There’s one word on the lips of St. Louisans when they hear that Uncle Bill’s is closing: pancakes.
“Their pancakes are something else,” said Elijah Fisher, 23, of Arnold. “The portion sizes are giant. Typically, I can finish any plate, but here it's a struggle. But the pancakes are just — there's something special about them.”
Restaurant owner Bill Choi announced this week that the landmark South Kingshighway diner will be shutting its doors on Tuesday after 63 years in business during the middle of an on-site KMOV interview. Choi is the third owner of Uncle Bill’s Pancake & Dinner House, and he told reporters he was simply ready to retire.
But St. Louisans aren’t quite ready to let go. Staff and customers alike were shocked at the news, and fans have been crowding into the restaurant to get one last bite since.
Seventy-year-old Greg Haynes has been visiting the restaurant for 40 years.
“It's just some of the best food, home-cooked style, great food and great service,” he said. Haynes first started coming to Uncle Bill’s after church as a teenager. “I've always come for the breakfast, the pork chops, the pancakes, the eggs, hash browns and the grits, and sugar does not go on grits.”
His dining partner, Terry Williams of north St. Louis, disagrees about the sugar on grits. But like Haynes, he’s been coming to Uncle Bill’s for a long time and is sorry to see it go.
"When I found out they was closing, [it was] kind of a sad mark because when you look around St. Louis, a lot of our old restaurants are leaving," he said. “It just brought back a bunch of childhood memories.”
The diner had once been known for its 24-hour service. Mariana Sanchez, 45, remembers its late-night hours fondly.
“I know we used to come here back in the day when I was younger, after we’d go out dancing,” she said with a laugh. “This was kind of like the after spot. So I can remember being in here with friends many times, and I can remember falling asleep in my eggs.”
But even without its round-the-clock hours, the diner drew new devotees.
Transplant Mark Rezik, 25, had been to Uncle Bill’s only once before, and he felt like he had to try it one more time.
“It does suck that such an iconic place like this is closing,” he said. He was accompanying a friend, Fisher.
Fisher said he’s been at least 10 times — but probably more. Like everyone else, he has a thing for its pancakes.
And there is something special about them, said manager Kim Watson, 54.
“I can’t tell you the secret,” she said. Finding out about the impending closure was a gut punch for Watson, who has worked at Uncle Bill’s for 39 years. She started at the diner as a teenager, inspired to get a job in order to buy designer clothes while going to high school down the street.
She’d walked down from where she was living on Southwest and applied. Although she’s moved around, gotten married and had kids, Watson has always returned to work at Uncle Bill’s.
“It’s a landmark,” she said. She adds, “I just want [customers] to remember all their good times. Lot of couples have met here, got married over the years. … So a lot of good stories. We’ve had a lot of losses, though, too.”
Watson hopes that the restaurant won’t be one of those losses. And she’s not alone.
“We're really going to miss them, and hopefully someone will take it over,” said Haynes.
That’s a distinct possibility. According to a representative of Choi’s, he’ll be listing the restaurant with Jeff Eisenberg & Associates commercial real estate agency.
Regardless of what happens, the Manchester Road location of Uncle Bill’s, which is owned by Choi’s nephew, will stay open.
Brian Munoz contributed reporting to this story.
