Eat-Rite Diner in St. Louis reopens Thursday

The Eat-Rite Diner near downtown St. Louis will reopen Thursday morning during the Cardinals baseball team’s home opener, as hoped by the Route 66 restaurant’s new owners several months ago.

KMOX radio in St. Louis talked Monday to new owners Joel and Shawna Holtman:

“Our counter top is in, we’ve got everything done, we’ve got bacon frying on the grill,” said Shawna Holtman. “We’ve got a new white counter top, new Cardinal Red-glitter counter stools. I think we’re ready to open.” […]

“We couldn’t bear seeing this become just another parking lot,” Joel Holtman said. “We’re both local St. Louis realtors. We love the history of St. Louis. We used to come here all the time — before games, after games — when we lived in Soulard.” […]

The Eat-Rite prices have gone up a little. But the Holtmans say prices are still below “the competition.” The menu remains mostly the same, but the Holtman’s have added World’s Fair Coffee and lemonade.

Among the menu favorites that will remain include the slinger — a mess of hamburger patties, hash browns, onions, cheese, fried eggs and chili on one plate.

Jerome Holtman explained more about the upgrades in a text:

We started with replacing all the plumbing, most of the electric (electric was just added onto over the years), new fire suppression system, new HVAC (old heater leaked gas), new countertop, reupholstered the stools with Cardinal red, update the bathroom, new griddle, new fryer, new freezer & refrigerator, & roofing patches. The major code items were the fire suppression system (ansil system), plumbing, & electrical to bring up to code. HVAC as well.

Fox 2 in St. Louis produced this video of a soft opening at the Eat-Rite Diner on Monday:

The Eat-Rite closed in October after its longtime previous owner, L.B. Powers, encountered age-related health issues and an exhaust-fan problem.

The Eat-Rite — known for its “Eat Rite or Don’t Eat At All” motto — sits on an old Chouteau Avenue alignment of Route 66 a block from the better-known Tucker Boulevard alignment of 66.

According to Norma Maret Bolin’s “Route 66 St. Louis” book, a business has existed at the Eat-Rite site since 1916. First as a coal-selling venture, it became a gas station during the 1920s. It converted into a White Kitchen restaurant in 1936, then a Regal Sandwich Restaurant in 1957, then Gateway Sandwich in the 1960s and ’70s. It finally was named the Eat-Rite in 1986.

(Image of the Eat-Rite Diner in St. Louis by Paul Sableman via Flickr)