The South Side Scene

Let’s assume, for a moment, that our conversation about South City bar culture won’t include Soulard, as it’s almost a republic unto itself. And we’ll make another good-sized assumption, rendering the South Grand business district as another individual potentate, too; heck, we’ll even give Dogtown that independence, with an Irish flag flying high. Relating to ethnicities, one last qualifier: we’ll acknowledge the fact that a couple dozen Bosnian owned-and-operated establishments dot streets such as Gravois and Morganford, but we’ll leave those for another conversation.

That still leaves us with… gosh, a hundred bars, taverns and public houses? More? A lot more? Outside of the Excise Commissioner’s office, does anyone really have a firm handle on the amount of oddball corner bars, alone, that dot the sidestreets of the South Side?

It’s possible that at one point in time, there was a consistent thread that ran through most, if not all of them. But times have changed and there’s a niche venue for everyone. The recent delivery driver’s work action against A-B products has even knocked a few taverns out of the Budweiser business, a shocking, hometown affront that would’ve never been imagined a few decades back. Music clubs, meanwhile, have sprouted up in old bowling alleys (witness The Way Out Club) and hipster lounges have replaced rooms that once served the 75-draft crowd (see: the continuing expansion and evolution of The Famous Bar). Family-styled restaurants have bars (the-oddly-fun-for-no-apparent-reason Biggie’s), while some bars also serve damned good food (that’d be the Iron Barley, of course).
As evidenced elsewhere in this issue, even the old racial concerns have eased – if a bit slowly and without any consistency. Where you once would’ve never found an African-American-owned club like Mikeymoe’s on the South Side, it now calls the corner of Grand and Bates home, and serves a relatively-wide range of clientele. It’d still be nice to see more rooms that mix-and-match clientele, but things seem headed in the right direction, with some clubs actually looking like a representation of South City, rather than a thin sliver of it.

Just as ridiculous would be the suggestion that race doesn’t still play a factor in the way that South Side taverns operate, the way that they draw (or don’t draw) a certain crowd. As a white guy who’s walked into many a South City tavern, I’ve heard more than a few coarse comments that would make a sailor blush and a politician faint. And there are a few truisms in finding venues that still allow for open drops of “nigger” or “faggot” without fear of retribution. I’ll go ahead and offer one indicator, seldom spoken or written aloud: if the bar is owned by a white City fireman, or it’s considered a “fireman’s bar,” there’s a good chance that you’re likely to hear some verbiage that would not be fit for primetime TV. And there are a few of just such clubs on the South Side bar tour. Oh, well, everyone needs to find a place away from home.

Politics and bars, beer and conversation, inappropriate language and a shot of Jaeger… they are linked, are they not?

These days, you’re not as likely to find a bar owner serving another role in City Hall, though the legacy of a the longstanding saloon-keeper-cum-Alderman Red Villa still lingers. Joe Vollmer’s got his bocce-heaven, Milo’s, serving The Hill’s tourist and local clientele, while Kenny Ortmann’s Cat’s Meow is a landmark on the edge of both Soulard and Benton Park.

That latter neighborhood, in fact, serves as a good exemplar of why the South Side’s bar culture takes a back seat to no other sub-region of St. Louis. The Park West is the kind of upscale eatery/drinkery that’s popped in neighborhoods all around the City, serving as not only a place to get a martini, but also as a beacon of developmental progress. On the other side of the nabe, Off Broadway packs out the house, with weekly music nights dedicated to both alternative country and the Grateful Dead.

A trend, then: diversity. In the form of many styles and rooms and looks and feels.
It might be small exaggeration – but only small – to suggest that there’s something for everyone on the South Side.

Broadway alone illustrates this: there the newly-remodeled Korner’s, serving a predominantly GLBT crowd, just a few blocks from Slo Tom’s, one of the oldest-school taverns in the City; one direction you’ve got Rockstar Club, a room dedicated to bringing a certain glitz to the Broadway strip, while in another direction, Kathleen’s serves frog legs and fries to the wrecking crews that flock in at lunchtime. And let’s not forget the Iron Horse, a biker bar for the legitimate Harley rider.

For the late-nighters, clubs like Sandrina’s and The Brick provide very different kinds of experiences for those looking to imbibe just one more drink before the morning calls. Those looking for a little less activity late can find some respite in the happiest-of-hours: at an Irish pub like O’Connell’s, which serves sipping whiskey in the afternoon to both poets and horserace aficionados; or, say, at a Pop’s Blue Moon, where the jam bands pulse through the PA, in a room that’s uniquely dark, even on the sunniest days.

Want to watch the game and enjoy a beer in what feels like someone’s living room? Then take a trip down the beeriest block in town, Morganford, for a trip into the Doc Haus. Maybe you’d like some classic rock, played by a three-piece band in a room that hasn’t changed since, oh, 1973? The only choice: Tim’s Chrome Lounge, in the shadow of the Bevo Mill. And since we’re talking about a traditionally German part of town, let’s give a last-second nod to Al Smith’s Feasting Fox, in a historic corner property at Meramec and Grand.

St. Louis may not be the weirdest town in America, but we rank on the list, somewhere. Thanks in no small part to the watering holes of South City, our own little Weirdsville, USA.

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