Photo by Ryan Griffore
Hot Spot
Three Kings Public House
After raising more than $5,000 for furloughed staff members, Derek Deaver, owner of Three Kings Public House (with locations in the Delmar Loop, Des Peres, South County, and Lambert Airport Terminal 2), took more steps to help the business and the community. The entire menu is currently available for carryout, curbside, and delivery at all three standalone locations. The 32 beers on tap are available (in 32- or 64-ounce growlers) at reduced prices. In addition to a catering/buffet menu, Deaver recently rolled out a box lunch program (300 were sold on Wednesday). Employees can pick up food for free at any location and receive 50 percent off for their families. Three Kings participates in St. Louis-based GiftAMeal, in which a meal is donated to Operation Food Search every time a customer posts a photo of a member meal to the company’s app (recently updated to extend to offsite meals or even a photo of a gift card). And speaking of gift cards, for every $100 gift card purchased here, Three Kings will kick in an additional $25.
Insider Tip
TGFM Delivers the Goods
Tower Grove Farmers' Market (TGFM), the largest in the city, is still hoping to open in early May (a month late), according to founder Patrick Horine, who adds that many farmers' markers have continued to operate around the country and that TGFM has the added advantage of having a huge footprint on which to operate. When the market does open, founder he says the vendors will be spread further apart and the hours (currently Saturdays 8 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and Tuesdays 4–7 p.m.) may be expanded for crowd control should the need arise. In the interim, the market has adopted a delivery model, which Horine says will likely continue regardless. Over the weekend, 250 orders were filled, and thanks to the efforts of middlemen like Eat Here St. Louis, that number could double this week. Customers order online during the week from a selection of several different boxes--plant-based, vegetarian, or omnivore—for delivery that weekend ($10 within a 10-mile radius of Tower Grove Park). A drive-through option is also under consideration, giving customers three ways to secure farm fresh produce. "As we head into summer and additional products becomes available, we'll need more ways to get them distributed," Horine says.
Courtesy Una Vida Tequila
Microrave
Free T !
When the coronavirus pandemic virtually idled local restaurants, Zach Conley and Bryce Lob, owners of St. Louis-based Una Vida Tequila, thought about what they could do to help furloughed restaurant workers. While Una Vida is still a relatively new company (two years old in May), Conley says, “We don’t have much money, but we had the goods.” He posted to Instagram a message offering a free bottle of tequila to laid-off restaurant workers of age who contacted him and will hand-deliver a bottle of tequila to their doors (a gesture matched by Lob, who works the Kansas territory). Unsurprisingly, the missive generated hundreds of requests. The distributor, Major Brands, responded by offering 20 cases of product back to the partners. Conley says he’s been delivering bottles for the past 10 days and plans to do so for the foreseeable future. When the program began, the recipient could choose from the company’s three offerings—Blanco, Reposado, or Anejo—but due to supply, it’s now “delivery driver’s choice,” says Conley. For Conley and Lob, the simple act of giving ties into the company mantra, as noted recently on Una Vida’s Facebook: “Although times are tough for most of us in the industry right now, our message doesn’t change. Help each other out where you can, support small business, do your part, and we will all come out of this stronger in the end. One Life, One Tequila.”
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