Circa STL Now Open in Des Peres Square

Name: Circa STL Now Open in Des Peres Square
Item: Circa Bar & Grill
Author: George Mahe

The St. Louis-themed restaurant is a shrine to local food and artifacts.

by George Mahe

November 5, 2016

4:49 PM

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An original bandstand from the Gaslight Square era, circa 1960

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A promotional sign for Poultry Pep-Tonic Tablets that "Makes Hens Lay," and one for Buster Brown's socks, not shoes.

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Below a pair of "Mr. Stanley’s" shoes (made for Stix, Baer, and Fuller) is one of the non-insulated wooden boxes used by ice cream vendors at Sportsman’s Park.

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Above the main bar: a 1937 chalkware statue of Sir John Falstaff

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One of the more expensive small artifacts is this bullet light, made locally for Griesedieck Brothers.

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From the St. Louis Star Times, the local beer barons in 1934, including Adolphus Busch III (brother of August A. "Gussie" Busch, Jr.) and an ad for ABC Beer

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An Old Judge calendar commemorating the 1942 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals, in pristine condition, discovered at the Belleville Flea Market

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A paper hat from Ladies’ Day at the ballpark, sponsored by Charlotte Peters, from the early 60s

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Anheuser-Busch is well represented, both in front of and behind the bar.

Des Peres’ newest restaurant, Circa STL, should be offering guided tours.

It’s the only way to properly negotiate (and appreciate) the thousands of pieces of memorabilia collected over the last 45 years by Brian Walsh, who owns the restaurant along with his wife Sheila and another couple, George and Cindy Degnan.

When we first heard that a St. Louis-themed restaurant would moving into 1090 Old Des Peres Road, a below-grade address in Des Peres Square, we were cautiously optimistic but not entirely sold, as the space had previously been home to three shuttered restaurants: Zydeco Blues, Rib City, and Rick’s Café Americain.

Now that Circa STL is open and we’ve tasted the food (also St. Louis-themed) our confidence is buoyed.

The restaurant and bar are divided by a long glass display case that breaks up the large room, the sports and beer artifacts finding a home on the bar side.

Over the years, Walsh, a now-retired 60-year-old pipe coverer/insulator, amassed a small museum’s worth of local artifacts, including oddities like a sign for Alox (above), a company that he says "made marbles and shoelaces—two things made with with agate. That’s it...that's all they made.”

Sports fans will appreciate the impressive display of items from the 1944 all-St. Louis World Series (A.K.A. the Streetcar Series), including a rare Cardinal pennant (above). Walsh pointed out the misspelling of Marty Marion’s name (“using an “a” instead of an “o”') and that he’d never seen another one like it.

In the entryway are seats from Busch Stadium, Sportsman’s Park (above), and a Koken barber chair, reputed to be the best brand made. “And of course you know it was Ernest Koken who patented the hydraulic barber chair in the 1800s,” Walsh remarks. Of course...

Wooden booths were cobbled together from reclaimed residential doors and pews from a Catholic church.

The existing bar (below) dates from 1880s. Made of solid mahogany, it had been reclaimed from the former Lemp Stables, part of the complex that housed the William J. Lemp Brewing Co.

On a side wall is a bar from a workingman's pub (below). "So we’ve got a millionaire’s bar and a poor guy’s bar, all under one roof," Walsh quipped, "both from the turn of the century."

The collector converted cast iron stoves from Quick Meal Stove Co. ("St. Louis’ largest stove manufacturer") into server stations (below) and said he may even put one outside. “They’re indestructible and weigh 400 pounds," Walsh explains. "I don't see anyone walking off with one."

The menu is a mix of bar and grill fare, including many items with a local connection. There’s St. Louis-style pizza (similar to the old Luigi’s recipe and served on rectangular pans, below), Chicken Modiga, and Gerber and Prosperity sandwiches (but alas, no St. Paul). Walsh boasts that the BLT "comes loaded up like they do at Crown Candy.”

If a new restaurant dares to serve a t-rav these days, they better be both different and better. The ones at Circa qualify: made using wonton skins instead of pasta (below), the casing is light and crispy. Even more impressive, the beef, cheese, and spinach filling is juicy—visibly and deliciously so—and they measure 4-inches across, which also means they're the biggest in town.

There are also classic standbys—like a hand-battered fried cod sandwich (“using only U.S. Grade A cod, the best we can buy”) and spinach artichoke dip, whimsically presented inside a stack of three onion rings (below).

And this throwback dish, giant mushroom caps stuffed with spinach, housemade sausage, jalapenos, and cheese (below).

Circa STL is exactly what co-owner Walsh intended it to be—part St. Louis-themed museum and part homage to its historic foods. “And I still have a lot of things to put up,” he says half-jokingly. “Or I could open a second location.”

In the meantime, continue the tour (via the gallery above) and then pay a proper visit, as no one is prouder of a memorabilia collection and restaurant than Brian Walsh, who would like nothing better than to nurture some of your interests.