Photo by George Mahe
In the middle of a weekend chock full of baseball madness in St. Louis, a little game of restaurant hopscotch was also being played.
SLM has learned that Mac’s Local Eats, the beloved smashburger-y that has been operating inside Bluewood Brewing (1821 Cherokee) for the past two years, will move into the soon-to-be-former home of Brew Hub Tap Room (5656 Oakland), which announced (initially via a banner on the side of the building) that it, too, would be moving, apparently to West County.
According to Diane Schoen, vice president of marketing for Brew Hub, those details have yet to be finalized. “We plan on reopening in West County. There are so many exciting new developments going up in Chesterfield, and we want to be a part of that growth,” she said in a release. “We are huge fans of Mac’s Local Eats, so it will be great to have them in the neighborhood.”
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
The Captain burger from Mac's Local Eats, arguably the king of the local smashburgers
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
People familiar with Chris "Mac" McKenzie know him as the namesake founder of Mac’s Local Eats, which leads many local “best burger” discussions, professional and otherwise. (SLM devoted an entire glossy page to the wonders of the four-patty Captain burger, calling it “a stacked masterpiece that may be hard to unseat from its ‘perfect cheeseburger’ perch.”)
Mac’s Local Eats was a success from the moment that it launched in 2017. Initially, it was situated behind a quirky walk-up window inside Tamm Avenue Bar in Dogtown. Devotees snaked this way and that through the bar in a barely moving conga line to order, a line that continued to grow. That dance continued for two years, at which point, McKenzie acknowledged that the restrictive "hole-in-the-wall" layout at Tamm made for an "uncomfortable guest experience," whereupon he moved the business (which included Mac's Local Buys, McKenzie's specialty grocery store) to a larger venue inside Bluewood Brewing along Cherokee.
Courtesy Mac's
Mac's 12 patty burger (The Program) and the 13 patty burger (Chapter 13: Bankruptcy)
That space was larger and more organized, but the lines continued. The stacks of burgers also grew larger, teetering to ridiculous heights.
Despite the pandemic (during which Mac’s rolled out one of the slicker online order and pick-up games in town), there was also a quirky stop and start: In late July of this year, Bluewood announced on social media that Mac’s last day was August 3 but gave no reason for the closure. A few days later, McKenzie negated the news by posting, “Our intention has always been to honor the terms of our lease, so we will continue to operate inside of Bluewood Brewing from Wednesday through Sunday for the foreseeable future, regardless of their operating hours… We are actively looking for a larger location as we continue to grow.
“Our need for increased capacity and our desire for food/beverage and service autonomy have been two of the driving forces behind the search for a more suitable environment for our team,” McKenzie stated in a later press release. The Brew Hub space is exactly that, one that McKenzie proudly refers to as “our very own flagship location.” Service will be counter-style, with runners delivering food and the first round of beverages. Additional beverages will be available at the bar.
Photo by George Mahe
The dining area (which will be expanded with the removal of Brew Hub's brewing tanks), will seat 110 guests. The bar (which seats 20 and features 20 beer taps), opens onto a covered open-air patio that seats an additional 60. The expanded kitchen capacity (2,000 square feet and a 21-foot exhaust hood) will more than double the space at Bluewood. In addition, it can easily serve as the commissary for McKenzie’s new food trailer, dubbed The Patty Wagon, which is awaiting its final inspection.
While burgers of similar construction have been around for generations (Steak ‘n Shake, for instance, was founded in 1934), Mackenzie took a unique approach when he launched Mac’s by venturing where other burger joints didn’t and wouldn’t. He insists on using the whole cow (expensive steak cuts and all), then dry-ages the meat for 28 days, concentrating the flavor. Fat is kept to a minimum, which means crispier, crunchier edges—what burger aficionados call the “meat skirt”—but McKenzie replaces a bit of that fat by toasting the burger buns with lard. The result is a lacy, cheesy patty and a crisped bun, in which a double should be the minimum and the sky’s the limit. Additional burgers, such as the pimiento cheese burger (with pickled fried green tomatoes), the ½ & ½ (one beef patty and one pork patty), and a veggie burger, translate to endless combinations and permutations.
Additional fryer capacity will allow for more Rip Fries (seasoned with Old Vienna Red Hot Riplets seasoning), cracklins (crisp fried pork skins), and, dare we even think it, potentially more burger options.
With almost 200 seats and an abundance of parking, the third location—which McKenzie says is slated to open in November—is the charm. “One brick-and-mortar building and one mobile unit," McKenzie says. "That’s it.”
