A major transformation is underway at one of St. Louis’ buzziest restaurants. Lucy Quinn, which opened this past March, will be shifting its focus from elevated, Southern-inflected cuisine to barbecue. Chef-owner Ben Welch announced the changes on social media earlier today. The change is effective immediately. The restaurant will now be called Lucy Q.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported Lucy Quinn STL in its original form,” Welch’s post reads. “Starting tomorrow we’re now a BBQ restaurant.”
Reached for comment, Welch tells SLM that the changes are the result of customer demand and what he felt was best for the neighborhood.
“We tried Lucy Quinn in this neighborhood for seven months, and we realized that barbecue is just more approachable and neighborhood-friendly,” Welch says. “We can catch people coming from shows or out and about in the neighborhood. It’s easier to sell them a pulled pork sandwich than a plate of crispy pork belly.”
To that end, Lucy Q draws upon Welch’s smokehouse prowess. The menu, which Welch posted in the announcement, contains a comprehensive selection of smoked meats, including pulled pork, turkey breast, cajun smoked salmon, St. Louis spare ribs, and Welch’s famous brisket and pastrami. Guests can order these as a sandwich or as a plate, called “supper.”
Additionally, Welch will offer appetizers and small plates, including pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes, smoked cabbage, and loaded mac and cheese. Welch will also begin offering a full catering menu and happy hour—things he has wanted to do since the restaurant’s inception.
Although Little Lucy, Welch’s diner-like hot spot next door, will remain unchanged in concept, he will be updating the hours there and at Lucy Q.
Lucy Q will be open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 5–9 p.m. Saturday, and for brunch only Sunday. Little Lucy will lose its daytime hours and transition to an evenings-only spot, serving from 4–11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
The Backstory
Lucy Quinn, as originally envisioned and executed until this transformation, was a longtime dream of Welch, a veteran chef and James Beard Award semifinalist. Although he’d spent years working in the industry at such places as The Midwestern, Botanica, and Big Baby Q, Welch always hoped that he’d one day have the chance to pay homage to his maternal grandmother, Lucy Quinn, who was a major source of his culinary inspiration. Conceived as a Southern-inflected, elevated soul food spot that traced his personal food story from his family heritage in Mississippi to eating barbecue as a kid in St. Louis in the 1970s and ‘80s to earning a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist nomination in the “Best Chef Midwest” category in 2022.
Welch finally got the chance to make that vision a reality this past March, when he opened Lucy Quinn and its sister diner, Little Lucy, in the former BEAST Craft BBQ space in The Grove. While Little Lucy was an instant success, the much larger Lucy Quinn struggled to find its footing with guests who had hoped for more of the barbecue that Welch was known for at his former Maryland Heights smokehouse, Big Baby Q.
Welch insists that the new Lucy Q still sees Lucy Quinn and his original vision for the restaurant as its foundation, though. Fans of the original concept will continue to see some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes on the menu, including his famous crab beignets, which will now be offered all day, not just during brunch. As he sees it, moving forward with this change is the best way to guarantee that his original vision remains alive.
“We are just trying to sustain and be here,” Welch says. “We’re just going to be doing it in a way that is more approachable and neighborhood-friendly.”
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