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The Village Bar is a St. Louis Standard if there ever was one. About 140 years old, the Des Peres dive bar has held onto its character, even as Manchester has changed all around it. | ANDY PAULISSEN
[ S T. L O U I S S TA N D A R D S ]
It Takes a Village Village Bar marks 140 years with plans to add a distillery, event space and more Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
J
ohn Forrest remembers being struck by a particular kind of phone call he got when he first started working at the Village Bar (12247 Manchester Road, Des Peres; 314-821-4532) about six years ago. Unlike other hospitality gigs, it wasn’t uncommon for the longtime Des Peres tavern to be asked to host funeral luncheons. Initially, it seemed like a peculiar phenomenon, but it didn’t take long for him to realize why these were such common requests. “People would call up and tell us that this is where their dad had his
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first beer, and it was also where he had his last,” Forrest says. “When you’ve been around for 140 years, you get a lot of calls like that.” The Village Bar may be the “Cheers” of Des Peres, but it’s far from the only institution of its type in the St. Louis metro area. Neighborhoods throughout the city are filled with watering holes, bars and grills, and longtime independent restaurants that mean much more to their patrons than a place to grab something to eat or drink. Weave these establishments together with the iconic restaurants, bars and dishes that have come to represent the city’s food and beverage community and you get an impressive — if not a little well-worn — fabric that tells us who we are. Throughout my eight years as the RFT’s dining critic, I’ve been asked numerous questions over and over about the gig. Where is your favorite restaurant? Are you anonymous? We have people coming in from out of town — where should we take them to eat? However, the one query that’s always struck me is when I’m asked why we don’t spend more time and effort covering established places. Whereas so much space is spent
MAY 19-25, 2021
riverfronttimes.com
Burgers and beers have soothed generations of regulars. | ANDY PAULISSEN talking about the shiny new things, there tends to be little room dedicated to the people and places who’ve been going about the business of operating their bars and restaurants for a long time. In an industry where it’s more common to fail than succeed within the first couple of years, that staying power is a feat that deserves to be celebrated, not just for their sheer endurance, but because they are a living history that tells the story of
our metropolitan area. In this spirit, we’re excited to launch St. Louis Standards, a weekly column dedicated to the people, places and dishes that make our food scene what it is. We’ll feature icons, of course, but we’ll also be shining a light on the establishments that might not be known outside their immediate community — but are, for their regulars, the center of the universe. The Village Bar is one of those
