Two local restaurateurs and a local investor have acquired the historic Spencer’s Grill in Kirkwood, Missouri, and they plan to reopen the Route 66 restaurant on Nov. 1.
According to St. Louis Magazine, Michael and Meredith Shadwick, the owners of Kirkwood-based Honey Bee’s Biscuits + Good Eats and Tropical Moose Shaved Ice, along with Kirkwood resident Michael Kleckner, took possession of the business earlier this month.
Spencer’s Grill closed in June and was put on the block.
Kleckner told the magazine how the acquisition came about:
“My father-in-law, an architect, used to work upstairs, knew all of the previous owners well, and ate breakfast there every day,” he says. “My now-wife and I went to Spencer’s once a week on day dates. We even had some wedding photos taken right out in front. Now we go with our three kids.” So when he found out that the landmark restaurant was closing, the 11-year-Kirkwood resident felt compelled to do something about it.
He contacted the business broker and was introduced to the Shadwicks, who had also expressed interest in buying Spencer’s Grill. “With no experience in the business, my interest was simply as an investor; their interest was operating the business,” says Kleckner, who knew Meredith’s parents through politics, with Meredith’s father, Michael Gibbons, having served as a state senator and her mother, Liz Gibbons, being mayor of Kirkwood. “The dots got connected, and the deal came together.” […]
“I’m not sure I could find better partners for this kind of project in Kirkwood… All three of us wanted to bring back to Kirkwood a business that was important to Kirkwood,” says Kleckner, who recognizes that three generations have created memories there over the diner’s 77-year history. “I’m just happy we were chosen to continue the legacy.”
The new owners posted this message on Facebook a few days ago:
The new owners said the interior will get a bright coat of paint, and they will repair the clock. They will keep the restaurant’s signature crispy-edge pancakes and hash browns.
But they will add new menu items, as well, including a “caramelized onion and cheese, STL-style, loaded hash brown”; a Biscuit Benedict (with house-made scrapple on a toasted biscuit); braunschweiger (corned beef, shallots, spicy brown mustard, beef stock reduction and a hot honey drizzle); and Juicy Lucy, (two burger patties stuffed with American cheese and served on a toasted bun with caramelized onions).
Bill and Irene Spencer founded their 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.
(Image of the neon sign at Spencer’s Grill in Kirkwood, Missouri, by Lori via Flickr)