When local officials announced that the Delta Queen steamboat was moving its headquarters to Kimmswick, they said it likely would attract other businesses to the area.
It looks like they were right.
Dan McKean and Tina Butler of Barnhart said they plan to open a restaurant – the Cheese Shack Cafe – in the historic river town, partly because of Delta Queen’s plan to bring the steamboat to Kimmswick and offer river cruises.
McKean and Butler, who are engaged to be married, said the town’s annual festivals, which bring thousands of people to Kimmswick, also made it an attractive location for their restaurant.
They said the Cheese Shack Cafe, which specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches, is slated to open at 6043 Second St. in March.
Since 2012, the couple has been operating a food truck called the Cheese Shack around the St. Louis area, including Jefferson County. In fact, the couple’s first venture with the food truck was at the Kimmswick Strawberry Festival.
“The first day we started, it was in Kimmswick,” McKean, 52, said. “Now we are back, starting this here. It is kind of cool.”
Butler, 42, said she and her fiance had been looking to open a brick-and-mortar location and were scouting potential sites in Soulard and University City.
But an encounter with the owner of the Spicery of Kimmswick shop led them to consider Kimmwick.
“About two weeks ago, we were in Kimmswick at (The Spicery of Kimmswick), where we get our coffee,” said Butler on Jan. 23. “She was talking about the signing off of the Delta Queen coming back. She knew some people who had some property for lease. We went and talked to them and it happened that day; we decided to sign. It was by luck.”
McKean said he and Butler will continue to run their food truck, which has a strong following in Jefferson County, St. Louis County and St. Louis.
“We feel like we have done a heck of a test market the last six years,” McKean said. “When we park by 15 other trucks, typically we have a pretty substantial line that is as long or longer than most. We also have a lot of repeat customers during lunch times. We get a lot of good feedback.”
Butler said the cafe will serve the same 16 sandwiches on the food truck’s menu, as well as the popular deep-fried Mac and Cheese Balls, which are made with smoked gouda and cheddar cheese.
The pair also will offer four salads and four soups, along with soft drinks, beer and wine.
Butler said the cafe plans to have a selection of mass-produced beer and wine, along with selections from local microbreweries and wineries.
The cafe will operate like a St. Louis Bread Co., where customers place their orders at the counter, get a buzzer that goes off when the food is ready and then pick up their orders at the counter.
Butler said there will be seating for 50 people inside the cafe, and they are building a patio to offer 50 additional seats outside.
She said the Cheese Shack food truck will also be stationed outside the cafe during festivals to handle additional customer orders.
Butler said they are planning to operate the cafe Tuesday through Sunday and close on Mondays. She said the restaurant probably will open at 11 a.m. each day and close at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
“If the response is good, we may extend dinner hours for the whole week,” Butler said. “We have had a lot of people ask about us staying open for dinner.”
McKean said he will do the majority of the remodeling work himself at the new location.
He said the couple sold one of their two trucks to help finance the venture.
Butler said they felt the time was right to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
“It is one of those things of now or never,” she said. “You are never going to know if you don’t do it.”
On Dec. 4, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law legislation that includes an exemption for the Delta Queen from the 1966 Safety of Life at Sea Act that will allow the boat to once again operate as a cruising vessel. Cornel Martin, president of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., has said that the boat, now in Houma, La., needs to undergo $10 million to $12 million in renovations before it is brought to Kimmswick, likely in the middle of 2020.