I was one of the final customers at America’s last Playboy Club, which closed in July 1988 in Lansing, Mich. I have a final edition of the The Washington Star and the Arkansas Gazette. I saw the final game at the old Busch Stadium. Many businesses come and go without fanfare or notice, but there is an accompanying sadness when true business traditions pass into history.
This is happening this week in St. Louis as Beffa’s prepares to shut its doors for the final time on Friday, May 27. After 113 years, St. Louis' oldest restaurant is closing.
For many years, the quaint little place with no sign or outdoor lights was nestled inside a building in the 2700 block of Olive. If you didn’t already know it was there, you would never realize its location.
For decades, the biggest names in St. Louis business, sports, and politics shared meals at Beffa’s. If you moved or shook, you were seen in Beffa’s. Even on Monday, around noontime, you could spot state Supreme Court Justice Michael Wolff, TV personality Al Wiman, Congressman Russ Carnahan’s special assistant Tim Ogle, St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson, St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission president “Kitty” Ratcliffe, and Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan with his son, Jack.
I sat with the McClellans and enjoyed a turkey sandwich on wheat and a cup of chili.
By 11:40 a.m., there were 20 people in line for the daily spread. The line was twice as long by noon.
Owner Michael Beffa carved roast beef, turkey, and roast pork. Smiling, he said hello to everyone, regardless of whether he knew them. I had visited Beffa’s a few times over the years, but this was the first time I met Beffa. You could tell he was a bit subdued on this stormy Monday—and you couldn’t blame him.
The restaurant that has carried his family’s name for more than a century will be closed when the next Monday rolls around.
I miss the place already.
Commentary By Alvin Reid
