Another month, yet another new restaurant coming to Edwardsville, this one in the former Shenanigans Bar and Grill space on Route 157. Social Gastropub will join Edwardsville newbies Cunetto’s, Unkle Munkey’s, Stur and soon-to-open Gulf Shores, alongside town staples like Cleveland-Heath and Peel.
Co-owner Mike Graber said the restaurant’s second location is set to open Sept. 17 at 2 157 Center. Graber, who is originally from Fairview Heights, Illinois, now lives in Perrysburg, Ohio, where he owns the flagship Social Gastropub with Bruce Gradkowski, backup quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers wide receiver Lance Moore.
Why Edwardsville? Graber said it’s an up-and-coming foodie town. “People are coming to Edwardsville from St. Louis to eat,” he said. Thirty craft beers will be on tap, and other beverage offerings include 30 wines and bourbon flights (with 100 choices). Like the Perrysburg location, Social Gastropub’s menu will change every two months. “We change 75 percent of the menu,” he said, describing the fare as “comfort food with a twist.”
Dishes include a fried bologna sandwich (bologna, aged white cheddar, a medium egg and pickled red onion on a brioche bun), egg salad sandwiches made with avocado, and a one of Graber’s personal favorites, Baja fish tacos made with a salmon fillet, smoked jalapeno-cilantro cream, avocado, sweet-and-sour coleslaw, sea salt and parsley fries.
Social Gastopub also offers a signature build-your-own mac-n-cheese dish that begins with cavatappi noodles doused in a base of 25-year aged white cheddar and eight other cheeses. Forty toppings are offered, including lobster, shrimp, pork belly, Sriracha, pesto and fried plantains. Graber’s 10-year-old son Harrison invented one of the most popular topping combos – buffalo sauce and chorizo. Another favorite is lobster and truffle oil topped with herb breadcrumbs.
Chef Jeff Dinnebeil, who most recently served as sous chef at Spiaggia in Chicago, will helm the kitchen, and Graber said food will be sourced from Sunfarm Foods in St. Louis, Behrmann Meats in Alberts, Illinois, and Companion in St. Louis.
In other Edwardsville food news, HotShots Sports Bar and Grill has broken ground for its 14th location on Route 157 near Edison’s Entertainment Complex. Jason Durnett, director of franchise development, said the Edwardsville location is slated to open in October or November.
Friar Tuck Beverage is also building a store on Goshen Road next to Target in Edwardsville. The liquor store has eight other locations, including Crestwood, Fenton and O’Fallon, Missouri. General manager Mark Maskey said its wide selection of beer, wine and liquor will be the same as other locations, and it is slated to open sometime next year.
This article appears in August 2014.