The Scoop: Resurrected Tick Tock Tavern to team with new Steve’s Hot Dogs location

{Steve Ewing}

  This summer, Tower Grove East will see the expansion of one St. Louis favorite and the revival of another. Steve Ewing, owner of Steve’s Hot Dogs at 2131 Marconi Ave., on The Hill, recently announced a second location is in the works at 3459 Magnolia Ave. The site is also home to the newly reconceived Tick Tock Tavern, which last served customers in 1994 before owner Charlotte Horvath retired. Now in the final stages of the licensing process, the two restaurants will share a building, a kitchen and a future together in the emerging South City borough. “It’s a great combination,” Ewing said. “I’ve known (Tick Tock owners Thomas Crone and Steve Smith) most of my life. Both of them are well-known names in the community. It’s just a great group of guys. Putting all of our resources together, (all) of us can come out with some great products in a great neighborhood.” Ewing, also frontman for the band The Urge, started Steve’s Hot Dogs as a food truck in 2008 to wide acclaim. Its first brick-and-mortar location opened in 2011. Serving lunch Monday through Saturday, the restaurant’s no-nonsense menu is more than a dozen dogs strong, kept up by Ewing and grill managers Phil Pitkin and Corey Horan. The three will split management responsibilities for both the original and the new location, which will seat 30. The new incarnation of Tick Tock, which was popular with St. Louisans for decades, is co-owned by Crone, Smith (who also owns The Royale) and community developer Fred Hessel. “Fred and I had talked about maybe doing a project together,” Crone said. “We all visited one day, walked into the space, and it really clicked for us. There’s a yearning in the neighborhood for a family restaurant component. It really serves everyone’s needs.” Tick Tock Tavern will seat 49 diners inside and another 20 on a shared patio. Crone added that much of the tavern’s interior has been preserved for nearly two decades. It will be gently renovated, but most of the original decor will remain intact. “(Tick Tock) had a really odd and charming look,” he said. “But it was a regular South City corner bar. We’re keeping the same feel.” Subterranean Homemade Food owner Robin Wheeler will prepare lineup of light back-bar fare (Pickled eggs, beer-brined pickles, jam, jelly and jerky are all on the docket at the moment.). Behind the bar, expect a selection of eight wines, four local beers on tap (and even more in bottles) and around 10 simple but essential cocktails. Crone said he hopes the two restaurants will open at the same time in mid-summer.

-photo by Greg Rannells