Fleur STL, better known as the former Eat Rite Diner, recently received more attention from two St. Louis-area publications, including a favorable review from the daily newspaper.
Experienced local chef Tim Eagan, who acquired the building not long after it closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, opened the small eatery primarily as a brunch spot in the late fall and gave it a new name.
In recent days, Fleur STL received notice from Sauce Magazine, declaring it as one of “two St. Louis-area restaurants to try this month.”
More recently, St. Louis Post-Dispatch restaurant reviewer Ian Froeb gave it a “highly recommended” rating.
A few takeaways from both articles:
- Fleur STL still serves slingers (a hamburger patty topped with hash browns, fried egg, cheese and chili, for the uninitiated) and double cheeseburgers like its predecessor.
- It also serves Brussels sprouts that are better than you might imagine, deviled eggs, French press coffee and eggs Benedict.
- Outdoor signs that once advertised Coca-Cola now tout Ski soda, which is made and bottled less than an hour away in southern Illinois.
- Another new twist is cocktails, including bloody marys and mimosas.
- It’s no longer a 24-hour diner. Its hours are from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
Those who wanted greasy and old-fashioned fare in the wee hours probably will be disappointed. But those who seek a twist on diner favorites might be pleased.
The former Eat-Rite — known for its “Eat Rite or Don’t Eat At All” motto — sits on an old Chouteau alignment of Route 66 and only a block from the better-known Tucker Boulevard alignment.
According to Norma Maret Bolin’s well-researched “Route 66 St. Louis” book, a business has existed at the Eat-Rite site since 1916. Originally 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 morphed into the Eat-Rite in 1986.
(Image of a few of the offerings at Fleur STL via Facebook)