All Entries Tagged With: "bars"
Marley’s hosting Ferguson Washers Tournament
If you’ve ever enjoyed Ferguson’s Independence Day festivities, you can thank the volunteers of the Ferguson 4th of July Committee, who spend all year fundraising just to make the event possible. They usually sell raffle tickets and host potluck dinners and dances, but on May 5, the committee is launching a new money-maker: the Ferguson Championship Washers Tournament.
To be held at Marley’s Bar & Grill, the competition is a double elimination match. And get this…the winning team scores a cash prize and a featured spot in the 4th of July Parade! There’s also a cash prize for second & third place, and everybody gets a t-shirt.
To sign up, send $25 (payable to Ferguson 4th of July Festival) to the Parks & Rec office, 501 N. Florissant, 63135. Include your team name, the names of your two team members, and your shirt sizes. If you have any questions, call Nancy at (314) 521-4661.
The Ferguson Championship Washers Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, May 5, 1pm @ Marley’s. Registration starts at 11:30am.
By the way, May 5 is also Cinco de Mayo, which Marley’s is celebrating with margarita specials and $1 deep fried tacos. The breakfast of champions!
Ferguson Citywalk is going PINK for breast cancer
Look for the pink lights in Ferguson during October and your meal or drink purchase could benefit breast cancer research.
Think pink when you drive through downtown Ferguson this month! To help raise awareness for the countless women facing breast cancer, the businesses of Ferguson Citywalk have switched their twinkle lights to pink and are working together to raise funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Visit Marley’s, Vincenzo’s, Hill Brewing, Cork Wine Bar, Mimi’s Subway Bar, Cose Dolci, Corner Coffee House, Free Range Cookies, Thyme Table Cafe or the Whistle Stop anytime during the month of October, and 25% of the proceeds on certain menu items will benefit breast cancer research. Come back on Friday evening, October 29, and you can also participate in Citywalk’s first ever Breast Cancer Pub Crawl!
You’ll get a card that’s valid at the first five restaurants above, and after you’ve “crawled” to each place and enjoyed a cocktail or two, you can use your card as a sweepstakes entry at Cork, where you might win a $10, $15 or $25 gift certificate. Wear pink to the pub crawl and you’ll also get some fabulous drink discounts! And be sure to taste the new peach wheat beer at the Brewhouse, which was made with the help of Ferguson police officer Stephanie Wilson, one very awesome breast cancer survivor!
For restaurant addresses or more info about the Pub Crawl, visit the Ferguson Citywalk website or Dine Ferg. On a side note, there’s still time to sign up for the trivia night at Hill Brewing on October 23, which is also benefiting breast cancer research. The cost is $160 per table or $20 per person. For more info, check out the flyer below or call (314) 605-5709. All are welcome!
At long last, NoCo’s First Microbrewery opens April 15
Opening April 15, Hill Brewing Company in Ferguson will feature 10 microbrewed beers and a full menu of fresh-cooked delights.
Joe Lonero is often called “Ferguson’s Joe Edwards,” referencing the entrepreneur/developer behind the rise of the U. City Loop, but I have to say, I think the comparison is a bit off. For one, Edwards opened Blueberry Hill in 1972 and didn’t tackle his next big project – the renovation of the Tivoli building – until 23 years later. Lonero, on the other hand, has transformed Downtown Ferguson and at least eight key properties there in less a decade.
Secondly, no offense to Mr. Edwards, but his signature flip-flops and perfect tan don’t exactly say “hard labor.” Lonero, by contrast, bears all the callouses, paint splatters and drywall dust of a guy involved in every single step of the development process. He’s a get-it-done kind of person, brilliantly business-minded but also amazingly adept at just about anything you can do with your hands. And on April 15, when Hill Brewing Company officially opens its doors in Ferguson, the marvel of his many talents will once again be on display.
Originally built for a plumbing company in 1927, the newly renovated Brewhouse still retains its vintage charm.
The truth is, Lonero didn’t set out to own a microbrewery, just as he never intended to sidestep his successful auto body business to open the Corner Coffee House in 2001 (or construct the Ferguson Lofts in 2005, or renovate the NAC Gallery in 2007, or design and build the Streetcar Lofts in 2008). But his love of the Ferguson community compelled him, as always, to keep pushing us forward. And every time somebody told him that he couldn’t, it only made him work harder to prove that, yes, in fact, he could.
Lonero bought the former St. John’s Liquor building at 418 S. Florissant Road at an auction in late 2007, not quite sure what he was going to do with it. But before long, he hooked up with Ray Hill, who was distributing his award-winning pilsner beer through Anheuser-Busch, and Lonero agreed to renovate the circa-1927 property, convert it into a microbrewery and ultimately sell it to Hill.
Out came the building’s dilapidated second-floor apartments and mounds of dirt and debris in the basement. In came a fresh, open design for the main floor, a new banquet room upstairs, and a state-of-the-art brewing facility created from equipment Lonero purchased on eBay. (Fermenting tanks and an elevator…on eBay! Who knew?!)
Where the magic happens
After personally loading the massive tanks onto a semi in Fort Collins, Colorado, and for a time storing them in his yard, Lonero finally got everything installed and sought the guidance of Dr. John Witte, head brewmaster at Square One Brewery in Lafayette Square. While continuing to do much of the hands-on labor of the renovation, Ferguson’s consummate jack-of-all-trades also learned to brew beer – a skill that would prove vital when the sagging economy eventually dashed Hill’s plan to buy the brewery.
A major setback, sure. But there are few things that can stop Joe Lonero. So he pressed onward, hiring chef Robb Wiessen, formerly of Ozzie’s, to develop a restaurant menu built around fresh, local food, savory smoked meats, and sauces and dressings made entirely from scratch. With Witte’s help, along with that of up-and-coming brewer Josh “Wolfgang” Wilson, Lonero also grew the beer selection to ten varieties, including a Pecan Brown Ale, an IPA, a Chocolate Stout and Hill’s original Classic American Pilsner, all brewed right on site.
Inside the restaurant itself – just like you’ll find at CORK Wine Bar, owned by Lonero’s son Mike, across the street – recycled materials and clever DIY projects abound. Lonero built all of the tables himself and used reclaimed materials whenever possible, including the salvaged copper on the bar top. He also integrated several “green” components into the building and has encouraged chef Wiessen to make ample use of in-season, local produce once the Ferguson Farmers Market opens in May.
In other words, Lonero has once again worked his tail off and achieved a grand creative vision for our community that nobody believed was possible. A microbrewery in North County?! You betcha, and it’s gonna be fabulous!
Hill Brewing Company, located at 418 S. Florissant Rd in Ferguson, opens on April 15, with seating both indoors and out. The restaurant is smoke-free! Hours are Tuesday-Thursday 11-11, Friday-Saturday 11-12, and Sunday 11-9.
Not an A-B product in sight. In addition to ten Hill Brewing beers on tap, the Brewhouse will also offer 20+ other craft beers brewed right here in Missouri.
Update: I’ve gotten lots of emails asking about Ray Hill. Though no longer involved at the Brewhouse, Ray will continue to sell his bottled pilsner at stores all over St. Louis. Best of luck to him for continued success!
My NoCo Christmas Wish: a unique music & movie venue
Dear Santa, please let this eclectic school-turned-hotel in Portland, Oregon, serve as a model for creative revitalization in North County.
For nearly 30 years beginning in the 1970s, the historic neighborhoods of northeast Portland, Oregon, showed all the tell-tale signs of a community in decline. Housing values dropped, businesses got seedier, and the local grade school – a community landmark since 1915 – closed its doors and eventually was abandoned, causing many families to move away.
Northeast Portland became the part of town you’d avoid. There’s nothing left up there, people would say. But where most of Portland saw a fading, hopeless suburb wedged grimly between downtown and the airport, Mike and Brian McMenamin saw an opportunity. The owners of several popular brewpubs in the area (including the first one in the state of Oregon), the brothers came up with a creative plan to not only reinvigorate Northeast Portland but also to celebrate one of its finest assets: that beautiful, abandoned, circa 1915 grade school.
Whimsical paintings by local artists enliven nearly every wall at the Kennedy School in Portland.
Threatened with demolition, the elegant, Italian Renaissance-style “Kennedy School” had been saved by a coalition of local residents, former students and past PTA presidents when the McMenamins presented their plan for its revival. Following an exhaustive restoration incorporating the work of dozens of local artists and craftspeople, the brothers were determined to reinstate the school’s role as a busy, multi-use hub for the local community. They also wanted it to be a unique, memorable destination for visitors to Portland.
In their bold, way-outside-the-box vision, thirty five former classrooms would become boutique hotel suites, complete with original chalkboards and coat rooms. The old auditorium would be converted into an art house movie theater, served by the cafeteria-turned-restaurant next door. Several school rooms, including the former girls’ lavatory, would become cozy little pubs and cigar lounges serving McMenamin’s beer. Even the gymnasium would rise again, still as a classic locale for wedding receptions, but also as a lively spot for neighborhood basketball games, community meetings, blood drives, live concerts, and more.
Formerly the Kennedy School's cafeteria, the Courtyard Restaurant is now a hip Portland eatery that's jam-packed on weekends.
It was quite a diverse business model, and it worked. Because since the Kennedy School re-opened in 1997, the McMenamins have definitely exceeded their goals. Thousands of guests have stayed at their one-of-a-kind hotel, and even more have patronized its pubs, restaurants and theater. The reborn school has also provided an enormous economic and social boost for Northeast Portland, serving as a vibrant local hive where neighbors come together and where something fun is always on the calendar.
I tell you about the Kennedy School because it’s an amazing, magical place that I will never forget. Honestly, the McMenamins are two of my biggest heroes and I’m inspired by all of their fabulous brewpubs. I also tell you about the Kennedy School because I believe it’s exactly the type of brave, creative, lemons-to-lemonade project that North County desperately needs.
When you really start weighing our assets, we have no shortage of vintage buildings sitting empty or underutilized in NoCo, especially old schools. Off the top of my head, I can think of the former Masonic lodge in Ferguson, Storman-Stufflin School on Chambers, and St. Aloysius Church and School in Spanish Lake. Who knows how many more we’ll have as Catholic grade schools continue to close.
At the same time, North County also has a dire need for a decent live music venue – a hall with great character and good acoustics where maybe 200-300 people could enjoy an eclectic (and yes, even hip) mix of performers. If that same venue also housed an independent movie theater, I know I’m not the only North Countian who would be mighty pleased.
Sometimes a movie theater, sometimes a concert venue, the Kennedy School's converted auditorium is a community hot spot.
Now, I know what you’re saying…North County is no Portland! And I know that. But if the McMenamins’ successful concoction of beer, culture and community could turn around working-class Northeast Portland, who’s to say that it couldn’t work here as well, if even on a smaller scale? For once, why couldn’t North County be the place to embrace something truly special and progressive, something that would change minds and start drawing more folks northward?
We’ve got the buildings. We’ve got the artists. And we certainly have the people who love beer. Just imagine: North County as a destination.
That is my NoCo Christmas wish. Santa, I hope you’re reading…
(If you are reading, dear NOCO fan, don’t forget to vote in my new poll! It’s in the sidebar on the right.)
Are you getting ready for the big day? NOCO is a proud sponsor of the 3rd annual Live Well Ferguson 5K