Town Hall Armin Schwarz was born in Saxony, Germany on December 2, 1889. He immigrated to the United States in May of 1907 at the age of 17. Schwarz married his wife Anna Simon, a native of Missouri, in 1910. They lived in St. Louis, where Schwarz was employed as a baker.
The Schwarz' had four children – Emma, Armin,
Jr., Mary Ann and Carlos. Then, in September of 1924, Anna Schwarz
died at the age of 32.
Schwarz remarried soon thereafter. His second
wife, Elfrieda, was 16 years his junior and the daughter of Thomas
J. Wotka, who owned a bakery at 6403 Clayton Road. Schwarz had three
sons with Elfrieda – Russell, Herbert and Richard. By
1932, Schwarz and Elfrieda operated a bakery shop at 1718 Tower
Grove Avenue.
* * * * * On November 8, 1939, the Esquire Theater opened at 6706 Clayton Road with an elaborate gala dedication.
Earlier the same year, William Schmidt, whose
Schmidt Planing Mill was involved in the construction of the
Esquire, built a restaurant just west of the theater at 6736 Clayton
Road. The restaurant was named Town
Hall.
William Schmidt was in the building trade; he had no background in restauranting. It's likely his venture just up the street from the Esquire was speculative, understanding the value theater traffic would bring to a restaurant. And, indeed, by 1940, Armin Schwarz and his wife Elfrieda owned and operated Town Hall, creating one of the most popular family-style restaurants of the day.
In addition to theater traffic, Town Hall was
popular with workers in nearby office buildings and students at
Washington University. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were available in
the main dining room and groups of all kind reserved the
restaurant's Rathskeller for various functions.
Among the favorite dishes at Town Hall were the chicken pot pie, fried chicken and sauerbraten. The menu also included "pedigreed hot dogs" in cardboard kennels.
A Tuesday
night special was the
onion cake
(zwiebelkuchen). This hot appetizer had
its origin in the inns and beer halls of South Germany. Made of
sautéed onions on a base of rye dough, and highly seasoned, it was a
suitable companion for beer and cocktails. Town Hall's onion cake
recipe had been in Armin Schwarz's family for generations.
On August 27, 1964, while vacationing in Germany, Armin Schwarz suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 75 years old. His daughter, Mary Ann Blum, took over management of the restaurant, with the help of her brothers. But Schwarz's children only operated his restaurant for another seven-plus years. In March of 1972, the Town Hall restaurant closed its doors. "Young people would meet at Town Hall, later marry and then later bring in their children," said Blum. "People who left town would often come in when they came back to visit. It was rather like a family. I’m going to miss our customers." * * * * * Mary Ann Blum went on to work for many years at the Lake Forest Pastry Shop. Her brother Herb opened Charlotte’s Rib on Manchester Road, along with his wife Pat. * * * * * John Ruprecht was the manager at Town Hall for 12 years before it closed. In 1972, he opened his own restaurant on the ground floor of the Dorchester Apartments at 665 South Skinker, and called it John's Town Hall. The restaurant closed in 2010, upon Ruprecht's death. * * * * * The space west of the Esquire Theater remained a good spot for a before or after-movie bite to eat. When the Town Hall closed in 1972, The Ground Round restaurant took its place.
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