved west on Olive to join the up-and-coming district as it grew in popularity. The move benefited both. During its heyday on Gaslight Square, it was a combination saloon and 300-seat theater.

The Crystal Palace only operated for about 16 years, but it put St. Louis on the map, attracting national acts. Its mix of Victorian architecture, a cobblestone sidewalk, traditional lights, and antique decor inside is still widely imitated.

Dave Farquhar

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