Well Met café, from the owners of Polite Society and Bellwether, to open in Shaw neighborhood this summer

This summer, the Shaw neighborhood will have another cozy corner café: Well Met, a breakfast, lunch, and dinner neighborhood café in a former antique gallery’s space at 4100 Shenandoah (at Thurman), just north of Tower Grove Park.

The café comes courtesy of three successful local restaurateurs: Brian Schmitz and Jonathan Schoen, along with beverage director Travis Hebrank, owners of Be Polite Hospitality, which operates Polite Society, The Bellwether, Good Day, Sub Division Sandwich Co., and Intergalactic Burgers.

The Concept

The name is a shortened form of the British idiom “hail fellow well met.” The phrase “hail fellow” was a traditional greeting, and “well met” was later added to emphasize the friendliness, as if to say “happy to meet you.”

Schmitz and Schoen are imagining Well Met as “a welcoming space for a morning meeting over coffee, a place to stop and grab something to take over to the park on a warm afternoon, or maybe somewhere on the way home to grab a bottle of wine, or listen to some good music and see some smiling faces.”

The Menu

While the menu is still in development, Schmitz and Schoen are planning for panini to be the backbone, with salads, soups, and other light fare playing backup. There will also be an espresso coffee program, wine, craft beer, and cocktails—”simple offerings” that “we hope are well-curated,” Schmitz quips. “The holdup won’t be the buildout but rather the wait for a liquor license. But liquor gods be willing, we’ll be ready to serve by summer.”  

The Space

The renovation of the space is in its infancy. “We just started on the floors but haven’t even chosen the interior color,” says Schmitz.

Of the corner space, Schmitz says, “It was all very serendipitous. It’s a feel good little gem of a corner spot with a ton of natural light that looks like it should be a neighborhood café.”

“Since most of our team either live very near or pass through that section of the neighborhood every day, when Jonathan’s brother, whose office is right next door, mentioned an opportunity to develop to property,” Schmitz adds, “we had some ideas about what kind of energy might serve the community well from it. Plus, we have friends and extended family living in the surrounding neighborhood, so we are getting a lot great ideas about what would serve them on that corner.”

Future Plans

Schmitz and Schoen also recently took over Joule, the event space below The Bellwether, which had been operated by Butler’s Pantry.

“Since we decided to renew our lease at Bellwether,” Schmitz says, “it made sense for us to take on that lower space as well, especially since Butler’s had just opened two new large venues. We’ll be able to entertain larger parties—up to 100 people inside or for a patio event—more than we ever could do upstairs. Even though we’ve yet to rename the space, we can now book those size parties beginning in late spring.”