St. Louis is upping its restaurant and entertainment game.
When Puttshack opens on December 19 at City Foundry STL, several familiar faces will be in charge of the operation. Bobby Tessler, a fine-dining chef who won a mantle of awards at the erstwhile St. Louis Wing Co., will serve as executive chef. Longtime Herbie’s director of operations Shea Behymer will assume the same role at Puttshack.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
“I told myself when I closed my restaurant, the next step of my life I wouldn’t do unless it gave me butterflies,” Tessler says of his decision to take on the executive chef role. “This is the first thing that popped up since then that actually got me excited.”
The Menu
“Our menu can be described as globally-inspired street food.” Mark Boyton, VP of Global Food & Beverage shared. “With a passion for food and enthusiasm for hand-crafted beverages, we have created a completely reimagined dining and drinking experience. We’ve paired exotic dishes, like our Wood Fired Thai Octopus and Mediterranean Lamb Skewers, with both upscale prohibition classics and modern mixology showstoppers.”
The menu in St. Louis will feature regionally inspired items, including:
- Red Hot Riplets Tailpipes: Spring rolls filled with barbecue seasoned fire-braised chicken, sautéed veggies, and a chihuahua and mozzarella cheese blend with a Riplets-infused aioli dipping sauce. A dollar from each Tailpipe purchase will be donated to Room at the Inn.
- The Hill: Flatbread topped with pepperoni, red onion, green bell peppers, fresh olives, beef-filled toasted raviolis, and ranch aioli.
There will also be a full bar with extensive draft and bottle beer options, wine, mock and cocktails, shots, shooters, sippers, nonalcoholic beer, energy drinks, sodas, and Lavazza Italian coffee. The Spirit of St. Louis is the local featured cocktail, which is an elevated riff on the Paper Plane cocktail, featuring Ben Holladay Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Amaro Montenegro, Aperol, fresh lemon juice, topped off with Sofia Sparkling Brut Rose.
The Location
Puttshack is an international brand that centers around a technologically advanced version of mini golf. Each nine-hole course is guided by a number of instructional screens throughout the field of play, with the ball itself keeping track of the score through Puttshack’s patented Trackaball technology. The location will occupy a 26,500-square-foot area at the east end of City Foundry STL, with four custom courses, inthe space formerly planned for Punchbowl Social.
Puttshack was founded by Steve and Dave Jolliffe, two of the original founders of Topgolf, in partnership with Adam Breeden (Ace Bounce, Flight Club, All Star Lanes). The first location opened in London in 2018. The first U.S. locations opened in Atlanta and Oak Brook, Il. last year, followed by five additional locations in Boston and Miami in 2022 and many more slated for 2023.
The site’s website notes that the attraction will welcome all ages, but it recommends children be at least 7 years old to play the more challenging aspects of the course (which includes a giant beer pong setup). The venue is 21 and over starting at 8 p.m. every night. A full game lasts 30 minutes on average.
Reservations will open for Puttshack St. Louis on Saturday, December 17, and after that bookings can be made up to 14 days in advance online.
