The historic Spencer’s Grill in Kirkwood, Missouri, suddenly shuttered last weekend, and the business is up for sale.
St. Louis Magazine reported:
The 47-seat business is for sale, according to owner Alex Campbell, who wants “more than anything, for the tradition of great food and unique hospitality to survive in the same way it’s existed for decades.”
It’s a tradition that began with Bill and Irene Spencer, who founded the namesake restaurant along the Route 66 corridor in 1947.
Spencer’s sits on the 1936-1974 alignment of Route 66 that piggybacks onto U.S. 67.
The story goes into the restaurant’s long history. It appears inflation after the COVID-19 shutdowns put a lot of pressure on Spencer’s Grill.
Devotees returned when Spencer’s reopened, but raw costs spiraled out of control.
“Eggs were my moneymaker,” Alex says, “and we put eggs on just about everything. The cost of eggs went from 8 cents apiece to six times that, and that lasted for 10 months. Then it was pork—bacon—that increased.”
To compensate, Campbell found himself working longer and longer hours. “It was no longer the perfect situation that it had been for so long,” he says, which was compounded by having small kids at home. “It was great when I could dedicate my life to [Spencer’s], but due to other interests, I can no longer devote the time required for it to thrive. It’s time for me to fall into the shadows and just show up every Saturday for breakfast.”
Here’s a story from a local TV station about the restaurant’s closing:
Those interested in purchasing Spencer’s Grill should contact Ben Strake at Premier Business Brokers by emailing bens@premierbb.com or calling (636) 667-9409.
(Image of the neon sign at Spencer’s Grill in Kirkwood, Missouri, by Lori via Flickr)
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