Early on opening day at 9 Mile Garden
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional photos and more information about opening weekend.
9 Mile Garden, the first food truck garden in Missouri and one of the most anticipated dining concepts of 2020 is now open at 9375 Gravois Road in Affton. The project, a collaboration between Guerrilla Street Food chef/co-owner Brian Hardesty and Seneca Commercial Real Estate, has implemented special health and safety precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The open-air food truck garden is located in Affton Plaza, a Seneca property. The site will adhere to health and safety guidelines issued by St. Louis County and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These measures will include requesting customers to wear face masks and implement 6-foot social-distancing practices.
“We’ll have plenty of sanitizing stations on-site, our tables will be situated more than 12 feet apart, and we’ll be encouraging our patrons to wear masks and practice social distancing,” Hardesty said in a prior statement. “It’s important to us that people know that all regulations and measures are being taken to protect their health.” 9 Mile Garden is a 100% non-smoking venue as well.
As previously reported by SLM, the concept features 30 local food trucks, including Guerrilla Street Food, co-owned by Hardesty and business partner Joel Crespo, as well as Farmtruk, Balkan Treat Box, Sedara Sweets, and more, all operating on a rotating schedule. Lunch service will typically offer five trucks while dinner service will increase that number to seven, Hardesty says, plus the possibility for more during special events.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, Hardesty said a total of 18 trucks are slated for Friday, 15 on Saturday, and 13 on Sunday (normally a closed day). Food truck service hours are 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner, six days a week.
“The garden is going to give a home base to food trucks where they can hopefully have a reliable audience and they can really build some word of mouth,” Hardesty says. “Our calendar is going to be accessible to all, so you can see what truck has parking on what day and what events are happening. We'll have a live Twitter feed dedicated to the truck lineup daily, and then of course the individual members will be Tweeting and Facebooking their daily menu.”
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The Canteen has its own patio and fire pit
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A view from the Canteen's mezzanine. Three, garage-style doors will open when weather allows.
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Courtesy 9 Mile Garden
Fourth of July weekend will also mark the debut of The Canteen @ 9 Mile Garden, the onsite, open-air bar, which will serve a wide range of local and national craft beers on draft, including those from Perennial Artisan Ales, Narrow Gauge Brewing Co., Rockwell Beer, Brick River Cider, and 4 Hands Brewing Co. Wine, cocktails, and cold brew from Blueprint Coffee will also be available on draft and tap. Canteen hours are Mon-Thu 11 a.m. - 12 a.m. and Fri-Sat 11 a.m. - 1 a.m.
Hardesty says the garden will host live music every Friday night and screen movies every Saturday night, as well as offer yard games such as cornhole and pickleball. “We're gonna offer lots of other kinds of free entertainment, including outdoor and indoor games, all provided for free,” Hardesty says. “I have a really long list of board games that will be stocked on our bookshelves at The Canteen, and we’ll have air hockey, foosball and maybe [tabletop] ping pong.”
Throughout the holiday weekend, 9 Mile Garden will feature live music from local musicians and bands, including The John Hughes Experience, Caroline Steinkamp, and Tree One Four. On Saturday, July 4, the garden will screen Independence Day.
The past few months have been challenging for food truck owners, who typically see a drop in business in the colder winter months yet an increase in revenue in the spring. During the pandemic, when many large outdoor gatherings were canceled to adhere to local and state social distancing orders, food trucks pivoted to serving neighborhoods and delivering food to local first responders. With the opening of 9 Mile Garden, Hardesty hopes that local food trucks have yet another outlet to boost their bottom lines.
Courtesy 9 Mile Garden
“Food trucks are innately resilient and extremely able to adapt to their surroundings, just by virtue of what they are,” Hardesty tells SLM. “They can move wherever they need to; they can change their menu on a whim. They can advertise on social media and by word of mouth. And so, because of those things, and because it's relatively inexpensive to operate a food truck, I think that the trucks in St. Louis have made huge strides in being able to run their businesses efficiently through the pandemic by visiting neighborhoods, dropping off food to hospitals and just doing business wherever they can.”
The food truck hub and community gathering space was first announced last fall. Hardesty says it’s gratifying to finally share the opening date and welcome customers to share in a project that means so much to him and local food truck owners in the community.
“I just can't express enough how excited I am to finally get to open,” Hardesty says. “To finally get to do it is kind of a dream come true.”
The inaugural list of food trucks at 9 Mile Garden is as follows:
Courtesy 9 Mile Garden
To stay updated on opening weekend festivities, including the variety of family-friendly activities and charitable events in the works for the debut, follow 9 Mile Garden on social media at @9milegarden.
Courtesy 9 Mile Garden
