Baileys’ Restaurants can soon check pizza off its concepts list.
The husband and wife team behind Baileys’ Chocolate Bar, Baileys’ Range, Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar, Rooster, Small Batch, Shift, Test Kitchen & Take Out, and The Fifth Wheel Catering has announced its latest venture: Hugo’s Pizzeria, which will open this summer at 3135 Olive (the building that formerly housed Mike Randolph’s The Good Pie) in Midtown.
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Dave Bailey has wanted to open a pizza joint for more than a decade. He had plans to open one after Baileys’ Chocolate Bar, but for a variety of reasons, it had to be put on hold. The focus shifted to another concept that would eventually become Rooster. Now, he’s ready to revisit Hugo’s (which is named after Bailey’s son).
“It was always on the list,” Bailey says. “About a year and half ago, this other building became available, and we looked at it and decided it would be a good spot for checking this [concept] off the list.”
Diners can expect sharable (12-inch-plus) pies with Roman-style crust and sauce spread out almost to the edge. “I really love the crust that has a nice fluffiness to it, an airiness, but then also a really good chew that can stand up to either just sauce and a little bit of cheese, or it can hold up to a lot of toppings as well,” he says. “That’s my personal preference.”
Many ingredients will be supplied from local farms—as they are at other Baileys’ restaurants—including a classic topping. Hugo’s will offer housemade pepperoni from local, grass-fed beef and its own Italian sausage. The pizzas will be cooked at 550 degrees in a gas-fired deck oven. The full-service restaurant will also offer appetizers such as burrata, meatballs, wings, a variety of salads and—on the dessert side—a Blondie with ice cream.
The space features exposed brick and concrete floors, with seating for 120, an additional 60 in the back garden, plus a 12-seat red oak bar, and an area for picking up to-go orders. The Good Pie took up only a single bay, but Baileys’ Restaurants has purchased the entire building. Hugo’s will take up three of the bays; the Bailey’s will announce a different concept for the fourth bay in the coming weeks.
But St. Louisans don’t have to wait to get a taste of Hugo’s. Starting today, you can try a 10-inch pizza, side salad, and a drink at Shift, Test Kitchen & Take Out at 313 N. 11th Street, downtown. Bailey will be testing out new recipes there each week ahead of Hugo’s summer opening.
