O’Connell’s (4652 Shaw, 314-773-6600) was a pub back when most St. Louisans needed the word explained to them. One of the last businesses to leave Gaslight Square—with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s then–restaurant critic predicting the move would be a disaster—it has hummed along ever since. (For decades, owner Jack Parker and the critic laughed about the prediction.) Sooner or later, everyone goes there.
In St. Louis, a city where “We’ve always done things this way” is a mantra, perhaps even a religion, the pub’s essentially unchanging. There are no frou-frou cocktails, there’s one TV set, and there is plenty of conversation.
It’s a favored spot for reporters to take visiting literati and glitterati for a casual lunch interview. I recall eater and author Calvin Trillin grabbing lunch there years ago. When Parker was introduced to Trillin as he was leaving, the pub owner began speaking with the writer about his novels, not his food books.
Today, there are no more legendary all-night poker games with Gaslight Square performers, taxis being sent for a hundred White Castles, or strippers who worked for Jack Ruby complaining, “The SOB still owes me money!” And there are certainly no more men with wives in labor whose obstetrician sends them off with a cheerful “I’ll call you when you can come back to the hospital.” But still, you’ll find politicians and families; couples on dates and media types; and long, serious discussions at the bar and in the booths. O’Connell’s rolls on.
