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ST. LOUIS STANDARDS
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ICONIC PEOPLE, PLACES & DISHES T H A T A N C H O R S T L’ S F O O D S C E N E
Life in Burgers Chuck-A-Burger keeps cruising with a classic model Written by
CHERYL BAEHR Chuck-A-Burger 9025 St. Charles Rock Road, St. John 314-427-9525 Year opened: 1956
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t was 1956, and Bud Taylor, Curt Bennett and Ralph Stille found themselves in a bit of a pickle. For the past year, they’d been running their IBC Root Beer stand on the corner of Page and Pennsylvania avenues under the branded name Dairy Dell, with its franchise specific menu re uirements. However, as they gained a following, they began adding other offerings — burgers, fries, hot dogs — and realized they were deviating far enough from the Dairy Dell model that they needed to come up with a new name. Sitting around one night, the three men spitballed a few ideas, throwing out names like Broil-A-Burger and hat urger before tille had a revelation. y dad said, hat about Chuck-A-Burger?’ since we serve ground chuck,” says Ron Stille, Ralph’s son and current owner of the beloved burger spot. “Part of the reason was that, at the time, Steak ’n Shake was huge, and people would hang out there on Friday nights, saying that they were headed to tea e figured it sounded good to say, e’re going to Chuck.’ To this day, I still have people say they will meet me at Chuck. It happens a lot.” For Ron Stille, running the last remaining location of the iconic burger-and-fries joint makes him both a restaurateur and a historian — a role he relishes as a way to keep alive the memory of what his father helped to create. Picking up the story with the rechristening of the former Dairy Dell, Stille says that then-owner Taylor and his managers, Bennett and Stille’s dad, set out to dethrone their Steak ’n Shake competitor.
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RIVERFRONT TIMES
Chuck-A-Burger has been a St. Louis institution since 1956. | ANDY PAULISSEN The plan included expansion with new locations in St. John, and then Crestwood. By 1972, Chuck-A-Burger had grown into a bona fide chain with eight locations around town and a commissary kitchen where they made all of their fries, buns and numerous other items. However, that success would not go on forever. Around that time, things were beginning to change in the industry as other national players — Burger King, Burger Chef, McDonald’s — came online and crowded the burger chain space. he competition became so fierce that aylor had to file for ban ruptcy in 1973. Stille vividly remembers hearing the news. “I was away at college, and Mom called and said that Dad was out of a job,” Stille recalls. “Dad had to take a job selling life insurance — started at the bottom at the age of 52. It was tough, but Curt had kept the Rock Road Chuck-A-Burger going after ud filed for ban ruptcy, and he started having a hell of a time because of the tough competition. He called Dad and said he had to get out; would my dad want to buy it. My dad said what the hell.”
NOVEMBER 10-16, 2021
riverfronttimes.com
The burger and onion rings are the restaurant’s foundation. | ANDY PAULISSEN Ralph Stille bought Chuck-ABurger from Bennett in 1977, and it only took about a year before he recruited his son to help out. At the time, Ron Stille was working for St. Louis County rehabbing houses, so he signed on to assist his dad with the restaurant at night. Under their watch, the restaurant chugged along, not making a lot of money, but making enough to keep
the doors open. Chuck-A-Burger’s fortunes would change, however, when a friend of the family approached Stille’s father with an idea to celebrate the burger spot’s silver anniversary. “Our friend Lou was a big car guy, and he said we should do an anniversary car show on the 25th anniversary of the Rock Road store opening,” Stille says. “Dad was a lit-
