“They’re all the same, and they’re all a little different,” says The Shack‘s Brant Baldanza, managing partner of OG Hospitality Group, which owns nine local restaurants. Five of them are locations of The Shack—and more are on the way.
The Creve Coeur location opened May 5 at 12521 Olive, in the Heritage Place center. The 170-seat restaurant maintains the funky atmosphere of its predecessors: extensive use of distressed wood planks and recycled wooden doors, warehouse pendant lighting, and yet another version of the famous leg lamp from A Christmas Story.
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One Shack trademark (besides the free-for-all use of Sharpie autographs on the walls) is the whimsical treatment on the interior soffit. In Creve Coeur, the focal point is the saying, “A brunch without booze is just a sad, late breakfast,” punctuated by a symphony of bubbles (think mimosas, beer, and Champagne) around the restaurant’s perimeter.
The hours are the same at all locations (6:30 a.m.—2 p.m. daily), but busy times differ from location to location. “For example,” says Baldanza, “a few months ago, O’Fallon [Missouri] opened to huge numbers—all day long. In Creve Coeur, there are 15 to 20 office buildings just in the immediate area, so we expect to be very busy at lunch, like we are in Frontenac.”
In that regard, The Shack will introduce expanded lunch menus in the Creve Coeur and Frontenac locations during the coming weeks.
In addition to standard hours, all Shack locations are available for private events during evenings. “That business became somewhat predictable, which surprised us,” he says. “In the spring, we see a lot of rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions. In the summer, it’s class reunions, and then the holiday parties start up in November.”
OG Hospitality Group also owns two locations each of The Corner Pub & Grill and The Tavern Kitchen & Bar, but Baldanza says The Shack was deemed the best concept for expansion. “There was a vacancy in the market for a pub-and-grill type place that serves breakfast and lunch,” he says. “That same friendly vibe is easy to find at night. Our goal at The Shack was to recreate it in the daytime.”
OG Hospitality Group plans to open two Shack locations in Overland Park this summer—in July at 7940 W. 35th (at Highway 69) and in August at 7218 College (at Metcalf), followed by a store in Nashville in September. In the fourth quarter, Baldanza says another to-be-determined St. Louis location has materialized in South County—and he hints about a completely new concept as well.
Below are some popular Shack offerings, with attention-grabbing names and all.
