I had a morning appointment in the Chesterfield Valley west of St. Louis and the night before I stayed at a hotel along Chesterfield Valley Road. Food options in the immediate area went from fast food to chain restaurants to places that I'd already eaten at and didn't really want to go back to. I seriously thought about heading over to Annie Gunn's, an upscale steakhouse on the east end of the Chesterfield Valley. But it was late and I really didn't want a high-priced dinner that evening. Just walking distance from the hotel was a Brick House Tavern + Tap restaurant. Now, I sort of figured that Brick House Tavern was a chain because I had seen a couple in the Chicago area over the past few years. But they had always intrigued me enough that I decided to take a short walk and give the place a try. (See map)
The Brick House Tavern + Tap is housed in what was formerly a Joe's Crab Shack location. Now, I detest Joe's Crab Shack with a passion and when I found out that their parent company was going through bankruptcy last year, I was innerly chuckling to myself that enough people finally wised up to how horrible their food really was. But it turned out that the same parent company of Joe's Crab Shack also owns the Brick House Tavern locations, as well. That's why this former Joe's Crab Shack location ended up becoming a Brick House Tavern.
(A side story about the old Joe's Crab Shack in Chesterfield. Years ago, my wife and I ate at a Joe's Crab Shack in St. Peters, MO and it was so bad we thought it had to be an anomaly. However, we tried another Joe's location someplace else - can't remember where it was - but it largely sucked, too. We pretty much wrote Joe's Crab Shack off the way we long ago had written off even thinking about going to Red Lobster.
About 12 years ago, I happened to be checking into the same hotel that I was staying in on this particular trip. I ran into a rep friend of mine and a guy from a manufacturer who I'd known for a number of years. They invited me out to dinner - at Joe's Crab Shack. I immediately said that I don't do Joe's Crab Shack, but my friend who worked for the manufacturer - and who lived in Southern California - was adamant that the Joe's location near his home had the best seafood he's ever had. I said, "Well, yeah. Where you live, the ocean is right there. In the Midwest, it's a haul from here to the ocean."
Undeterred, he still insisted on taking me out to dinner at the Joe's next door. He was a nice guy and it had been awhile since I'd seen him. I thought, "What the hell? He's going to pay for dinner and a bunch of alcohol. Sure, I'll go and find something that I can stomach."
Long story short - I had peel and eat shrimp that were so overcooked and rubbery that it was embarrassing that the kitchen would even let the things be served. But my friend who was paying for dinner was more than happy with his meal.)
The first Joe's Crab Shack started in Houston in 1991. Three years later, it was bought by the Fertitta family who owned the Landry's Seafood restaurants based out of Houston. Initially, they were going to turn the Joe's Crab Shack into a Landry's, but decided to go with the laid-back, shrimp shack concept of the restaurant. They grew both the Landry's and Joe's Crab Shack restaurants eventually selling off the Joe's Crab Shack to another Houston-based equity group - JCS Holdings - in 2006.
JCS Holdings eventually changed their name to Ignite Restaurant Group in April of 2009 and had begun to turn some of the Joe's locations into Brick House Tavern + Tap restaurants that were more of an upscale sports bar with steaks, seafood and craft beers. By 2014, there were about 140 Joe's Crab Shack locations and 26 Brick House Tavern + Tap locations across the country. However, that number had dropped to 112 Joe's Crab House locations by early 2017 and by the spring of last year Ignite Restaurant Group was forced into bankruptcy proceedings. Coming full circle, Landry's, Inc. bought back both Joe's Crab Shack and Brick House Tavern at a bankruptcy auction last summer. They have since franchised out many of the Joe's Crab Shack and Brick House Tavern locations.
The Chesterfield Brick House Tavern is franchised by the Kelly Companies, an investment firm with offices in Pittsburgh and San Diego. In addition to owning 11 Brick House locations, the company also owns franchise rights to restaurants such as Joe's Crab Shack, McCormick and Schmick's, Fox & Hound, Champps, and Mitchell's Fish Market.
It was a very short walk from my hotel over to Brick House Tavern on what was a warm early Spring evening. It was around 7:30 and I found a place that was half-full with people seated in large booths in the center of the restaurants, along with tables in the area toward the sides. The walls were, of course, brick with a large brick hearth fireplace in the center. Most of the lighting was accented on the walls with muted lighting coming from the ceiling. It appeared to be a cozy and somewhat laid back atmosphere. There was a glass enclosed patio off to the side of the bar that had a few people sitting in there that evening.
I wanted to sit at the bar, but it was full. I took a booth off to the side and was greeted by my server, Darcy, who dropped off a menu for me. I saw that they had the Ballast Point Sculpin on tap, so I ordered a pint of that to enjoy while I looked over the menu.
Most of the items on the menu are upscale bar food - appetizers such as Buffalo chicken meatballs, zucchini curls, duck wings, and hand-cut panko/parmesan encrusted mozzarella sticks. They also had steaks and pork chops, seafood, sandwiches and burgers.
I was looking at a couple of things that sort of sounded good and homey to me - the prosciutto-wrapped meatloaf made with ground chuck, veal and Italian sausage topped with a sweet chili ketchup and mushroom gravy. I had a side option for that and I wanted mashed potatoes. It was either the meatloaf or the sirloin tips - they marinate the sirloin tips for 24 hours before they grill them and are served with a mushrooms & onion gravy.
When it came time to order, I took the meat loaf. But a couple minutes later, Darcy came back with a menu and announced that they were out of the meat loaf for the evening. I winced when she said they were out of the meat loaf. Thankfully, I had the sirloin tips as a Plan B. "Uh, yeah," Darcy sort of hesitated. "We're out of the sirloin tips, too."
"You're kidding me," I exclaimed. As she handed me the menu to look over again, I sort of snarkily said, "Why don't you give me the menu of WHAT you have this evening." I immediately felt bad after I said that. But I was mildly pissed that they didn't have the two things I really wanted.
Darcy explained that a large group had come in from one of the surrounding office buildings earlier in the evening. "It was pretty busy in here up to about 30 minutes ago," she said. "The meat loaf and the sirloin tips are always a favorite."
Opening back up the menu, I so didn't want a burger that evening. My stomach was set for the meat loaf, and the sirloin tips were going to be a nearly even consolation prize. I just about cut my losses and was going to head out when I decided to have the "Steak & Shrooms" - two sirloin filets with sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions, topped with smoked provolone. Fried mushroom caps and a somewhat spicy piquant sauce came on the side. Thyme potatoes were supposed to come on the side, but I was able to get Darcy to substitute tater tots instead.
The sirloin filets were, well, all right. They were tender enough, but I'm sure the marinated sirloin tips would have been more flavorful and tender. With the provolone cheese and sautéed mushrooms, there was some flavor to the meal. The piquant sauce was nice to dip the tater tots into. It wasn't outstanding, but it wasn't bad. When I needed another beer, Darcy brought me a Sculpin in a 25 ounce glass. "This one is on me, since we were out of the two things you originally ordered," she said. I was grateful for the gesture, considering my mild pissy-ness earlier on.
The Brick House Tavern was just OK, in my book. Given that they were out of two things that I originally ordered and my third choice was just all right, I can't say that I was all that enamored with the place. But my server Darcy was pleasant and accommodating. For a small national chain that is in a high traffic area like Chesterfield, I can see where Brick House Tavern can be successful. I'd rather go to a place that isn't quite so corporate in nature, but for what the Brick House Tavern was, it was fine.
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