The Crest House The St. Louis National Stock Yards Company opened for business in 1873 on the edge of East St. Louis, Illinois.
The transformation of the nation’s
transportation system by the railroads had a strong impact on the
livestock industry. It eliminated the need for long cattle drives by
connecting the producers of livestock in the West with the major
meat processing companies in the East. Markets built near important
railroad centers came to dominate the livestock and meatpacking
industry, and over the first half of the twentieth century, National
Stock Yards became a major player.
However, with the advent of the truck – and later the interstate highway system – the meatpacking industry began to decentralize and relocate away from centralized markets such as National Stock Yards. More and more farmers were delivering cattle, hogs and sheep to small regional packing houses. As the 1960s began, National Stock Yards' business was on the decline. Their president, Gilbert Novotny, began looking for ways to diversify, and he liked the restaurant business as one possibility. The idea was not new. The Stock Yard Inn in Chicago was a landmark and the Golden Ox restaurants in Kansas City, Denver and Washington, D. C. were all operations of the Kansas City Stock Yards Company.
On March 12, 1965, the St. Louis National Stock
Yards Company opened The Crest House at Broadway and Chestnut in
downtown St. Louis. The restaurant was situated on the ground floor
of the new Civic Center Stadium garage, built for the new Busch
Memorial Stadium, which was still under construction.
Adjoining the restaurant's foyer was the Gallery Lounge with mellow woods and furnishings collected from Spain and France creating a pleasant international atmosphere. A spotlighted wall featured works of Missouri artists.
The Crest House's large
main dining room, with its Country French décor, seated three
hundred diners. The room was dimly lit, with dark natural woods and
brick facing on the walls. A large brick open broiler kitchen to the
right of the entryway was in full view, with flames licking at
steaks from a huge mound of red-hot charcoal. Suits or sport coats
were recommended for men, and similar appropriate evening dress for
women.
There was a bar separate from the main
dining room. Two banquet rooms, seating 100 and 80 persons, were
available for private parties.
The Crest House
menu was limited, with an emphasis on steaks and prime rib. The
monstrous cut of prime rib was close to two inches thick, a mass of
meat that dwarfed the plate.
The Crest House got a boost when the new downtown stadium opened in 1966, serving 250 more dinners each evening. When the Cardinals played night games at Busch Stadium, dinner was served until midnight. A special late supper menu was developed to cater to the post game crowd.
In 1967, The Crest House received another
infusion of diners when the Stadium Cinema opened immediately west
of the restaurant. The 452-seat movie theatre was the first new
deluxe theatre in downtown St. Louis since 1926.
The Crest House sales of nearly $1,750,000 in 1966 provided 15 to 20 percent of the National Stock Yards' net profit. Shortly after opening The Crest House, Novotny and the Stock Yards embarked on a second venture in "meat retailing" by opening a restaurant called The Inn in the Stock Yards. The venture was not as successful as The Crest House but nonetheless added to the total profit picture of the company. Novotny talked about expanding The Crest House concept to other cities, including San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Memphis. But there was no further expansion, and the fortunes of the National Stock Yards Company continued to decline. The Crest House was shuttered at the end of 1984, in part because Gilbert Novotny was retiring as president the following April. At he end of 1997, the National Stock Yards closed its livestock division. Copyright © 2016 LostTables.com |
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