Hi-Pointe Drive-In to open third location in Kirkwood on October 19

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Courtesy Hi-Pointe Drive-In

Photo by George Mahe

Next week, smashburger lovers in St. Louis will have a new place to get a burger high—make that Hi.

On October 19, Hi-Pointe Drive-in will open its third location in a highly visible, freestanding corner building at 951 S. Kirkwood, the former site of Honey Pit Smokehouse, which closed June 14, following a three-and-a-half-year run. (Prior to Honey Pit, Steak & Rice Chinese Restaurant occupied the space.)

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

The mural at the downtown Hi-Pointe

Like its predecessors, Hi-Pointe 3.0 isn’t a true drive-in, but it will be the first Hi-Pointe location to offer a pickup window, where customers can place an order ahead of time and retrieve it from a drive-up window. (Orders can't be placed at the window.)

Known for its whimsy and unabashed (“Get Hi”) style, the flagship Hi-Pointe boasts a fiberglass cow on its roof, a spaceship atop an outdoor seating area built from shipping containers, and a “security” van cobbled from a Chinese-made "mini, mini" delivery truck. The downtown location features a 20-foot-tall mural of a burger-slinging sci-fi robot.

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Photo by George Mahe

Courtesy Katherine Bish

Mike Johnson, Charlie Downs, and Ben Hillman, co-owners of Hi-Pointe Drive-In, as well as sister restaurants Chicken Out and Sugarfire Smoke House.

In Kirkwood, even casual drivers-by will do a Looney Tunes-esque triple-take while marveling at the 1972 Shasta 1400 camper protruding from the side of the building. “Another Mike Johnson find,” says Ben Hillman of his visionary partner. (Accomplished restaurateur Charlie Downs is also a partner.) “Mike found it on eBay. We had to hire a towing company to fetch it and tow it back from Spokane."

Hillman adds that “Kirkwood’s Architectural Review Board had a hard time imagining what we wanted to do with it. It was like, ‘You want to do what with what?’” But once they understood, they were excited about it.”   

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Photo by George Mahe

Photo by George Mahe

Upon entering the all-season “patio,” soon to be bedecked in plastic turf, guests can take a peek inside the restoration, replete with cheeseburger pillows, whereupon the campsite vibe kicks in. “Both of our other places have outside patios—we got as close as we could [here],” quips Hillman. “We’re installing operable garage-style doors on the south side to open it up.”

The campy, lodge-style theme continues in the main room. The interior of the prior restaurant was faced with knotty pine logs and cedar planks. The Hi-Pointe team left the wood elements but painted everything else in signature colors—the shipping container ceiling's a bright red, blue bedecks the corrugated metal trim, and a bold yellow accentuates long runs of exposed ductwork. “We hope to get them looking like French fries, if we can figure out a way to do it,” says Hillman.

Courtesy Hi-Pointe Drive-In

Single cheeseburger, hash browns, bacon, fried egg, and apple butter on a Donut King St. Charles glazed long john

Hi Pointe founding executive chef Adam Pritchett runs the kitchen, and three-year vet KoKo Jackson is the general manager. The menu will be identical to the other two locations. “We know it works, so why switch it up?” Pritchett says, acknowledging that the restaurant’s cleverly named sandwich specials—such as the Hamsel and Griddle, Jennifer Hen-iston, and Glazed and Confused (pictured at right)—will continue, along with a signature Kirkwood burger. Hilman says the larger kitchen and cooking line in Kirkwood will be able to accommodate the restaurant’s 80 seats and expected wave of delivery orders.    

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

The Arch D-Lux - double burger with American cheese, pepper bacon, ketchup, D-Lux sauce, and LTOP on a sesame seed bun 

For those unfamiliar with the lineage, Hi-Pointe’s signature smashburger is a spinoff of the Sugarfire Smoke House burger—an all-natural, all-Angus patty made from chuck, brisket, and rib—that’s worthy of its multiple first-place finishes in burger competitions.

Hillman says that in addition to locations in Cottleville, Missouri, and O’Fallon, Illinois—both slated to open next year—he’s eyeing sites in Creve Coeur and South County.

Regarding staffing, Hillman says that “we should be fine. We’ve hired over 30 people for Kirkwood” and that the situation “is starting to open up a little bit—we can feel it.” Part of the reason is that “we make it fun for people to come to work every day,” he says and that “now that everyone is being paid above minimum wage, being able to share tips equally throughout helps a lot.

“Our biggest issue—and delay—involved kitchen equipment,” he continues. “We had to abandon a line we like and had been loyal to because of supply problems, and even then, what used to take two weeks is taking months. We ordered the equipment for this store in June.”

Speaking to inflation and cost increases, Hillman says projected higher prices have been baked into the pro forma projections at future locations. “That’s something we talk about a lot,” he says. “But with higher prices come higher customer expectations. That’s one part of the business that hasn’t changed.”

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Photo by George Mahe