December 11, 1948 - 66 years-ago today, the first Steak n Shake restaurant in the St Louis area opened at what is now 6622 Chippewa, at Landsdowne. Operating a Shell gas station in Normal, Illinois in 1932, Augustus Gus Belt was looking for ways to maximize profits, & decided to add a small restaurant to his business. With his wife, Edith, as cook, the original menu was simple; all the fried chicken you could eat, coleslaw & French fries for 45 cents. A glass of beer was 54 cents. But when the Illinois State Teachers College objected to beer sales so close to campus, & with food sales providing more income than gas, Belt obtained a loan, & converted the business into a full-service restaurant, which he opened in February 1934 with the now-familiar name of Steak n Shake. And he seized upon several themes which the chain still uses today. The black & white decor, with the liberal use of stainless steel, gave the impression of cleanliness. This continued with the kitchen design that allowed customers to watch the T-Bone & sirloin steaks being ground, & food being prepared. Burgers cost a dime, twice what others charged, but customers were willing to pay it, knowing they were getting a quality product. They also instituted curb service, utilizing the entire property, & not merely the inside. This also meant the restaurant neednt be so large, another savings. Two years later, another location opened in Bloomington, & by 1939 he had eight restaurants. Part of their success was in having built along Route 66, the Mother Road. The first St Louis location, the 26th in the chain, was built on Chippewa, when that was part of Rt. 66 through our area. Gus Belt died in 1954, & his widow Edith sold the chain in 1969. Counting franchises, there are now over 500 Steak n Shake restaurants in 29 states. Most of us are old enough to remember when they offered curb service, & I imagine some of you may have once had that job. I wish they still had them. Because so many people swiped their thick, heavy glasses & coffee cups, Steak n Shake once had a catalog, where you could purchase items bearing their logo. On November 23, 2002, a grease fire destroyed the first St Louis Steak n Shake, shown in this photo. A total loss, it was not rebuilt. A Starbucks currently sits on that site.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 06:02:12 +0000
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