City Foundry STL releases new slate of restaurants for upcoming food hall

City Foundry STL has announced a new set of restaurants that will appear in its 30,000-square-foot food hall slated to open in 2020. The upcoming Midtown complex will also include a movie theater, an arcade, a bowling alley, karaoke, a German-inspired beer hall and more.

Samantha Mitchell of Farmtruk will open CropCircle, which will feature items like chicken-fried steak, a brisket mac ‘n’ cheese, hot fried chicken and catfish, beignets, and cornbread. 

“For what we do, we don’t really need a huge brick-and-mortar,” she recently told Sauce. “I don’t think a whole building is what we need right now.” Mitchell said that diners can expect something a little more upscale from Farmtruk, but that the focus will still be Southern country food.

Polite Society co-owners Jonathan Schoen and Brian Schmitz will roll out Good Day, which will feature a crepe- and breakfast sandwich-centric menu. 

“It’s a totally different thing,” Schmitz said. “We’ll have a wide range of scrambles and whatnot. Someone who’s on keto, Atkins, paleo or Whole30, they’ll be able to come and get a meal that satisfies those requirements.” Good Day also promises drinks like mimosas, sparkling cocktails, gourmet breakfast drinks, and bloody marys.

Daniel Jensen and Amy Guo will bring Hello Poke, which will offer fresh poke dishes. Diners can look forward to signature bowls like the ahi tuna-based Hello Hawaii, the ginger shrimp, the sweet chili mango salmon, and the furikake shoyu chicken. Additionally, Hello Poke will offer build-your-own bowls, burritos, soups, teas and Hawaiian shave ice.

Michael Friedman, formerly of Retreat Gastropub, will set up two new concepts: Lost & Found: A Burger and Pizza Joint and Juice Box Central. The 1,300-square-foot space’s savory half will offer signature dishes like bagel and lox pizza and a double burger that sports pub cheese sauce, house-cured and candied bacon and a fried egg. Juice Box Central will feature fresh-pressed juices, smoothies and even drinks containing alcohol.

Mokyu Mokyu is the new concept from the co-owners of Pieces, the Soulard board game bar and café. It will be St. Louis’ first restaurant featuring taiyaki, which is a traditional Japanese fish-shaped cake. Mokyu Mokyu’s versions of Taiyaki aim to put a Korean spin on the dish, with their signature offering being a sweet, fish-shaped waffle cone (served warm) that contains either vanilla custard or red bean filling. It will be topped with soft serve ice cream and an assortment of topping options.

Bryan and Caleb Lewis’ Press Waffle Co. will feature Liege-style, made-to-order waffles based on traditional Belgian desserts. Waffle topping combos will traverse a huge range, including everything from Nutella and strawberries to peanut butter, banana and bacon, to ham, turkey and cheese. A dish called The Soulman will contain fried chicken tenders, bacon crumbles and maple syrup. Diners will also be able to create their own waffles using a wide selection of toppings.

As Sauce reported in January 2018, Layla owners Jason and Maria Sparks will open Sumax: Hummus & Wraps, which will feature unique hummus flavors like edamame-cilantro, serrano-lime, roasted red pepper and roasted garlic. Fans of Layla will find familiar flavors in the spicy wrap, which contains roasted red pepper hummus, romaine, tomato, sumac onions, spicy chile garlic sauce and tahini, and the Mean Green, which has spinach, edamame-cilantro hummus, cucumbers, feta and tzatziki. Naturally, the wraps will come with a choice of protein.

In City Foundry STL, UKraft owners Matt and Mike Ratz will see their first real restaurant after staying on the road with their food truck. 

“Our ultimate goal was a brick-and-mortar – the truck was a way to test that concept out,” Matt Ratz said. Their signature macrobiotic breakfast bowls, sandwiches, paninis and salad pockets will be among the menu items at the new spot. Customer-customized sandwiches will be one of the big pulls at the new UKraft, where tried-and-true fans can look forward to “more options, more variety and more space.”

Adam Rothbarth is a staff writer at Sauce Magazine.