There’s a lot to be excited about at the forthcoming Wash Ave Food Hall, but Troit might be one of the concepts we’re most curious to try. The new restaurant from St. Louis restaurateur Jordaryl “Jordy” Logan will bring Detroit-style pizza, Coney dogs, corned beef and other Motor City staples to 1122 Washington Ave. when the food hall opens.
Logan, who is also behind nearby cocktail bar The Moniker, is originally from Detroit, and Troit is a decidedly personal project. Rather than centering the menu around Detroit-style pizza alone, he wanted to capture more of the food he grew up eating, from Coney dogs and corned beef to familiar Michigan brands such as Faygo and Better Made chips.
The menu will feature Detroit-style pizza with its thick, crisp-edged crust and cheese baked all the way to the edges of the pan, along with Coney dogs, corned beef, corned beef egg rolls and rotating specialties. Faygo and Better Made will round out the Detroit experience.
“There are a lot of Detroit transplants here, and as soon as people started hearing about the concept, they were asking whether we were going to have the corned beef and the other things they remember,” Logan said. “That has been exciting. We want somebody from Detroit to walk in and immediately recognize what we’re doing, while also giving St. Louis something it hasn’t really had before.”
That last part is what makes Troit particularly intriguing. St. Louis has no shortage of pizza, hot dogs or sandwich shops, but Logan is approaching those categories through the lens of his hometown, creating a menu that should feel familiar to Detroit transplants while introducing the city’s food traditions to diners who might not know them.
Troit will be one of the founding vendors at Wash Ave Food Hall, a new dining and entertainment destination from Oliver Properties and FIRETEN Hospitality. The 1122 Washington Ave. space will house six full-kitchen concepts alongside specialty food and beverage vendors, two bars, self-pour beer, social gaming and indoor-outdoor gathering space.
We’re especially excited about what that could mean for Washington Avenue. The downtown corridor has been working its way toward a new chapter, and another food-focused destination, particularly one bringing in a concept with a strong point of view, gives people another reason to come downtown and stick around.
That momentum is already visible around the Food Hall, with restaurants, bars, coffee shops, entertainment venues, apartments and hotels filling in the surrounding blocks. The Wash Ave neighborhood now includes more than 2,500 apartments, 500 residential condos, 1,000 hotel rooms and nearly 300,000 square feet of retail space, according to Oliver Properties.
And there’s plenty of food and drink to keep exploring once you get there. Moniker is nearby, along with Sen Thai, Buddy’s, Stanley’s, Boom Boom Room, Mizu, Rooster, Flamingo Bowl and other restaurants and entertainment destinations. With more than 100 restaurants, bars and entertainment spots within roughly a 15-minute walk, Wash Ave is positioning itself as an increasingly dense downtown dining and nightlife district.
For Troit, the Food Hall offers a chance to plug directly into that activity while giving the neighborhood something distinctly its own.
“We want somebody from Detroit to walk in and immediately recognize what we’re doing, while also giving St. Louis something it hasn’t really had before,” Logan said.
We’re rooting for both parts of that equation. Downtown St. Louis could use more concepts that give people a reason to seek out the neighborhood, and we’re always interested in a restaurant with an actual story behind its menu. If Troit can bring the spirit of Detroit to Wash Ave through a great Coney dog, properly executed Detroit-style pizza and a serious corned beef sandwich, we’ll happily be along for the ride.
Troit is expected to open with Wash Ave Food Hall. Additional opening details will be announced soon.
