Amy Guo - Sando Shack

On this episode of The Sauce Podcast, host Lauren sits down with Amy Guo, co-owner of Sando Shack and Hello Poké, for a conversation about entrepreneurship, Japanese comfort food, food halls, and the unexpected path that brought her family back to St. Louis.

Amy shares the story behind Sando Shack — the Japanese-inspired sandwich concept known for its katsu sandos, fruit sandos, and creative flavors — and how what started as small pop-ups during the pandemic eventually grew into a food truck, a brick-and-mortar restaurant, and a new home in Maplewood.

She also reflects on launching Hello Poké inside City Foundry and how a move from Seattle to St. Louis unexpectedly changed the direction of their lives and careers. From operating inside one of the city’s biggest food destinations to navigating entrepreneurship for the first time, Amy opens up about the realities of restaurant ownership, learning to lead, and adapting to constant change.

The conversation also explores St. Louis’ growing food scene, Maplewood’s supportive small business community, authentic Asian cuisine in the city, and some favorite local spots around town.

Along the way, Amy shares stories about food trucks, festivals, balancing multiple concepts, and why she believes St. Louis continues to evolve in exciting ways.

In this episode:

•  The story behind Sando Shack and Japanese-style sandwiches 
•  Building Hello Poké at City Foundry 
•  Moving from Seattle back to St. Louis 
•  Launching restaurants during the pandemic 
•  Pop-ups, food trucks, and early entrepreneurship 
•  Expanding into a brick-and-mortar space 
•  The move from Morganford to Maplewood 
•  Challenges of restaurant ownership and leadership 
•  City Foundry’s growth and St. Louis food halls 
•  Maplewood’s business community and local support 
•  Favorite St. Louis restaurants and hidden gems 
•  Exploring authentic Asian food in St. Louis 
•  Festivals, food trucks, and future plans 

Come for the conversation. Stay for the culture. 🌿

 ✨ Presented by SWADE Dispensary, with 12 locations across Missouri. Learn more at swadecannabis.com. Our other podcast sponsors are 4 Hands Brewing Co. and LHM.

🎧 Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify and all major platforms.
 📅 New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Transcript

Cold Open

SPEAKER_01 0:00

And then our AC went out.

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Oh, and then so we had to close from July and August two whole monthly closed. Wow. The prime month. Suede

SWADE Sponsor Spot

SPEAKER_00 0:08

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Intro + Meet Amy Go of Sando Shack

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Hi, welcome to the Sauce Podcast. Thank you for having me. I'm your host, Lauren. I'm here with Amy Guo,

Sando Shack + Japanese Sandwiches Explained

SPEAKER_00 0:44

and she is the co-owner over at Sando Shack in Maplewood. And why don't you just tell everybody a little bit about your concept?

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Well, um, Sando Shack is known for Japanese style sandwiches. So what we focus on is like katsu style sandwiches. So we actually, uh what that means is gonna be like pork or chicken cutlets that's like breaded and panko and then deep fried. Um, so it's a very popular Japanese concept. Um, we make it into our own form of like sandos. Um, so our we have some like quite a few popular items. The most popular one is gonna be like the sweet and spicy chicken katsu sando. Um, so that's something that's like the chicken side that is uh bread and panko, um deep fried, and then we top it with a cabbage slaw, and then we make our own sweet and spicy sauce in-house, and then we it comes on like a toasted, um toasted bread. Um, so that comes with fries. So our main offerings are like sandwiches and fries, but then we also have like rice bowls, and then on weekends we actually started doing the fruit sando. So that is like whipped cream um on Japanese milk bread and then like fresh strawberries.

Asian-Inspired Ice Cream + Menu Expansion

SPEAKER_01 1:56

So um yeah, that's mostly our menu. We uh recently just added ice cream. Um so like they're really fun Asian-inspired flavors. Um, we actually get our ice cream from Sugar Witch. Um, so we did like a local partnership with them. Yeah, they're so nice. And honestly, they have been doing such a good job with like experimenting with different flavors and stuff like that. So we have like weird, random, weird random flavors like um miso taro. So that's something that's like, you know, you get your miso paste, and then like taro is a sweet um like Asian root vegetable. Um, so then mix it together. It's like sweet and salty. So just like fun things like that we incorporate and add it to the menu in addition to our original concept of like Japanese

Hello Poké + City Foundry Concept

SPEAKER_01 2:40

style sandwiches. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Sounds amazing. I love Sugar Witch, so that's cool you're working with them. Um, and you have another concept over at City Foundry, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Yes. Uh, we have a poke restaurant at City Foundry called Hello Poke. Um, so it's uh traditional uh Hawaiian poke bowls. Um, and that one is more of like, you know, you you build your own bowl style. So you pick your protein, you pick your toppings, you pick your sauces. Um, it comes on top of like white rice, brown rice, or mixed greens. Um, and then yeah, there that that one's like pretty straightforward, just poke bowls. Um a lot of people probably don't know what poke is still, maybe. Like some people do, some people don't. So poke on the it's like Hawaiian diced fish. Uh, but the easy way I can describe it is pretty much like sushi in a bowl for people that like don't really are like wary of it or anything like that, but um the fish does come raw, so kind of like sashimi style, diced up. Um, and then yeah, it comes on uh like a bed of rice and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Okay, and so I know that your journey into City Foundry was kind of an interesting one with your husband. So tell us like how that all came to be.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

It was definitely interesting,

Moving from Seattle to St. Louis

SPEAKER_01 3:54

and I think that it was a little bit um like almost fate-like because at the time um it was back in 2020. So we were uh my husband Dan and I were living in Seattle, and so we were working there, and you know, we had no thoughts of ever coming back to St. Louis. I'm originally from St. Louis, but like, you know, in my head, I never was like, oh, I'm gonna go back for like any reason besides like to visit my family or friends, you know, not like subtle roots or anything like that. Um, but my my husband does have an extensive background in restaurant industry in the restaurant industry um and the cult the culinary world. So at the time in Seattle, he was um managing a food hall um in Bellevue, Washington. So he had quite a bit of experience like opening up that food hall there. Um, so it was on his LinkedIn. And um we randomly, I think we got, I think he got a message from City Foundry at the time because they were um thinking about opening up a food hall at City Foundry. And so they reached out to quite a few food hall managers around um the country to ask them to come for a QA. And um they they they asked Dan if he wanted to come. And then I was like, oh yeah, like St. Louis's my hometown. Like you should go see it and visit it and like give me some uh gooey buttercake and come back, you know, like it's some emo pizza. Yeah. Um, so he came for he went for a uh QA interview. And then I think when he like flew back, he was like, wait, like, do you want to maybe think about talking to them about opening up a food stall inside of the food hall? And I was just like, I don't know, like I I don't want to, like, you know, I was like, I don't have that background in the restaurant industry because like my background is just like corporate marketing and like I've always done like business stuff, so I wasn't really super interested in like the restaurant industry, um just besides just like eating food, of course, you know, like enjoying that. But um, the more we talked to the management and the team at the time, um, it did seem like a promising idea. And, you know, I think at the time, like, and still like food halls are very popular across the country and even across the world. Like um, my family had I have family in China and we visited a food hall in Hong Kong that was like really, really cool. And I mean, in Asia, the food hall concept is just more prevalent because it's not like a food hall, it's just you go somewhere and it's just food everywhere, you know, like in an enclosed space. Sounds funny. So, like, you know what I mean? So, like, I feel like here we're adapting to that where it's like a food hall concept, um, which is great because you get all your different options in one space and then you have entertainment all around you because so like you can stay for a long time,

Opening Hello Poké + Early City Foundry Days

SPEAKER_01 6:40

you know. But yeah, it just seemed really interesting at the time and a very promising project. Um, so uh, and then we we decided to do the poke concept because um Dan also had experience um running a poke restaurant in Seattle.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

And uh one of our favorite foods in Seattle was just poke because it was like very, very popular and it was like there was like one on every corner kind of thing. So we're like, yeah, I think poke like isn't super um usual in St. Louis yet. So maybe it's something unique enough that we can bring it and um not introduce it because I know that there are some places here, but just like really not enough, you know. So um we can have people try it and hopefully they like it.

City Foundry Growth + Future Developments

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Yeah. I think the City Foundry is such a wonderful space for our city too. How's it going over there?

SPEAKER_01 7:32

It's good. Um, there's definitely been like changes. Um there's, you know, we like the number of food stalls are always just like adding and um uh like increasing and decreasing, but because it's just the the concept and people's leases running out and stuff like that. Um uh I think that it's still going good. Like, I mean, we still have a lot of new spaces coming in, um, a new, a lot of new potential coming in. I think that like having really big anchors all around us is a good idea, you know, like city wineries doom well. Um we got putt shack right there, and then also like the movie theater animal draft houses right there too. So um I think that like just this morning I saw something coming uh to City Foundry or the Expat space. We just broke that news actually.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

So Beastcraft Barbecue is teaming up with Niche to kind of do, I think it's called Brickline Brew House. Okay. So I think that expat space is huge. So there you go. Take it in a little bit of a different direction, maybe slightly more approachable to the St. Louis Diner.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Okay, yeah. I mean, I think that's great. And that that space is big and beautiful. So somebody, yeah, yeah, like they should definitely do something uh with it if they're gonna change any concepts. But yeah, um, I think so far that um, you know, obviously it's like there's ebbs and flows. I mean, there's weekdays that are slower, that's pretty predictable. Um, but weekends are pretty good. And then I mean we have some big events that are always, always promising, you know.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Every time I'm there, it's fully packed. Really, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

I think that it's such a good tourist attraction. Like a lot of times when I have friends in town, even or have family in town, I'm always just like, like, even if I didn't have a space in there, I would be like, let's just go to the city foundry. Like, we can walk around, we can get food, we can play like virtual reality, we can, you know, play games or whatever. So I think that there's definitely something for everyone there. I I I hope to, you know, see it grow even more.

Four Hands Sponsor Spot

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Our podcast sponsor is Fourhands Brewing Company, which is celebrating 10 years of citywide here in St. Louis. But the 10th anniversary celebration will feature collaborations with fellow iconic St. Louis companies, including Sauce on the Side, High Point Drive In, Sugar Fire Smokehouse, Gus's Pretzel Shop, Fritz's Root Beer, Blue City Deli, STL Toasted, Strange Donuts, Peacemaker, Lobster and Crab Company, Clementine's Ice Cream, Strange Donuts, and more. Yeah, that's what I like about it is I can take my whole family and we don't have to all eat the same thing because my son mainly wants to eat mac and cheese, so he can get that, and I could get something else. So

The Origin Story of Sando Shack

SPEAKER_00 10:13

it's it's a cool space.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Now tell us about uh how Sando Shack was born.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

So actually, it was an intertwine, it was intertwined um while we were opening up the Holopoke, it just got thrown in there, Sando Shack, really, because uh when we decided that we were going to go into the city foundry, um, we were like, okay, we're going to move to St. Louis from Seattle. Um with the COVID happening, I think that it was like very, very unpredicted with everybody's timelines. So uh we already moved to St. Louis in 2020 in anticipation of uh opening up the city foundry that year. Obviously, it didn't happen because of COVID. Um, but during that time, you know, we had this gap where we didn't really know what we were gonna do because we didn't open up the poke restaurant yet in the foundry. So um we just had a lot of free time to be honest. And um Dan was like, you know, why don't we start doing pop-ups? So it's like um in a new concept. And at the time we were like, well, we don't want to do like poke pop-ups. Like, you know, it seems a little strange, especially if it's like because poke, you're gonna, you're gonna want it fresh, like right then and there. Um, so one of our other favorite things that we really liked to eat in in Seattle was like Japanese sandos. So um one of my like I I've mentioned this so many times, like, shout out to my dad. One of his favorite places in Seattle is called Katsu Burger. So he's always like, oh my katsu burger. He's like, Oh, you should open up like a katsu place. And then so we were like, well, why don't we like try and start with like Japanese style sandwiches and see how that works? Um, so we started with just doing pop-ups, like very small scale, like maybe 20 to 30 sandwiches in a span of like one or two hours, just like sit somewhere, make the food. Um, so we started like exploring that option. We um were at this commissary for a while in Central West End called STL Food Works.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Um yeah, so they they have like a big space and like big kitchen spaces for like a lot of people that are just starting off or they want to do like uh catering and they don't have extra space in their kitchen. Um, so they're a great resource to have. But um, we started off there to just start cooking there and then selling directly from there, like using an app. Uh, we just had people like pre-order our sandwiches and then like advertise it on social media and stuff like that. So we did that for a little bit. And I mean, it was more just like, you know, like a side thing where we could see if this could be something maybe. We got a lot of good feedback. Um, and a lot of people were just like, and you know, we were so small scale because it was just Dan and I were like, if we were if we ran out, we

Pop-Ups, Food Trucks & Early Growth

SPEAKER_01 13:06

ran out. So then like we saw that there was potential to um, you know, scale. Yeah. Um, so we then were like, maybe we should think about the next step. And the next step was a food truck. So we actually started with the food truck first. Um, so we got our food truck, I think in like 2021. Um, and that was right around the time that Pokey also opened at City Foundry. Um, so we simultaneously, that's why I was like, they kind of just like randomly intertwined together, but like we simultaneously just like did the both of them. Um and the food truck was like a lot of work because I mean, like, you know, I think that it was a good step at the time because it was still we were still coming out of the COVID era where people didn't want to go into restaurants yet. Um, so they were looking for that option that's like either takeout or like food trucks got like super popular as well, where you can just be outside and eat. Um, so I think we hit the we hit the right time with the food truck. And then um we started popping up at breweries with the food truck. Um, one of our first events was like Urban Chestnut, and then we went to like four hands and like second shift, and um, it seemed like a good pairing to have like uh we were into like earthbound beer, so it was like a good pairing to have like beer and then our food together. Um so then yeah, so then we started doing the food truck, and then in addition to the food truck, we were like, should we get a brick and

Opening the First Brick-and-Mortar Location

SPEAKER_01 14:35

mortar? Like, is it popular enough? And honestly, does it make more sense to have a brick and mortar because we were paying for a commissary kitchen space in addition to a fruit truck because like we don't have a space to prep, you know? So then um, that's when we, you know, put our foot down and said that we were going to open up um a brick and mortar on Morgan Ford. So that was our first Stando Shack brick and mortar on Morgan Ford. Um, and that we were there for two years, and then we recently just moved to Maplewood. Okay, so what around corner.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

What prompted that move?

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Our lease ended, um, and we just wanted a bigger space. So um the one on Morganford was kind of like a hole in the wall space.

Moving to Maplewood

SPEAKER_01 15:17

It was like counter seating. I mean, I wouldn't say hole in the wall, like it was on Morgan Ford, it was like next to Amsterdam Tavern. And um, and those guys were great. Like we always got business from like the soccer guys and things like that. Um, but the space was really small. So like it was pretty much just like a counter space and then like seven or eight seats. Um they so like it's great for carryout, you know, like it was fine. Um, but we just wanted somewhere that had more dining and like families can come in and um you know, spend a little longer than rather than just like in and out kind of feel. Yeah. Um, so our new space on in Maplewood, um, it's right at the corner of Manchester and Sutton. So it's a much bigger space. It's these like 30 people now. Um, and yeah, like our kitchen space, I mean, like we don't need that much space. So like I think most of the space is just like for dining.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Good. That's so awesome. I know when we posted about it, uh, the story blew up. So people are very excited.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yeah, I think that it's a good addition to Maplewood. I mean, Maplewood is like so lovely and cute, and like that block uh in itself, the downtown Manchester downtown Maplewood has like so many and so many good places and so many good additions coming. Um, I think you guys talked to the owners of um sports bras. Oh yeah, so that would be cool. And then right behind us, I think there's like a new whiskey lounge. Whiskey I forgot the name of it. Is there? I don't know. Um I need to get on that. I think I forgot the name of it. I'm I I'm blanking on the name, but yeah, the place where it used to be Pizza Champ.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Oh, oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

There something somebody's going in there.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

I thought you guys talked to them. Pizza Champ?

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Burger Champ, sorry. Burger Champ. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Maybe we did. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

They're the guys that used to run the vodka lounge? The 360s. No, not the 60s.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Oh, is this the gamlin thing? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Sorry. That's right. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

If you're not sure, yeah. So they're coming, they're they're gonna open right behind Sandor Shack. So there's like a lot of new things coming. And then I just feel like that area is like so lovely and walkable, and you know, especially when the weather's nice. Um, people are always walking around. And then Maplewood also has just so many events. Um, it's been great to be part of their uh community because they always send out like monthly lunch and learns and like event calendars, or just these uh meetings where, you know, like board meetings where they invite all the small businesses in the area to come to like have their input um spoken

Transitioning into Entrepreneurship

SPEAKER_01 17:55

and what kind of events would you like to see? Like what's important to you, like what do you guys need from us? Things like that. So, like I feel like the Maplewood community has been like really, really helpful and supportive.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Awesome. Okay. Now I know you didn't really envision yourself coming into this uh hospitality space. So, how is it now that you find yourself here and really successful?

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Um, it's been it was a challenge at first. Like, I I'm not gonna lie, I really hated it. Cause like I just was such a structured person. Uh-huh. And the restaurant industry is like very chaotic. Yeah. And so, and just everything is just like, I'm sure like you've interviewed enough people to be like to know that everybody's like, there's just always something wrong. Like, not like wrong, but just there's always something that is like gonna happen. And you just like start to expect it. But like in the beginning, I was just like, there's just always something. Like, I just fixed this or I just took care of this, like blah, blah, blah. Like, so you know, um, I mentioned this, but like I came from like the corporate world and like my job was always just like an individual contributor, you know. So like I had a boss, I had a team, like I had clients, and I just stuck to my computer and my job. And like whenever I finish like my part, like I'm done. Like I take, I shut the computer off and I go to bed, you know. So like I never was very like, I mean, if this multimillion dollar company, like whatever, like not my duty, like I can't do anything about it, you know? So that gave me comfort always because I was always just like such a nine to five person. Um, and then when we first started, I it it was just like I'm in charge. Like, obviously, me and Dan, my husband was there too, but like I had more of a transition, I think, because he was just like, yeah, it is, it is what it is. This is the way it is. I'm like, what do you mean this is the way it is? And also, like, everyone's just like mad all the time. Like, oh no, you know, where I'm like, okay, like here are all the condit, like, there's just so many conditions that are uncontrollable. And I think that that's what really also scared me too, and you know, gave me anxiety. Cause like, okay, like if you have a pop-up or if you have like a food truck event and then the weather's not good and you don't make any money, I'm just like, what are we gonna do? Like, what do I tell staff? What do I, how do I navigate this? Like, what do I do with all the food and all the stuff? So there was just so many uncontrollable things that for me as like a structured person that I had to adapt to. And that took a while.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Because I just was like, why do I have to do this? Like, I don't have to do this.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

And so, like, that was always in the back of my mind where it's like, I don't have to do this. However, I'm going to say that probably took meant mentally, that probably took about like a year or two. And and honestly, though, like when you're starting a business, the beginning is always like really bad. You know, it's like, you know, it gets bad before it gets good, kind of thing. Um, and you have to just learn, you know, where your your niche, like what you're good at, and like how to like there are things that, you know, especially for me not knowing the restaurant industry, I had to learn all that. So um, I think like after probably a year or two, even, um, I want to say it probably took like two years solidly, where I was like, okay, I like this. I like the place that I where I am. Um, I got a grasp of like staff, I got a grasp of like how do people manage? Um, um, I got a better grasp of just like if this happens, how do we navigate to like plan B? It just like always have a plan B kind of thing. Um, which is just so it is really helpful to go through all that and then like learn something about yourself to be like, oh, I can do this, you know? Yeah. Um, because I don't think entrepreneurship is easy at all. Like people, like I give so much props to people that can do it, not just like skill set wise, but like mentally, to just be like, oh, you're having a bad day, you're gonna keep going. Cause a lot of times it's like, wait, I'm gonna give up.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Like, yeah, I know, and you can.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Yeah. So um, and even and I guess that's like a good segue too, because we opened up the new Maplewood place in June, and then you

Opening Challenges + The Maplewood Journey

SPEAKER_01 21:58

know, we were doing really well, and that's actually What I was gonna say earlier, where it's like uh STL Buculus came and did a video for us, and it was a wonderful, great video that drew so much attention and publicity. Unfortunately, it was in June, and then July, like we opened in June, really, really hot, and then our AC went out. Oh and then so we had to close from July and August. Two whole months we closed. Wow, the prime months, and then it was right after we got so much publicity too for media, and so like like I was just getting like a lot of messages being like, What are you guys gonna open? Where are you guys going? Not in a mean way though, like everybody was really, really supportive. I just had internal anxiety about like not having an answer. Yeah. Because I was like, I don't, I don't know. Like I'm very, very dependent on the landlord, and the landlord was dependent on the AC company that fixed it. Um, so that's what uh yeah, so like we had this hiatus of like June, July, we just totally didn't open, shut down, and then we reopen in September. Okay, so that's kind of the the progression of like how it's been in the Maplewood space. But since September, it's been, you know, okay. Like I can't say it too loud. I know, I know. It's yeah, but no, it's been really good. Like, honestly, um, I think that we still get so many newcomers um that were like, oh, we heard about you guys, or like, I've been wanting to come here and like haven't yet. Um, and then I think it's cool that we're already seeing regulars, which I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so fun to already like know you guys in the neighborhood that are regulars. So that's pretty

Basso Sponsor Spot

SPEAKER_01 23:37

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SPEAKER_00 23:37

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Recipe Development + Building the Menu

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Okay, and who develops the recipes?

SPEAKER_01 24:12

So Dan did all that. Okay. Um, he, you know, he's the culinary side of things. So he's the one that um uh formulated all the sandwiches, all the ingredients, like what goes in the slaw, what goes goes in the sauces, um, how the how all the proteins should be prepared. Um, so he yeah, he he's all of that.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

Okay. I mean, we're the people are loving it, so he's doing a good work.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Yeah, I will tell him.

Favorite St. Louis Restaurants

SPEAKER_00 24:51

Okay, so where do you guys like to go out to eat when you're not in your own restaurants?

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Um, I live in Fox Park. Oh, nice. And I really like Little Fox. So good. I was just there Friday, yeah. They have such good brunch too. They do. Yeah, cocktails are good. And they're cute. They're so cute. Yeah. So Little Fox is a good one. Um, I live right by Press as well. Oh nice. Um, I was just there. They have this like birata plate. You know how like girl dinner is really popular right now? Yes. And I love barata. So they have this like, I just saw it on social media, and it's like literally just like a plate, and it has like a chunk of barata in the middle with like pickled red onions and like I don't even know, arugula, salami, just like all together. And I'm like, yeah. That's what I need. I was gonna crush that by myself. So uh I was just at Press. I really like Press. Um, Chili Spot. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

I'm just I'm really into finding authentic Asian foods because in St. Louis. Um, just because like there, there's there's enough. There's like not like a lot a lot, like coming from like Seattle, you know? Um, so I'm anytime there's like a new Asian restaurant, there's like a lot of new ones in Del Mar. So I'm trying to hit them up as much as I can. I recently just went to Noodle Story. Um there yet? No. Um, it's a new one on Del Mar. Um it's it's pretty big. I think it's like two, three stories. Oh, really? Um, but yeah, they do like uh like hand pulled noodles, dumplings, and things like that. So that one's a good one. Um I'll put that on my list. Noodle story is good, yeah. Okay. Um and you you've been to Chili Spot.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Oh yeah. Yeah, okay, that was good. Yeah, Chili Spot's good.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

And then um I don't know. Um, I feel like grandma foam is always like a go-to one for like sandwiches and things like that. Classic. Yeah, I also live right by Lona's Little Eats. Oh yeah, just like in that little triangle circle.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Cute and healthy in there, I feel like.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Yeah, I think they're opening up a new space.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Okay, yeah, I think in May. Okay. Or well, you know, you know how those restaurant openings go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Sometimes in the future.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Okay, yeah, yeah. That's cool. Okay. Um, yeah, that's that's pretty much. Yeah.

Life Outside the Restaurant + St. Louis Favorites

SPEAKER_00 27:02

All right. What do you guys like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_01 27:05

Um, uh so my weekends are weird because I usually work on the weekends. Um, my days off are like Monday, Tuesdays, and most of the time I just stay home.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Sometimes relaxing is fun.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

And I order DoorDash and I watch so much reality TV. I'm like into like every Bravo show. Nice. And then like Love is Born and all that stuff. Um, yeah, so I I do all that. I mean, we really like to hang out with friends though as much as we can. Cause like, like I said, my free time is only like maybe once uh like once Saturday, like a month. I'll try to get together with like a bunch of friends and like I don't know, just like like honestly, our hobby is eating. So like finding a new restaurant, you know, like finding a new restaurant. Um, last Saturday we just went to pieces that gave me board.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

It's so cute in there.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Yeah, board game plays. Um, so that was fun. Yeah, I mean, like also Dan's not from St. Louis, so and he's like never been to St. Louis before before we even moved here. So, and then when I feel like when we moved here, we just started like working. Uh, and so I'm trying to like bring him to things. Like last uh summer it was his first like Cardinals game. Oh fun. He still hasn't been to the zoo.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

What?

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Yeah, so like um I'm trying to like show him around things. He's never been in the arch. Really? Um, yeah. So like what I'm trying to think, like, what are some buckets, bucket list things for St. Louis? Like that he's never been to like City Museum. And so I'm trying to like show him some St. Louis things as well, like in addition to like me going too. Like I, you know, like I said, I haven't moved back here since I was a kid. So um I do love seeing how much it has developed and changed, and I wish it for the better too. Because, like, like how did you hear about that new project downtown?

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Uh

Downtown St. Louis + Future Growth

SPEAKER_00 29:01

oh yeah, yeah. That's gonna be awesome. What do you guys think about that? I think it, I mean, hopefully it does well. Yeah. I think that you know, something like that is needed down there.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

Yeah. So that's why when we first moved here, we lived um on Wash Out. Oh, nice. An apartment on Washout. Um, I mean, I didn't love it. Just like it it was there was a lot going on with the building. You know, like my building was just not great. But that area, I'm like, I really hope that there's there's so much potential that I was just like, I really hope that it expands, it grows, and somebody, you know. Um, but I feel like with conventions, the restaurants are always pretty busy down there.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

Yeah, that helps a lot.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Yeah.

unknown 29:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

Well, cool. Is there anything else you want to add?

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Um, I don't really know. I mean, we still run our food truck. Um, we are doing quite a few like bigger events um for the food truck now instead of like uh like smaller events, just because we have the new restaurant now and this is gonna be my first official summer with the Maplewoods restaurant or the Maplewood

Food Truck Events + Festival Season

SPEAKER_01 30:02

location. So um I don't want to overextend my staff or anything like that yet. Um, but we got some cool ones coming up. We always do the Japanese festival in Botanical Garden with the food truck. We are this is our second year doing the anime festival that's coming up in April. So that one's a fun one. Um and then there is something called the Red Lantern Festival. If you've heard about that one. Central Westin. Yeah. Yeah. That's like the, I think it's like consecutively fifth fourth, like the fourth or fifth year now consecutively.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

So that sounds right.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Yeah. So that one um is in July. Um, that one's always a fun one. Um, and then yeah, I mean, I think that this is a good month too for Asian restaurants to be thriving because of Lunar New Year. So yeah, I think it's it would be cool for, you know, like I'm trying to like check out all the Asian restaurant specials right now, like what they're having. I know like Didi Miles having like a dumpling special.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

Love them.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Um, yeah, they're so nice too, Julie. So nice. And then um Sandoshack, we're doing these giant fortune cookies as a special that are fun. Yeah. Um, my friend Kaylin from Wisk, she actually made them um the bakery on Cherokee. Um, so yeah, I think that there's just like fun things to like pop around and see, like especially this month. I think that's really it. I can't think of like too much going on.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

All right. I think we covered the bases. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Well, thank you

Closing Thoughts

SPEAKER_01 31:26

for stopping by. Thank you. Thank you for having me. This was lovely.