Hot on the heels of three high-profile openings, the group behind Steve’s Hot Dogs is at it again.
Today, HUSTL Hospitality—the restaurant group behind the brands Steve’s Hot Dogs, Steve’s Meltdown, The Fountain on Locust and The Fountain on Delmar—announced plans for a forthcoming Steve’s Hot Dogs located at The District in Chesterfield. The forthcoming location (in the former Bike Stop Cafe space at 17089 N. Outer 40 Road) is slated to open in late 2024.
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Danni Eickenhorst, CEO of HUSTL Hospitality, admits that it’s been a busy year for the brand. The hospitality group just opened a new location of Steve’s Hot Dogs and The Fountain on Delmar in the Delmar Maker District last month and launched a brick-and-mortar of its popular grilled cheese ghost kitchen, Steve’s Meltdown, inside City Foundry STL in March.
Eickenhorst believes the brand is on a roll, however, and wants to lean into the recent strides that it’s making. “We’re capitalizing on the momentum,” says Eickenhorst. “We have a long-term vision of where we want to be as a brand, and our customers have been asking us to expand into the county, St. Charles, and Metro East. We felt like the geography of this particular location was like a two-fer, given how close it is to St. Charles County, so it made sense for us to do this at this time.” (Steve’s also has kiosks at America’s Center, Enterprise Center, and CITYPARK.)
The forthcoming Steve’s Hot Dogs at The District will be the first location for the brand beyond St. Louis City. According to Eickenhorst, she and her team have been hearing for years from loyal followers who drive into their locations from across the metro area and would like a Steve’s closer to their homes. Because the brand is so community- and neighborhood-focused, it made sense to have a presence where many of its customers live.
“We’ve done a lot of expansion in the city and have put all our eggs in that basket,” says Eickenhorst. “We love the city, and our bread and butter is the people who live in the neighborhoods around Steve’s. But we do have a core audience of people, most of them fans of Steve’s music, who heavily live in St. Louis and St. Charles counties that have had to make special trips in to see us. It will be nice to meet them where they are.”
The forthcoming Steve’s Hot Dogs will be located in The District’s central area known as The Hub STL, alongside other beloved local brands such as 4 Hands Brewing Co., Napoli Bros. Pizza & Pasta, Hi-Pointe Drive-In, and the upcoming Narwhal’s Crafted. In addition to the eateries, the space boasts a large outdoor gathering area with a massive LED screen and space for live entertainment. This last component, in addition to its proximity to The Factory, dovetails with the brand’s musical ties.
Eickenhorst notes that the forthcoming location at The District is part of the brand’s long-term vision to become a vibrant regional brand, and she teases that the restaurant group is considering expanding throughout the metro area, in particular to South County, Metro East, and O’Fallon.
“We don’t have any specific plans yet, though,” says Eickenhorst. “We plan to get through Chesterfield, take a breath, and make sure things are running smoothly. We want to make sure that we don’t expand too fast and do not want to have inconsistencies across locations. But those others are on the radar and are part of our long-term plan.”
