I'm Lovin' It

I'm Lovin' It

Although hard numbers are hard to come by, it does seem like there are probably fewer fast food restaurants in the City of St. Louis than there were 10 years ago.

The Health Department's Restaurant Ratings database is a pretty comprehensive searchable database of all existing eating places in the city. StLEats.com is an idiosyncratic resource that tries to compile all restaurant listings, including closed places.

Ok, so here's what I can say pretty certainly:

McDonald's
10 locations operating
1) 1119 N. Tucker at Carr
2) 1919 S. Jefferson at I-44
3) 4006 Lindell (halfway between Vandeventer and Sarah)
4) 4979 Natural Bridge near Kingshighway
5) 3737 S. Grand at Chippewa (there's been talk of moving this one)
6) 4420 S. Broadway at I-55
7) 1420 Hampton just north of Manchester (one of the busiest locations around given its location near the St. Louis Zoo; has a PlayPlace)
8) 4620 S. Kingshighway at Devonshire (also has a PlayPlace, but it's not as nice)
9) 4200 Hampton at Chippewa (in front of Hampton Village)
10) 7241 Gravois near Hampton (this one is being replaced with a new structure)

Ten is probably enough, but a bunch more have closed down over the years:

1) 5863 Delmar near Laurel - now occupied by Big Jake's Barbecue
2) 515 N. 6th St., 4th floor inside Saint Louis Centre (but not the food court; it was across from Walgreens)
3) McDonald's Riverboat - what was its address, anyway? It's gone now.
4) Olive at 7th, SW corner - building demolished to make way for the 7th St. Garage.
5) 1530 S. 7th (aka 1531 S. Broadway) at Marion - now a Quiznos Sub shop.
6) Union Station - this was a "McDonald's Express." It's still a burger place, whose name escapes me at the moment.
7) St. Louis Marketplace, about 6800 Manchester - this one had a jukebox, but it never really worked right. Just closed about a year ago, I think.

Burger King
5 locations operating
1) 1340 S 7th at Park
2) 2500 S Jefferson at Victor, with a back entrance from Gravois
3) 3861 S Grand at Keokuk
4) 5025 Delmar near Kingshighway
5) 3259 Hampton just north of Fyler

Closed BK locations:

Riverboat Burger King - sunk in the flood of 1993.
Was there another BK inside downtown proper, perhaps on Chestnut or Pine, that closed during the 1990s? I'm not entirely sure.

Rally's Hamburgers
10 locations operating
(a little lower overhead, I guess, since there's no dining room - it's drive-thru or walk-up only. Very much an "urban" fast food joint; that is, mostly concentrated in low-income, African-American communities. But I still go there occasionally; and they seem to be expanding rather than contracting like Mickey D's.)
1) 1015 S Broadway at Chouteau
2) 2807 S Jefferson at Lynch
3) 3553 Chouteau near S Grand
4) 305 N Vandeventer at Lindell
5) 930 N Kingshighway at the Hodiamont right-of-way
6) 4949 Natural Bridge near N Kingshighway
7) 3730 Goodfellow at Natural Bridge
8) 3605 N Grand near Natural Bridge
9) 4400 S Kingshighway at Sutherland (this is a pretty new location I think)
10) 6994 Chippewa next to the River des Peres (this one just opened this summer, so it's not even listed yet)

More to come.