Artist Angie Cornish working on a mural, Courtesy Mission Taco Joint Facebook Page
Ordinarily, we travel specific streets or townships for these regular visits to local taverns. But this time out, we’ll take a look at a trio of bars with born-on dates of 2013. All are based in the city, and all have taken over other, previous locales. As if there was any doubt, The Grove and Loop seemingly grow richer in choices with every passing season.
HONEY.
4170 Manchester, 63110
314-932-1211, honeystl.com
Grandma’s knew a couple homes on Manchester. The colorful Tim Craddock’s last venue was found at 4170 Manchester, and dubbed The Politician Club. While the bars and taverns around him were going with all kinds of well-thought-out themes, Grandma’s was created from a certain kind of old-school design: everything that came into Craddock’s life might wind up on the walls, on the bartop, even on the ceiling. Few places resembled the multi-roomed venue, over which Craddock presided with a very particular kind of flair.
Born in February of this year, Honey. takes over that same space, losing all of the bric-a-brac, while utilizing three, separate, shotgun-style rooms, combined into one mid-sized venue. Upon walking into the bar, you’re greeted by a small space featuring a faux-fireplace and comfortable chairs. Beyond this corner’s the bar itself, with quite the handsome backbar, at that. Honeycomb-like paintings are scattered through the largely black interior. The second room’s principally a dance floor, with a raised DJ booth and barstools along the interior walls. A slender third room offers access to the restrooms, along with another, pocket-sized seating area. Too nippy for a recent visit was the outdoor patio and smoker’s hub.
On a recent Monday night, the club’s owners were among a small cast of characters assembled at the bar, just under a dozen in number. With ‘80s and ‘90s soul and R&B on the sound system, a little dance party erupted, featuring some moves not seen much during the past two decades. The club’s TVs simply played a rotating version of the club’s logo, so all attention was allowed to focus on conversations.
We’ll go ahead and say that the club’s owners and bartenders were nice, to the point of asking after us no less than six times during the course of a single round of Civil Life Wheat. What was not as cool was the continued suggestion to try a round of Honey-Nut Cheerio shots, the house special, a blend of Jack Daniel’s Honey and Rum Chata. Suggesting shots multiple times, vaguely offering on the house, then charging for them... well, it was awkward. And a little irritating, to the point of not immediately wanting to go back. Which is a shame, because the Grove offers a lot of competition for new spots, and the little things will go a long way in determining the room’s ultimate success.
We wish these newcomers well and suggest a little calmness. And, hey, the shots were pretty good.
MISSION TACO JOINT
6235 Delmar, 63130
314-932-5430, missiontacostl.com
“Oh, it’s old the Delmar!” Such was the thought that hit me upon pulling up to the Mission Taco Joint. Despite a wealth of immediate attention (in the form of reviews by seemingly every media outlet in town), it hadn’t stuck with me that Mission Taco was built upon the bones of the long-running Delmar Lounge, at the corner of Eastgate and Delmar, just inside the limits of the City of St. Louis. From the huge, street-front windows, you can experience the usual spate of Loop people-watching, though some of that fun’s currently being hidden by the sizable, Washington U.-inspired construction taking place across the street.
Mission Taco Joint’s seen a fair share of renovation itself, with the room somehow looking a whole lot bigger than it used to; the space might still have black and red touches in the design, but everything’s opened up and airy, with the darkened, noir-ish feel of The Delmar now just a memory.
The bar itself features a radical redesign with metal sheeting hanging over its backbar. A full complement of seats line that long bar, and even at the unusual bar time of 11:30 a.m., a few folks decide that’s the best place to eat and drink. This drop-in didn’t exactly sum up what the room can be, then, not seeing it during the primetime of a weekend night; but a friend had some chit from work and, hey, it’s never too, too early for a beer. Just as lunch finished, the clock rolled up on noon and it was time for a margarita and tap beer, in the latter case a Schlafly Kolsch.
Good things have been written about the cocktails at Mission Taco Joint, but for a craft beer drinker, this place does right. The taps are dominated by local craft offerings, with some fine, outta town selections, as well. One could imagine an afternoon spent rambling through the Loop, with this as a last stop. The food’s quite nice and so are the liquid offerings, in a space that’s re-imagined a local landmark. Bully for you, Tilford Brothers, you’ve scored yet again.
THE DEMO
4144 Manchester, 63110
314-652-3366, thedemostl.com
There wasn’t an intent to highlight two new venues in The Grove for this piece, but the action just seems to happen in certain neighborhoods (see above: The Loop). And The Grove’s enjoyed a continued, steady arrival of new venues (both restaurants and clubs), with the new concepts often taking over the rooms of lore. In the case of The Demo, the former venue’s a somewhat-forgotten one, already. The Fox Hole existed next door to the Atomic Cowboy for a couple years, offering an occasional dose of live music, comedy and other public events, along with rentable space for private ones. But the venue never really lived up to its promise, always seeming to resemble the basement bar that your best friend’s parents never quite finished.
A new management team’s taken over, including well-respected local club creators Chris Hansen, Mike Cracciolo and Joshua Loyal, with Jake Synder handling the day-to-day operations. He was behind the bar last Thursday night, presiding over a four-band bill headlined by The Kicks and starting off with a young, local opener named Moon Thief. A bit after 8 p.m., that group took the stage and, as they did, they showcased what an overhaul of a club can really mean.
There’s a stage, a large one, with the performers several feet off the ground. A solid lighting rig and sound system’s been installed. Bathrooms have built, along with a bar and a sound booth. The room’s a bit like what used to exist, but only a bit, as the venue’s gone from one of some promise to one of full execution. It’s not a huge room, and was never intended to be one. The room, in some respects, will likely battle it out with the Gramophone and Cicero’s for acts that comfortably play to audiences of 75-150, or so. It’s hard to believe that any more would fit into the room, even on a good-selling night.
We’ll add this caveat: The Demo is specifically built to experience live music. There aren’t a bunch of nooks ’n’ crannies like you’d find in a massive, multi-roomed club like Plush. It’s compact, and the room’s built in such a way as to aim your eyes (and ears) directly at that newly-built stage. If you’re in the mood to see a band, but use the time to kibitz and hang, you might want to find another place to go; but if you’re desiring to see an emerging band at a fair cover price, you may as well introduce yourself to this new room, The Grove neighborhood’s latest winning renovation.
