I had to head down to St. Louis earlier this year and I was staying out in the far southwest side of the city the evening before my morning meeting. The food options around the hotel were mainly fast food or sports bar fare, and even though I wasn't that hungry I wanted something a little more substantial than that. I did a quick look on-line to see what was in the area and there was a place that was about a five minute drive from the hotel that had a little bit more in terms of upscale offerings. I ended up heading over to the Corner Pub & Grill in Valley Park.
Brent Baldanza was a 16-year-old kid going to Parkway West High School in the St. Louis suburb of Ballwin when a friend of his asked him if he'd be interested in working at her dad's restaurant called Mike Duffy's that was just getting ready to open a second location near their school. When that location opened in 1989, Baldanza was in the kitchen and helped prepare the first order that left the kitchen. He fell in love with the restaurant business and found a mentor in Mike Duffy's owner Bruce Frailey.
After college, Baldanza started to work at Cafe Napoli, a wonderful Italian restaurant located in the Clayton area of St. Louis. (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Cafe Napoli.) It was at Cafe Napoli that Baldanza learned the ins-and-outs of the restaurant business from owner Tony Pietoso starting out in the kitchen, working his way up to a server, then as a bartender before becoming the front-of-house manager for the restaurant. With help from Pietoso, Frailey and his father, Baldanza was determined to open his own restaurant.
Along with another high school classmate, Jon Fogarty, the two teamed up to open the first Corner Pub and Grill location in the far southwestern suburbs in 2007. A second one came about a couple years later in Chesterfield at the corner of Clarkson Road and Clayton Road. In 2010, the pair opened a higher end eating establishment - The Tavern - which was located in the same shopping and entertainment complex as the original Corner Pub in Valley Park.
In 2012, Baldanza and Fogarty came up with a new concept called The Shack - a breakfast and lunch joint that catered more toward college students and young professionals. It was located near St. Louis University and after some tough times starting out, The Shack became a local favorite.
In 2004, Baldanza's daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Baldanza and his wife, Heather, found that gluten-free items at restaurants were few and far between. When he opened the first Corner Pub, he made sure to have a number of gluten-free options on the menu. And each of the locations of the Corner Pub, The Tavern and The Shack have a number of gluten-free foods to choose from.
Baldanza and Fogarty came up with a corporation called OG Restaurant Group to oversee operations of their restaurants. In addition to The Tavern and two Corner Pub and Grill locations, there are now five Shack locations in the St. Louis area and two in the Kansas City area. Another Kansas City area location was scheduled to open this Spring, but has been delayed due to the worldwide pandemic. And there are plans to open two Shack locations in the Nashville area later this year, but those may be delayed due to the current events.
As I said, it was about a five minute drive between the hotel and Corner Pub and Grill. I pulled into the Shoppes at Seven Oaks and realized that I had been there before. (see map) At the opposite side from the Corner Pub was Dalie's Smokehouse, a very good barbecue place that I visited about 3-and-a-half years ago. (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Dalie's Smokehouse.) A parking space just opened up moments before I got to the Corner Pub and was able to park near the front door of the brick building that's on the southwest corner of the shopping and entertainment complex.
Inside the Corner Pub, it appeared to be a sports bar, albeit an upscale sports bar. I wasn't really looking to go to a sports bar, but maybe a pub that had a few TV's. The dining room featured a number of flatscreen televisions hung on the walls along with sports memorabilia. Tartan upholstered booths lined the wall under the televisions in the room.
I ended up heading to the bar to have a seat in there. The bar was full, but a guy was just getting ready to relinquish his seat and he offered it to me. One of the bartenders that evening was a young lady named Ashley. She greeted me with a menu and asked what I'd like to drink. They had a handful of craft beers on tap and I noticed the distinctive Kona Big Wave handle on one of the spigots. I ordered up a pint of one of my all-time favorite beers. There was a good basketball game that I wouldn't have minded to see, but the St. Louis Blues were playing hockey that night and like their baseball compatriots, the St. Louis Cardinals, if there's a game on TV, most - if not all - of the televisions in St. Louis bars and restaurants are tuned to the game.
I was hoping Corner Pub and Grill was different from the sports bars that I didn't really want to go to and I will say that the food there seemed to be a step up from the typical sports bar food. Oh, they had appetizers, sandwiches and burgers on the menu at the Corner Pub, but they were sort of interesting. Bacon-wrapped smoked shrimp, brisket nachos, cauliflower/parmesan bites, and - of course - toasted ravioli were part of the appetizer menu. Burgers were all 1/2 pound in weight and bison meat was available as a substitute. One of the burgers featured on the menu was the "The Tot & the Egg" - a burger topped with applewood smoked bacon, a fried egg, crushed tater tots, and cheddar cheese. Sandwiches included a slow-roasted brisket sandwich, a smoked turkey sandwich, a short rib French dip, and a reuben sandwich with in-house made corned beef. Hand-tossed pizza, wraps, soups and salads rounded out the menu.
They had a special that evening - a fried chicken platter that the guy next to me got. It looked good, but it was a lot of food as it came with four pieces of Southern-fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. I was not that hungry and that would have been a lot of food. In fact, the guy ended up taking two of the pieces of chicken home with him when he was finished.
Chicken did sound good to me, however, and I ended up getting the hot and spicy chicken sandwich. It was a deep-fried chicken breast that was covered in a sweet and spicy Buffalo sauce, topped with bacon and blue cheese crumbles. It was served on a brioche bun on a bed of shredded lettuce underneath. I had a choice of numerous sides including fries, pub chips, veggie of the day, and onion rings (for a $2 buck upcharge). But they had tater tots on the menu - actually, they also had sweet potato tater tots. But I got the regular tots. And Ashley was able to get me a bottle of Cholula to put on the tots.
I ate the sandwich open-faced and the chicken had a nice spicy bite, but a sweetness that tamped down the overall spicy taste of the sauce. The chicken breast had a nice breading on the outer shell and the chicken meat inside was moist and tender. The bacon and blue cheese were nice complements to the sweet and spicy taste of the chicken. And the tater tots were, well, they were very good. But tater tots are ALWAYS good. It was enough food that I couldn't eat it all, but there wasn't a lot left on the plate when I was finished.
The Corner Pub and Grill was a nice choice that evening. It was a nice comfortable setting, the service I received from my bartender/server was stellar all evening long. I thoroughly enjoyed the sweet and spicy Buffalo chicken sandwich, and any place that serves tater tots as a side and Kona Big Wave Golden Ale on tap is a plus for me. The Corner Pub is a nice little neighborhood joint that appears to be pretty popular with its clientele. And on my visit it was easy to see way.
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