The owners of Tasty’s Street Eats, a food truck that has been operating since 2004, are getting ready to open a brick-and-mortar location at 205 N. Truman Blvd. in Crystal City.
Lance Keys, 46, of Festus and his fiancee, Chelsea Brewer, 33, own the business.
Brewer said they hope to open the restaurant around the beginning of September but don’t have a concrete date set yet.
Keys said it has been a lifelong dream to own his own restaurant.
“I like to see people enjoy the food. I get a kick out of it. If I could do it for free, I would do it for free. I have always had a passion for cooking,” Keys said.
When the space on Truman Boulevard, which formerly housed a Subway shop, came available, Keys said it was too good to pass up.
“I went and looked at it, and it just fit so perfect. It was big enough. It looks small from the outside, but it’s pretty big, but it’s not too big,” he said.
Keys said he previously worked at other restaurants and really enjoyed working under a professional chef who taught him a lot about preparing gourmet foods.
“Working under the chef was totally different because it wasn’t based on volume. It was on the quality of food,” Keys said.
He and Brewer said the restaurant’s menu will be similar to their food truck menu and will include southern style BBQ, chicken, pork and fish, with sides like baked beans, fries, potato salad and banana pudding ice cream. However, several items will be added to the menu, such as authentic Chicago Italian beef and Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and cake shakes.
Keys said he believes the Italian beef and Philly cheesesteak sandwiches will be two of their signature dishes.
He and Brewer said they have not operated their food truck often this year because they have been busy renovating the space for the restaurant.
“It didn’t have any gas, so it didn’t come with a hood system or anything like that,” Keys said. “So basically, from top to bottom, we’re redoing everything.”
Brewer said they signed the lease for the space at the end of October, adding that getting it ready for the restaurant opening has been a slow process because they both have been working at their full-time jobs while completing the renovations themselves.
Brewer said she cleans homes, and Keys is an over-the-road truck driver.
“It’s taking us longer than what we planned, but we’re slowly but surely getting there,” she said.
Brewer said once the restaurant opens, both of them plan to quit their other jobs and work full time at Tasty’s Street Eats.
In addition, Keys and Brewer said they hope to get the food truck operating on a regular basis in the Fenton and south St. Louis County area once their restaurant opens.
Keys said the couple has family members and friends who will help them staff both locations.
Brewer said they plan for Tasty’s Street Eats to be open Tuesday through Saturday during both lunch and dinner hours, mostly likely from 10:30 a.m. until 9 p.m.
“Once we get open and going and get a feel for things, then we’ll probably switch hours around to whatever we need, but that’s what we’ve talked about so far,” Brewer said.