Food has always been the story for Mess Hall’s John Messbarger.
Growing up across the Mississippi River in Belleville, Illinois, some of Messbarger’s earliest memories revolve around food. His grandmother taught him how to make miniature pies, his dad spent weekends barbecuing for St. Louis Rams tailgates, afternoons were often spent in restaurant booths for girls nights with his mom and her friends, and family vacations to places like Sarasota, Florida, introduced him to fresh oysters and lobster as early as 6 and 7 years old.
“Food was always a big part of everything,” he said. As he got older, he began cooking more, grilling with friends, and eventually working for a catering company. Despite his love of cooking, pursuing it as a career was not originally part of the plan.
Messbarger bounced between majors at Saint Louis University and the University of Missouri–St. Louis, studying everything from biology and pre-med to psychology, history and secondary education. He even made it to student teaching before realizing the traditional classroom wasn’t where he belonged.
“Nothing really stuck,” he said. “Everything kept circling back to cooking. Finally, I thought, ‘Let’s just do it.’”
He enrolled at L’École Culinaire-St. Louis, where he learned the foundations of classic French cooking, from mother sauces to restaurant operations. This training launched a career that would take him through some of St. Louis’ most respected kitchens, including Truffles, Elaia, Olio and Little Country Gentleman.
At the all-tasting-menu restaurant Little Country Gentleman with Mike Randolph, experimentation became part of his identity.
“It was like a playground,” he said. “You could do whatever you wanted.”
He eventually landed at Chef Kevin Nashan’s acclaimed Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co., where he spent the next decade as the chef de cuisine and executive chef. At Peacemaker, he refined his understanding of fish, shellfish and coastal cuisine while helping establish one of the region’s most respected seafood programs.
After 10 years, however, he was ready for something different.
In fall 2024, an opportunity opened at the food stall inside 2nd Shift Brewing tucked away in the Hill neighborhood next to Fazio’s Bakery. By then, Messbarger had become fascinated with the British and Scottish pub scene after spending time traveling through Scotland and Ireland.
He channels that inspiration through Mess Hall, which opened in early 2025, a concept he describes as a “gastro window” with the goal of bringing a truly authentic fish and chips experience to St. Louis.
“People love breaded fish,” he said. “But that’s not fish and chips.”
Getting fish and chips right relies on several key factors. The fish must be cooked through while the beer batter stays crisp. Achieving that balance required roughly 30 attempts, and after adjusting the dry-to-wet mixture by 12 grams, his recipe was perfect.
His explanation sounds like a chemistry lecture, and cooking is scientific for him. Different flours, starches and liquids each serve a purpose, affecting evaporation rates, crispness and texture. Trying something new and making adjustments along the way is Messbarger’s favorite part of cooking. He enjoys the process of analyzing a dish, figuring out what works, and experiencing the satisfaction that comes when everything comes together. Analytical, calm and relentlessly curious, he travels down rabbit holes and becomes laser-focused on understanding every aspect of a topic.
“I want to know why something works,” he said. “Not just the way and how it has always been done.”
His willingness to question convention also shows up on the menu. Rather than following rigid rules, Messbarger enjoys learning techniques and then putting his own spin on them. For him, food should be creative, with enough room for fun and a little whimsy.
During Lent, he created his own take on Rally’s Deep-Sea Double, featuring fresh flounder, house-made American cheese, and a seasoned panko crust. He also developed a mushroom au jus sandwich made with a blend of cremini, lion’s mane, oyster, and cinnabar mushrooms.
Messbarger is more Season 1 of The Bear than Season 2. While he enjoys Michelin-starred restaurants, he has found joy in the slower paced, lower stress atmosphere of the Mess Hall. Yet traces of fine dining remain. It’s evident in the way the napkins are folded, the interactions between customers and staff, a roast beef sandwich on a Kemmelweck roll that takes a week to prepare, and the commitment to quality ingredients. Local farmers and suppliers provide the freshest produce, and fish is flown in from the Louisiana bayou.
For him, cooking remains at its best when experimentation and enjoyment coexist.
“When you’re experimenting with food and creating a dish, and then people enjoy it, that’s why I cook,” he said. “That’s the part I love.”
1601 Sublette Ave #2, St. Louis, 2ndshiftbrewing.com/mess-hall
Offering food service design, equipment and supply to area restaurants and hotels, Ford Hotel Supply has been family-owned and -operated since 1911. Visit the showroom at 2204 N. Broadway in St. Louis or visit FordSTL.com.
This article appears in July 2026.