Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
Epic is a bold word. Lady Gaga bold. Charlie Sheen bold. Former Lumière Place general manager Todd George might be soft-spoken and neighborly, but he’s all in with business savvy. So if he’s intrepid enough to call his first foray into the restaurant business “epic,” consider it the case. Yet the small storefront is understated, the sole beacon a mini garage door that doubles as a silent barker when flung skyward. Here, George hawks wood-fired pizzas, red (beef) and white (veal) “snappys” (East Coast–style sausages), and—due to a custom blend of ground beef, a 10-ingredient “secret sauce,” and an almost-sweet potato bun—what is one of the best burgers in town (especially at $5). Sharing a hallway is the International Tap House, home to 500 beers, none of which are from Anheuser-Busch—the precise reason that Epic sells only A-B beers. Yet it’s all quite hand-in-glove: Epic’s food can be delivered to iTap, and Epic’s customers can bring back a craft beer from next door. How nice that in his new, casino-free life—one he carved out on a stretch of South Ninth Street in Soulard—George made sure there are no losers.
Epic Pizza & Subs
1711-A S. Ninth
Soulard
314-436-3742
epicstlouis.com
Lunch and dinner daily
