Billy’s On Broadway will open in former home of Beale On Broadway in June in downtown St. Louis

Billy’s On Broadway will bring blues bands, beer, cocktails and bar food to the former Beale On Broadway space in downtown St. Louis on June 23, following a major rehab and expansion of the more than 100-year-old building at 701 S. Broadway.  

Beale On Broadway closed its doors at the beginning of 2019, ending an 18-year run. The owners of the new bar say they’re not attempting to recreate Beale On Broadway, though co-owner Brett Apted said they respect the legacy left by their predecessor. “We want to honor the hell out of it,” Apted said. “There's no recreating the old Beale,” he added. “The old Beale was a labor of love from Bud [Jostes], the owner. He didn't care about making money. All he cared about was having a really small authentic little blues club. When we first bought the property, I spent three or four months trying to figure out a way to recreate the old Beale. And you come to a point where you say, ‘You know what, you can't redo it.’”

Co-owner Billy Roe said Billy’s On Broadway is carrying on a tradition that actually predates Beale On Broadway by several generations. The building’s history as a bar can be traced back as far as the 1890s, Roe said. “We met with the family, their great-grandfather started it,” he said. “We take the building back to as far as 1875.” 

Roe said the bar’s signature draws will be “primarily blues, rock and roll music, and bar food,” and Billy’s On Broadway will also be targeting the sports crowd, with Busch Stadium just a few hundred feet away. In fact, the back patio will afford a panoramic view of the stadium that Apted said will provide a dramatic backdrop and some exciting moments. “When those fireworks are going off during Cardinals games, and you’ve got a band on the stage down here, I think we'll provide a good little product down here that isn’t here yet,” he said.  

A couple of weeks ahead of the targeted opening date, Roe can smile as he recounts the building’s storied past, but bringing this venue to life has been a painstaking process. The new owners took possession of a building that, in different hands, could just as easily have been demolished. “I think anybody else would have torn the building down,” Apted said. “But there’s a lot of history here.”

Rather than simply restore the original structure to a functional state, the owners embarked on an ambitious process of rehab and extension that leaves the bar several times larger than its predecessor. Billy’s On Broadway stretches out across over 5,000 square feet, with a capacity that will be in the region of 375 to 400. The large wraparound patio, which features two bars and a covered stage area where bands will play, is one of the major additions. Part of the patio is covered, ensuring it can be used in inclement weather and through the winter, when it will also be heated. The second floor, previously inaccessible, has been renovated and will be used as an overflow space as well as being available for private events. 

The rehabbed first floor will be decked out with Cardinals memorabilia – “Bill’s got a fantastic collection of all sorts of stuff,” said Apted – and the bar will serve 16 beers on draft, all local, in addition to a signature cocktail selection and classic mixed drinks. There are also two frozen drink machines, which the bar will use to create fun summer drinks. General manager Chris Lauschke will oversee operations, along with front-of-house manager Jill Grosse, while the kitchen is led by chef Jill Sole. TVs will be located throughout the space so that sports fans can keep up with their favorite local team. 

Sole said that the menu will include appetizers, flatbreads, smash burgers, sandwiches and a kids’ menu. “We have a very local bologna sandwich using Piekutowski’s bologna from North City, Vitale’s bread, Red Hot Riplets on that,” she said. “We’re trying to start off nice and simple so we can be very consistent, and then with time we’ll expand to the upstairs event space, maybe some catering.” One idea is to eventually add an outdoor grill, which would allow the bar to serve grab-and-go style items like burgers and take pressure off the main kitchen. 

Lauschke said the plan is to have bands playing at least Thursday through Sunday, with daytime performances on Sundays. “I would like to have some sort of live entertainment before every Cardinals game,” he said. “We’re going to mix in different genres, we might have some DJs sometimes.” Apted said they’ve been talking to blues bands who used to be Beale regulars about returning to play in the new venue. “You’re going to recognize a lot of the music,” he said. 

Apted noted that Billy’s On Broadway is arriving on the scene at a pivotal moment in the neighborhood’s development, with a number of major residential and commercial real estate projects already underway or slated for the surrounding area. “What seems to be occurring is Ballpark Village and Busch Stadium proper and Soulard are beginning to merge,” he said. Apted and his partners believe Billy’s On Broadway, along with other recent openings nearby like The Garage, can play a role in kicking off a new era for the traditional “Blues Triangle.” “The area has always had a reputation for being a gritty, authentic live music district. … We don't want to be antagonistic to Ballpark Village, but where Ballpark Village is more big, corporate, tourism, we want the locals and everybody else.”