Last October, Kingside Diner announced that it would be moving a short distance away, into the former Gamlin Whiskey House space, at 236 N. Euclid in the Central West End. Kingside closed its previous location last week and softly reopened in the new space at 6 a.m. on March 29. “We said it would open in first quarter of 2021,” says owner Aaron Teitelbaum. “We made it by two days.”
Kingside Diner held its grand opening on Monday, April 5; a later night offshoot, Kingside After Dark, will launch later this month.
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Quite a bit was accomplished during the restaurant’s 60-day turnaround. The sprawling space was lightened and brightened, largely due to walls painted white with black accents—the same signature tones used at Kingside’s Clayton location, which opened in 2019 in the Clayton on the Park building. A white quartzite counter replaced the prior wooden bartop. The kitchen was overhauled from floor to ceiling tile. The basement is home to new coolers and a pastry prep area. Teitelbaum even reclaimed some restaurant space to add three additional bathrooms, all with touchless faucets and fixtures.
One of the design highlights is the Fischer room, a 16-seat private space with glass doors and photos of chess champions lining the walls. “There has been a Fischer room in all Kingside locations,” Teitelbaum says of the space honoring Bobby Fischer, the former chess grandmaster and first American to win the World Chess Championship.
“Our biggest struggle was how to reopen under current COVID seating restrictions,” Teitelbaum says, “how to configure the areas so they’re both physically appealing and safe.” (Teitelbaum is a member of the restaurant advisory group that meets every two weeks with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health to discuss new and proposed restaurant safety protocols.)
The 5,900-square-foot, three-room space now seats 99 at full capacity. As before, guests enter through a corner door. Along Euclid, an ancillary door leads to a multi-purpose counter. During the day, the area is dedicated to grab-and-go food, coffee seating, and pickup orders. (Heating and cooling cabinets were installed to maintain food quality.)
At night, the lights come down, the vibe becomes more loungy, and the counter becomes a full bar, with both alcohol and coffee/espresso. “This is the biggest difference,” he says. “In the old space, we got so busy, we had to stop taking to-go orders on the weekends. Now we can accommodate those orders and do some later-night service in the same space.”
Part of Kingside’s success stems from a menu that’s offered at both breakfast and lunch. Leading that charge is executive chef Eric Prophete, who ran the kitchens at the renowned Shack restaurants for five years.
Back on the dine-in menu are the Damn Delicious (scrambled eggs and bacon on a croissant with sausage gravy, shredded cheddar, and chives), Johnny Cash (maple cashew butter, bacon, and banana between French toast slices), yogurt and fresh fruit bowl, Buffalo chicken salad (all pictured above) signature skillets, the Kingside Slinger, griddle burgers, flatbreads, and The King of Clubs (ham, turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, sun-dried tomato mayo, and pesto mayo on toasted white bread).
Prophete says he feels particularly at home at the new address. “I grew up on Euclid; my first job in high school was at Balaban’s on Euclid, and my second job was right here in this building, when it was a place called Zimfel’s,” he says. The 62-seat patio was always a focal point on that corner, he says. In the wake of the pandemic’s effect on outdoor spaces, the hope is to convert the patio into a three-season space that’s equipped with a rollback roof and permanent heaters and fans.
Both Teitelbaum and Prophete are equally excited about rolling out Kingside After Dark, which extends the brand’s appeal into the evening hours several nights per week. The After Dark menu includes a handful of appetizers, including the Not a Meatball Sandwich (fried mozzarella wheels with homemade Italian meatballs, garlic crostini, marinara, and Parmesan) and The Angry Bird (a riff on chicken and waffles made with easy-to-eat Frenched wings tossed in sriracha maple syrup).
Other offerings include low country shrimp ‘n’ grits, short rib lasagna, potstickers (pork or veggie), and a charcuterie board (all pictured below). The beverage menu includes beer, cider, and 12 signature cocktails (including a boozy milkshake called Queen’s Gambit, made with Clementine’s Blue Moon ice cream and vanilla vodka). The wine list offers 18 options, all available by the bottle or glass.
Kingside’s hours are fluid at this point, but the plan is to serve breakfast and lunch seven days per week from 6 a.m.–2 p.m. When Kingside After Dark opens later this month, the restaurant will stay open until 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday nights, when both the regular and Kingside After Dark menus will be offered. “[The pandemic] will affect the hours and the acceptance, at least initially,” says Teitelbaum, who anticipates a robust breakfast-for-dinner business. When After Dark opens, the bar will close an hour or so after the kitchen, depending on demand.
Of the former Kingside space, Teitelbaum says, “Business was superb, in spite of the pandemic. Even though we were only half a block down Maryland, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to move into a prime corner spot—maybe the prime corner spot—in the Central West End.”
