Best friends since their freshman year of high school, Chris Van Hoogstraat and Mike Russo, co-owners and chefs at Stella Blues Restaurant and Bar, are living the dream.
“We love the city,” Van Hoogstraat said. “We grew up in the city and are proud to be business owners here.”
Stella Blues, just south of Tower Grove Park, had only been open a few weeks when the duo sat down to give Sauce the scoop, and some of its offerings were still in transition. For example, while the bar is open for football viewing starting at noon on Sundays, the all-you-can-eat spaghetti-and-meatballs special for hungry fans was still in the works.
What are you trying to do at Stella Blues? Van Hoogstraat: We built this restaurant to accommodate the neighborhood. It needed a sit-down restaurant where people could get a decent meal at a decent price without having to visit the chain restaurants. A place where people in the neighborhood could bring their kids and have a good time and still stay within their budget.
Russo: And a place for the people who work in the area to get a good lunch. In the evenings, it turns into a family place and after 9 p.m. the nightlife kicks in.
What’s the menu like? V: It’s things we like, basic American food blended with the best from the immigrant world. We have taco salads, spaghetti and meatballs, pulled barbecue pork, burgers, pizza, Greek salad, homemade chili.
R: And that classic St. Louis staple, the barbecue pork steak.
What inspired the Munchie Menu? V: Well, we’re young; we still go out a lot. The Munchie Menu is a way for people to get something to eat with their beer or whatever without having to order a full-sized appetizer or entrée. We have a giant soft pretzel, bosco sticks, cheese fries [and] ballpark nachos. Those, along with pizza, are available until midnight.
R: Yeah, the ballpark nachos are exactly, exactly, like the ones that were sold at the old Busch Stadium: Old El Paso cheese and the round, yellow tortilla chips. They are only served with jalapeños on the side or on top, none of that gourmet stuff.
How often will you change the menu? V: Since we’ve recently opened, I don’t anticipate any radical changes anytime soon, but that might change in the next
10 minutes.
You have two kinds of happy hour? V: Yeah, a regular one Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. and another on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from
10 p.m. to midnight and on Sundays from 8 to midnight.
R: We have $2 beer and wells, shot of the day specials and half-price appetizers [from 4 to 6 p.m. only].
Where did the name Stella Blues originate? V: It’s the name of a Grateful Dead song. We liked the title.
R: But this is NOT a Grateful Dead bar. We have live blues music, open mics, etc., but we aren’t limited to Deadheads.
It’s an awfully small place for a live band. R: We can’t help it; sometimes we like it loud.
The restaurant has been completely renovated inside and out. What challenges did you face? V: Mostly they were our doing. We underestimated the amount of time and staff we would need to get up and running. We thought we could do it all ourselves. Thankfully, we have supportive friends and family.
R: Whatever time frame we made, we should have multiplied it by two.
There’s been a lot of talk about your sign. What’s its significance? V: You’d think there would be [some significance], but there’s not. When we bought the building, the neon sign came with it.
R: It used to read, “Morganford Smokehouse.” All we did was have the neon reworked for our name. It’s bright, too! When it gets dark, you can see it from about six or seven blocks away.
What advice would you give to aspiring restaurateurs? V: Be yourself and everything will fall into place. Have a good support system of friends and family. You gotta love the business because we’re here all the time.
R: Jump in with both feet, don’t just test the waters. My dad once gave me a book called “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and It’s All Small Stuff.” That’s the best piece of advice I got. It’s all small stuff; it’ll work out.
This article appears in Nov 1-30, 2006.