The Main House restaurant and bar reinvigorates historic building in St. Charles

The Main House is now open at 500 S. Main St. in St. Charles, bringing new life to a 157-year-old building with great communal and historical significance to the area, as reported by St. Louis Magazine.

Having previously housed restaurants such as Tompkins Riverside, Tompkins by the Rack House, and the Mother-in-Law House, co-owner and chef Chip Bates wanted to not only bring his own flair to the menu and venue but honor the history and community of Main Street with both. 

“When my partner and I walked down and saw this space, I immediately thought of bourbon and burgers and American fare. I just felt that was what was needed here, so that's the kind of direction we went in,” said Bates. 

The menu, which changes periodically, maintains the Americana essence that Bates first felt when he walked into the building. While the toppings and ingredients may rotate, Bates promises that there will always be a burger, a steak, a pasta and a seafood option on the menu. 

The current burger features a half-pound patty made of beef chuck and hanger steak trim, with a spreadable pub cheddar cheese on top. As for steak, options will range from hanger steak and tenderloin beef medallions to a prime strip or an Australian Wagyu top sirloin. Past seafood options have included shrimp scampi and North Atlantic salmon.

Bates hopes that the ever-changing menu will allow for the best customer service and satisfaction possible. “We want to just kind of keep things fluid and give the people of Main Street what they want,” said Bates. “So, you know, if I make a dish and it's not working, I can tweak it until it does or just get rid of it and start over.” 

Three dishes that Bates ensures will never change or leave the menu are a classic fried chicken sandwich, a pork chop cooked with an apple cider-brown sugar gastrique, and a chicken salad to honor Donna Hafer, who opened the Mother-in-Law House and had a great influence on the Main Street community. They also offer Hafer’s coconut cream pie recipe, although that’s not a permanent fixture on the menu.

The full bar has several specialty cocktails, including an espresso martini, riffs on Old-Fashioneds and Negronis, and an aperitivo. There are also a few draft beers, a few more in bottles and cans, plus wines by the glass or bottle. Bates said those offerings will be switched up too as needed, depending on what people respond to. 

With a building that housed such influential restaurants and held such significance on Main Street and in St. Charles as a whole, Bates wanted to preserve what was already there, while bringing unseen aspects of it into a new light. “We did look at the building from the perspective of the 1800s, and we wanted to honor the history of that and the restaurants that came before us,” said Bates. “And, as opposed to just paving over the history of it, kind of embracing it and honoring it while updating it with a little class.” 

While renovating, Bates uncovered some previously used wallpaper featuring an American eagle with a red, white and blue crest, a design that the Main House team loved so much, they framed an original piece of the wallpaper and then had a similar design added to the back wall of their dining room. Other design choices honoring the historic nature of the building include an original Mother-in-Law House sign and framed menu, and portraits of Lewis and Clark and Mark Twain.

The Main House’s 4,800 square feet has three areas for dining: the outside patio, which seats 45; the main floor dining room, which can seat 60; and a bar area that seats 15 between a five-seat bar and some tables. Additionally, the basement dining room can host a sit-down party of up to 70, and a party of 90 with standing room only. 

With both a $60 steak and a $15 fried chicken sandwich on the menu, and various wines and whiskeys ranging from $8 to $40, Bates intends to provide what he calls a “casual fine dining experience,” and hopes that anyone feels welcome regardless of their choice of entree or whether they’re in a suit and tie or flip flops and shorts. 

“We're keeping our servers in jeans to kind of set that casual tone. That's the goal of a restaurant, to have good food and have a good time,” said Bates.

The Main House is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For reservations, you can call them at 636.493.6332, and updates on their menu can be found online. Follow The Main House on Facebook for more information.