Much Moe to come: Mikeymoe’s hopes to expand

Mikeymoe’s
5535 S. Grand Ave.
St Louis, MO 63111
(314) 352-1555
www.mikeymoes.com

Some bars have a specific concept in mind when they open. It’s obvious from the moment you walk in that everything’s been fit neatly together, from the lighting to the menu to the music. All the intangibles somehow click, creating a pleasing and coherent whole.
Other times, though, taking exactly the opposite approach can work.

It seems that Jerry and Maurice “Moe” Clark are banking on the idea that a little of this and a little of that will go a long way in creating a venue that’ll satisfy a neighborhood clientele in one small corner of South St. Louis. Located at the intersection of Bates and Grand, in what used to be a catering company, the Clark’s took the existing kitchen and built everything at Mikeymoe’s around that space. The bar’s newly built and the game room’s cut out of a sliver between that bar and the kitchen. Everything in the joint, from the electric fishtank to the homemade signs, has come in since the bar and grill’s opening night on October 19 of last year.

Jerry Clark, the more talkative of the two brothers, says that the space came about after the duo had worked in a host of chain restaurants over the years, citing just about every major food-and-drink company you could care to mention. They examined a number of sites throughout South City before settling in at the pleasing corner of Bates and Grand.

“We’ve been doing it for 12, 13 years,” he reasons. “We figured it was time to do it for ourselves. We were tired of working for other people.” And philosophically: “If this doesn’t work out, we can always go back to that.”

To ward off that possibility, they’ve been almost completely reliant on word-of-mouth advertising, since “marketing wasn’t in our budget.” Most of their clientele then have come from walking distance of Bates and Grand and 70-80% of the customers are now on a first name basis. (And speaking of first names, “Mikey,” a family friend, is no longer in the Mikeymoe’s picture, with Jerry taking over that slot as “not-so-silent partner.”)

Long hours help cultivate a clientele, too, and the pair have built a space open all day: from 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., six days a week, allowing only for a Sunday close. The kitchen stays open until 11 on weekdays and midnight on the weekends. A variety of happy hours are in place, from AB specials on Tuesdays to shot night on Thursday, with an all-night happy hour price tag on Mondays.

The menu features a variety of burgers, wraps and salads, with a modest price range that lists almost everything on the menu between $6 and $7, with appetizers a buck-or-two less. All the burgers and sandwiches are named after a personal friend of family members of the business, with Laura, Mark, Vic and Staci all happily represented on the menu.

“What better thing can you do for a friend?” asks Jerry Clark.

Well, you could tell them to take a look around this room, as a sort of scavenger hunt. A poster of “Scarface”? Check. Some candles, scattered through the room on squiggly holders? That, too. How about some plastic plants? Those, they’ve got. Instead of one monster TV, they’ve got three small ones. And those are usually turned to sports, though the Clark’s might be watching Comedy Central, instead. Or, they could be listening to the radio, with satellite stations broadcasting a wild brew of Cher one minute, the Foo Fighters the next. And in the evening, when they drop the lights, the place goes from downright sunny to delightfully subterranean, all in the flip of a switch.

Somehow, that kind of varied approach seems to be what the Clark’s are about. Everything but the kitchen sink’s on display at Mikeymoe’s – and they’d probably take you back, if you asked. The clientele veers from young to old, from black to white. And the menu’s just “popular mid-American” enough to draw a wisecrack about “Office Space.” (Mind you, Jerry Clark will have a comeback.)

A little bit of a puzzle this Mikeymoe’s. Even after three visits, you know there’s something a li’l bit curious, something a li’l bit different going on here. Residents of South City are invited to make their own personal interpretations, any day but Sunday.

Thomas Crone can be reached at: thomas@52ndcity.com.