Serving soul food with a side of entertainment, Miss Leon’s Soul Food Restaurant and Bombers Hideaway bar and event venue opened Jan. 5 at 3960 Chouteau Ave., formerly the home of Bad Dog Bar & Grill.
Leon Augustus Braxton Jr. is the chef at the eponymous soul-food establishment, which is tucked into the Bombers Hideaway building but has a separate kitchen and dining area. Braxton formerly cooked at CJ’s On the Hill and Rehab Bar & Grill, both owned by Chad Fox and Jim Weckmann, who also own Bombers Hideaway.
“I’ve been frying chicken my whole life,” Braxton said. “I’ve grown up on comfort food: food your grandma fixed you when you were sick, food your family had after church on Sunday morning. I focus on the food I grew up on.”
Miss Leon’s is open 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. Children are welcome until 7 p.m., and for $10 on Sundays, diners are treated to all-you-can-eat fried chicken.
The big hit so far has been chicken gizzards, Braxton said, and other menu items include catfish, chicken-fried steak, macaroni and cheese and greens.
The restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol, but there’s plenty available at the Bombers Hideaway bar. “I don’t want to have to deal with my own liquor license,” Braxton said. “I like the give and take that a restaurant and a bar have for each other.”
Entertainment at Bombers Hideaway ranges from line-dancing lessons to dart competitions to cabaret shows, which take place in the large adjoining event space, a converted warehouse with stage lighting and a performance platform.
-photo courtesy of Timrek Photography
This article appears in January 2015.