Short Orders

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[ST. LOUIS STANDARDS]

On the Job

With 53 years under her belt, Donna Hollie is Lion’s Choice’s longest-serving employee

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

It was 1968, and a twenty-yearold Donna Hollie needed a job.

After graduating from high school a few years prior, Hollie had been babysitting to make some money, but she was desperate to get a more consistent form of employment. The reason it was so difficult to find a job was one of logistics: She needed work somewhere she could walk to, and back then, her options were limited. After all, Manchester Road was a far cry from the buzzing thoroughfare it is today, comprising only a handful of businesses along its two-lane stretch of pavement.

“There wasn’t hardly anything out here,” Hollie recalls. “Both my mom and dad worked, and they needed our two cars, so I had to walk to someplace. My mom saw an ad in the paper that said Lion’s Choice needed help, so I said OK and went to the interview. That’s when I met Clint Tobias. He asked me my grade average and what I liked to do in my spare time. I told him that I babysat right now but was on the hunt for a job and that I liked cleaning and was dependable. I promised him that I would work for him for a long time.”

When Hollie made that promise to Tobias 53 years ago, she had no idea she’d still be working for the roast beef brand today. The chain’s longest-serving employee by a long shot, Hollie has the distinction of being with Lion’s Choice since it was just a single outlet that had been in business for only a year. Over her tenure, she’s watched the chain grow, expand and undergo ownership changes, making her the Lion’s Choice historian in residence, a role she embraces with pride.

When she walked through those doors of the original Ballwin Lion’s Choice on September 18, 1968, Hollie had no plans to make it a career. She had no plans not to, either, and she credits her lengthy tenure with the restaurant to the simple passage of time and the fact that she was treated well, especially financially.

“I started out at $1.50 an hour, and they kept giving me raises,” Hollie says. “My mom worked for McGraw Hill, and she was comparing her wages to mine. She told me I was doing better than her — that my raises were comparable, but I got them way sooner. What she had to wait for in a year, I was getting in three months. I said, ‘Well, I’m not going anywhere for sure.’”

Those first couple of years turned into five, then ten, then twenty. Though she thought about leaving on one occasion early on in her tenure, she realized that she was only considering a move because she felt that she should, not because she actually wanted to. So she stayed put, making Lion’s Choice the only job she’s ever held.

Hollie says that she sticks around because of the people. Whether it’s the roast beef regulars or the kids from the subdivision behind the restaurant dropping in for a nickel cone, she relishes that she is a part of her customers’ lives and feels thankful that they are willing to share a part of their day with her. The customer focus of the job has not changed one bit over the years, even as the brand expanded. The other thing that has remained consistent, according to Hollie, is the food. As the Ballwin location’s resident meat slicer of over five decades, she’d know if the roast beef changed — and insists that it hasn’t.

Donna Hollie has worked at the original Lion’s Choice location in Ballwin for 53 years. | ANDY PAULISSEN

Hollie says things can get hectic, but she will keep working as long as she can. | ANDY PAULISSEN

Hollie is not ready to pass the torch. The way she sees it, as long as she can still run the meat slicer during a hectic lunch rush, she should be good.

Hollie’s order is unchanged — a classic roast beef with seasoning on the bun. | ANDY PAULISSEN

DONNA HOLLIE

Continued from pg 23

The chain still uses the same roast beef recipe and seasoning blend, and has never compromised its standards. She believes the secret ingredient is not so secret: real roast beef. As she explains, Lion’s Choice uses real top sirloin roasts, not the compressed meat that other places use. That, together with the restaurant’s seasoning blend, horseradish and buttery buns, is the key to its staying power.

“It still tastes the same as it always has,” Hollie says. “We added hot dogs and, a little later, ham, but other than that, we’ve kept things basically the same. One time I asked Mr. Tobias why we don’t have other things, and he told me that we have to keep it simple and focus on what’s important — and what’s important is the roast beef. He said that if we get in too much other stuff it takes away the focus, and that we were doing great the way we were. He was a smart man.”

Hollie’s taste for roast beef sandwiches has remained just as consistent. Though she doesn’t eat them every day — she saves her sandwich orders for when she needs a treat or when her husband begs her to bring some home — she still regularly enjoys the same order she’s been eating all these years: a classic roast beef sandwich with seasoning on the bun.

“Just the way they come, I don’t put barbecue or nothing on them,” Hollie says. “I like the buns and the butter on them. If I get fries, I’ll put ketchup on them. And I like the cole slaw, too.”

Looking back on her time with Lion’s Choice, Hollie is glad things turned out the way they did. Her contentment is contagious; both her daughters currently work at Lion’s Choice — one in Wildwood and one who has been at the Eureka location 28 years. However, Hollie is not ready to pass the torch and has no plans to retire anytime soon. The way she sees it, as long as she can still run the meat slicer during a hectic lunch rush, she should be good. She doesn’t need the money, but she loves the job so much that she is going to stay as long as the company will let her.

“I’m going to keep on until I feel like I can’t do it, but as long as I can still do it I will,” Hollie says. “What’s the sense in sitting home and doing nothing? I believe in working and doing things, because if you don’t, you will lose it. Your memory goes blank if you don’t get out in the world. I don’t want to be like one of those oldtimers — well, I am an old-timer, but I don’t want to be unable to do things. I’ll keep at it as long as I can and as long as they will have me. I asked them one time, ‘Well, how long can I work?’ And they said I can stay here as long as you want. I thought, ‘Yay!’” n

Hollie says real roast beef is the key to Lion’s Choice’s success. | ANDY PAULISSEN

Spicy but Sweet

Mission Taco Joint launches Mango Kween taco to benefit HIV organization Vivent Health

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Mission Taco Joint has created its most colorful taco ever with the help of two very special queens. The restaurant has announced the Mango Kween taco, a special offering available during Pride month and created with input from Kansas City-based drag queen and Ru Paul’s Drag Race alum Widow Von’Du and St. Louis cosplay personality Mera Mangle. The special item will be available throughout June, with proceeds from sales going to local HIV health outreach organization Vivent Health.

Mission Taco Joint chef Jason Tilford was excited to partner with Mangle and Von’Du on the taco and enjoyed the collaborative effort that brought the dish to life. Described by Tilford as “one of the most delicious tacos we’ve created,” the Mango Kween features a blue corn tortilla filled

Mission Taco Joint is partnering with Mera Mangle and Widow Von’Du for a cause. | CURTIS EBL

with griddled Chihuahua cheese, wood grilled flank steak, roasted serrano tequila sauce, mango salsa and crispy fried onions. As Von’Du explains, spice and the shell were the main drivers of her inspiration for the dish.

“Blue corn tortilla and spice was my first thought, Von’ u says. “I wanted this taco to be as colorful and spicy as my personality.”

As for Mangle, she wanted to make sure the taco has a little something sweet.

“I called Widow’s spicy preferences,” Mangle says. “I love mango, and I knew the sweetness and color would be a perfect complement to the carne asada and blue corn tortilla.”

Though the Mango Kween is meant to be a fun way to celebrate Pride month, its purpose runs much deeper. A portion of money raised from the sale of the special taco will go to Vivent Health to aid in its efforts to support individuals impacted by HIV. According to Vivent’s Director of Development James Lesch, the collaboration is a special way to raise awareness for the organization’s efforts.

“This partnership celebrates and supports the LGBTQIA+ community and raises awareness about vital services offered in our neighborhoods that help more people thrive,” says Lesch. “With Vivent Health’s recent merger with Thrive Health Connection in Kansas City, Missouri, this collaboration also highlights the integrated work being done across the state of Missouri for people living with and at risk for IV. n