Eat-Rite Diner

The Eat-Rite Diner at 7th and Chouteau closed for good on December 12, 2020. The iconic diner had served St. Louisans from all walks of life for 50 years.
 

Eat-Rite Diner, 622 Chouteau, Dec 18, 2020

Lewis B Powers was born in Arkansas in 1937. He grew up in the Dutchtown neighborhood of South St. Louis, attending Meramec Elementary School and Cleveland High School.

Powers was immersed in the sandwich business at an early age. His parents owned the Superior Sandwich Shop at 601 South Vandeventer. His uncle ran the Courtesy Sandwich Shop at Olive and 18th streets. Employed there at age 16, Powers fell in love with a customer – a receptionist named Marjorie Dorcas Conway. They were married in 1954.

Lewis and Dorcas Powers opened their own sandwich shop in 1957; the Rock Hill Sandwich Shop was located at 9507 Manchester. By 1962, their sandwich shop had become a diner and the couple had amassed six diners throughout the area.

They called their chain of diners "Eat-Rite" and coined the slogan "Eat-Rite or Don't Eat At All."
 

Over the next four decades, there were Eat-Rite Diners in south St. Louis city and county, Maplewood, Sappington, Fenton, High Ridge and Overland. While each location had its own following, none captured the imagination of St. Louisans like the downtown Eat-Rite at 622 Chouteau.
 

Eat-Rite Diner, 5513 South Lindbergh

The white brick building at 7th and Chouteau may have started out as a White Castle restaurant. An article in the May 1, 1929 St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted a holdup at the White Castle lunch room at 622 Chouteau. While the 622 Chouteau address was not listed as one of the seventeen White Castle locations in a May 8, 1929 Post-Dispatch ad, its white porcelain tile walls were a White Castle standard.

By 1933, Elias and Elizabeth Mahanna were grilling burgers at 622 Chouteau. They called their eatery White Kitchen. In 1943, the Mahannas sold White Kitchen to Charles L. Reed, who kept the name and business until at least 1946.

The Regal Sandwich Shop occupied the building at 7th and Chouteau in 1955. By 1966, the eatery had become the Gateway Sandwich Shop, one of a chain of sandwich shops owned by Leon Harris.

Lewis and Dorcas Powers purchased the property in 1970, adding it to their chain of diners and changing the name to Eat-Rite.

Dorcas wasn't happy with the surroundings. The neighborhood had a decidedly gritty feel and a reputation for crime.

It was a terrible disgrace. People were squatting in these shacks with no electricity or water.

But husband and wife pressed on, and in the 1980s, Ralston-Purina started cleaning up the area. The couple eventually sold their other diners to employees and friends, but they held onto the Eat-Rite at 7th and Chouteau.
 

Eat-Rite Diner, 7th and Chouteau

The exterior of the Eat-Rite Diner was white painted brick and block, topped with a three sided porcelain Eat-Rite sign, which in turn was partially capped by Coca-Cola signs.

The diner's white outside was matched by an equally white inside of porcelain tile walls, a metal ceiling and a tile floor. Service was only available at a curved corrugated stainless steel counter with a well-worn Formica top. There was seating for thirteen customers on leatherette topped stainless steel stools.

A "Lord of the Rings" pinball machine and an older "Can-Can" pinball game from 1961 occupied limited floor space. NO SMOKING and CASH ONLY signs adorned the walls, along with a pocket Cardinals schedule.
 

Eat-Rite Diner, 622 Chouteau

There was a warmth and camaraderie that came over those who enter the Eat-Rite Diner; everyone seemed at peace with their fellow man or woman. If they were less than peaceful, there was a surveillance camera and customers had to be buzzed in after dark.

The Eat-Rite clientele were aptly described in a June 24, 2015 Riverfront Times article by Nicholas Phillips.

It attracts St. Louisans of all moods: the drunks and demons, clowns and curmudgeons, philosophers and philanthropists. At Eat-Rite, you chow down next to folks who didn't attend your high school and don't care about your career.

In that sense, Eat-Rite is nothing like Nighthawks, Hopper's romantic rendering of a late-night diner. It's not a spare, glassed-in cavern in which you brood at arms length from your neighbor. It's a bunker, your neighbor's arm is draped around your neck, and he's eating your fries.

The daytime crowds are tamer. Cops and postal workers order carryout. Local celebrities Chuck Berry, Jack Buck, Jim White, Francis G. Slay, Claire McCaskill, Mike Shannon and David Freese have all hunkered down at the Formica counter.

Eat-Rite Customers, 622 Chouteau Riverfront Times, Jun 26, 2015

It was common for Eat-Rite customers to pay for strangers, whether out of drunkenness or late-night camaraderie. Nicholas Phillips reported hearing the following while spending three all-nighters at the diner in 2015.

You have no idea who I am . . .  Don't you touch my fucking ketchup . . .  It's a slutty world out there . . .  I come here religiously. This is where I pray to bacon . . .  I don't even know this girl . . .  Well I probably shouldn't do this. But I'm gonna do it . . .  Why do I feel like this food is making me drunker . . .  My sister talks like a mouse . . .  You gotta remember: Germs mutate . . .  We gotta get outta here, we're going to the titty bars.

Eat-Rite Customers, 622 Chouteau Riverfront Times, Jun 26, 2015

The Eat-Rite menu never changed very much. It was posted on a long white board behind the counter and offered sandwiches, breakfast items, side dishes, beverages and desserts – all available 24/7.
 

Eat-Rite Diner Menu, 2009 (click image to enlarge)

The Eat-Rite menu included a concoction called the slinger. Lewis Powers said the slinger was the diner's best seller, especially at night.

That’s about the only breakfast we serve at night. It’s meat, eggs and potatoes covered with chili, American cheese and raw yellow onions. You can have hamburger, bacon, sausage or ham, but 99 percent are made with sausage. Most of the waitresses don’t even ask customers what meat. They just ask ‘em how they want their eggs.

It’s two patties of whole-hog sausage that we use. Most of the time, people order over-easy eggs. The potatoes are hash browns – we make our own. We boil potatoes, peel ‘em, cool ‘em off and then grate ‘em. We do all that by hand.

O. T. Hodge's claimed to have invented the slinger, but the Powers' son David explained it was an Eat-Rite creation.

It was at the Fenton store in the ‘70s. A truck driver from Texas came in and ordered chili on his eggs, and it evolved from there. Two waitresses started saying "sling it" to the cooks instead of explaining that the whole order included chili, cheese and onions. Slingers started at Eat-Rite. O. T. Hodge's tried to copy it, but they were second to Eat-Rite.

Eat-Rite's Slinger

Eat-Rite was also known for its sliders made from Holten hamburger patties. They were sold six per order.
 

Eat-Rite's Sliders

In October of 2017, Lewis and Dorcas Powers closed their diner. Lewis Powers explained that the immediate reason for closing was mechanical issues with the exhaust fan. However, he added that he didn't know if Eat-Rite would reopen.

I'm 80 years old. I'm not in good health.

In February of 2018, it was announced that real estate agents Joel and Shawna Holtman had acquired the Eat-Rite Diner and planned to reopen it in the spring.

Joel Holtman had driven by the diner shortly after it had closed and spotted Lewis Powers by the back door.

So I thought I would go up and talk to him since the place had shut down. We talked for around 45 minutes to an hour and we tried to come up with a plan on how to keep the place open, I mean it is part of the history of St. Louis. After we talked he said, "You know I think you are the man for the job." He threw out a number that he was going to sell it for. The place was in disarray honestly. The hood was down, the heater was leaking gas and there was no hot water to the sinks out front. I mean it was just in bad shape.

So I said let me give my wife a call and we will talk about it and I will give you a call back tomorrow. We already have experience in rehab so I felt this would be the ultimate rehab, updating an entire diner. I called him back the next morning.

The Holtmans kept the basic feel of the diner the same, although the countertop with its decades old accumulation of gum stuck underneath had to be replaced. They also replaced all of the plumbing, the freezer, the refrigerator, the griddle and the fryer.

The menu also stayed much the same, with the addition of fresh hamburger to hand-make the patties for the sliders. Other new menu items included franks, chicken tenders and a patty melt.
 

Eat-Rite Diner's New Countertop

The Holtmans operated the Eat-Rite Diner for almost three years. But they were forced to close their doors on December 12, 2020.

The following appeared on their Facebook page on December 19, 2020.

St. Louis, we are deeply saddened to announce we have permanently closed our doors downtown. We want to thank all of the patrons who have supported and dined at the Eat Rite Diner since we took ownership in 2017. Our opening day, the Cardinals Home Opener, in 2018 kicked off a refreshed and rejuvenated Eat Rite Diner.

The start of 2020 was predicted to be the diners best year yet. Our sales were setting the tone for a phenomenal year. Unfortunately, that did not last long due to the pandemic. We thank all of our employees that worked for as long as they could or were allowed to.

You never know what the future holds! Goodnight St. Louis and remember to Eat-Rite or Don’t Eat at All.

In April of 2021, local chef Tim Eagan announced he was taking over the building at 622 Chouteau and would reopen it as a restaurant called Fleur STL. Egan was asked if he felt pressure taking over the iconic Eat-Rite space.

I find people are very hesitant to change. However, I wasn’t getting the spot in order to continue exactly what it was. Things really just have to adapt and fit into what places need and what the city needs. It’s going to be something different. You know, there is some pressure. You know, the items and the things that are iconic to that place are always going to be in the back of people’s minds. But I think once they come in and see what I have to offer and they see what we’ve done with the place, I think it’s really going to open those people’s minds and know that I’m not ruining a tradition or doing something different per se.

Eat-Rite Diner, 622 Chouteau Riverfront Times, Jan 24, 2015

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