St. Louis is the place to be

It’s official: another restaurant has opened in Dartmouth — and it’s darn good! St. Louis Bar and Grill unlocked its much-anticipated doors on Feb. 16 at 547 Portland St. It didn’t take long for the place to fill up with keen new customers. Patrons were anxious to indulge in an order of the restaurant’s renowned chicken wings, or to sample some of the many other items found on the robust menu.

St. Louis is 100 per cent Canadian, with 48 franchise locations throughout the country.

The Dartmouth location is the first to land in Nova Scotia, which makes it all the more exciting. Robert Taylor is formerly the owner of Taylor Flooring and now St. Louis in Dartmouth. Taylor never thought he would end up in the restaurant business, but he saw how well other locations were doing and thought Dartmouth would truly benefit from a place as distinctive as St. Louis Bar and Grill.

“I wanted to bring the best wings around to Dartmouth,” says Taylor. “I really think local residents will enjoy this new spot. It’s really family oriented and affordable.”

The menu reflects the red and black decor and the overall sporty vibe, offering up daily lunch specials, most of which are less than $10.

Choices like St. Louis’ unique spin on the average pickle, which they deep-fry, making it one of the chain’s top sellers. The celebrated wings are never pre-cooked, and you can expect them to be wonderfully fresh. They come with 26 signature sauces to choose from, like the “often imitated, never duplicated” St Louis’ garlic and dill flavour. To top it all off, McCain especially cuts the fries on an angle, just for the restaurant.

Marketing coordinator Caitlin Tizzard flew in from Toronto to be a part of the opening.

“This is the kind of place you can afford to come to all the time,” Tizzard says. “St. Louis is a family and we are happy to have Robert join the family. It’s like Cheers here — everybody knows your name!”

Customer Bob Westhaver concurs. “My wife and I have had smiles from all the staff. The quality of food was excellent and this is a great new spot for the community.”

St. Louis is also known for its team fundraising and its ongoing support of local causes like autism. This past Tuesday, prior to the grand opening, they presented Autism Nova Scotia with a cheque for $1,100, which was collected from the soft opening the restaurant had over the weekend.

It’s clear from the look of things that St. Louis Bar and Grill is here to stay, and with spring just around the corner, the large outdoor patio is certain to be a popular place to enjoy good times, wings and more.

 EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been corrected to identify that Robert Taylor is the former owner of Taylor Flooring.