Restaurant Rally coronavirus fundraiser slated for Sunday, April 26

City Foundry STL and the Sugarfire Smoke House restaurant group have teamed up to host St. Louis’ second Restaurant Rally on Sunday, April 26. Local restaurants will offer hundreds of meals for donations only to combat some of the hardships brought about by COVID-19, especially those faced by particularly vulnerable communities. 

The rally will start at 9 a.m. at City Foundry STL (3700 Forest Park Ave.) and continue until everything is sold out. Participants include Chicken Out, Hi-Pointe Drive-In, Sugarfire Smoke House, Brasswell, Mission Taco Joint, Russell’s, Crazy Bowls & Wraps, Hot Box Cookies and Kaleidoscope Craft Brew Coffee.  

“So far, I think we have at least 1,000 meals already,” said Chicken Out co-founder Ben Hillman. “We are working on adding more restaurant and food partners. Our goal is to have at least 1,500 meals. The restaurant community is being so generous.” 

City Foundry STL will match up to $25,000 from the event, and everything earned will be split between the Gateway Resilience Fund, created to help negate some of the local devastation caused by the coronavirus, and The Little Bit Foundation, which advocates for impoverished children in St. Louis.  

“Hope is a really important feeling right now,” said Will Smith, director of asset management at City Foundry STL. “We’re going to get through this together, and events like these remind people of that.” 

This week’s initiative may have a different location following last month’s Restaurant Rally in Forest Park, which raised approximately $12,000 with about 800 meals, but the intent remains the same.  

“It’s important right now to have things people can get excited about and perhaps it’s even better if it means people can get a little bit of sunlight without being at risk,” Smith said. 

A menu will be released on social media Friday, April 24, but participants can expect Brasswell burgers, Hi-Pointe breakfast sandwiches, Sugarfire pulled pork sandwiches and more. 

Donations will be accepted either in the form of cash or online payment. 

“Using that link will allow us to track how much is donated so we can match it,” Smith said. 

Workers will follow all safety measures recommended for low-contact service. Orders will be taken through car windows and guests will remain in cars during the event, with all cash donations being received in a plastic tray.  

“Events like these remind people of why they love to live here, why they love all the restaurants that they go to, and all the places they enjoy spending their time in," Smith said. "Even though right now you can’t go, this is just a great reminder of why we all love St. Louis.”  

The construction of City Foundry STL continues to progress with an opening timeline to be determined at a later date.  

Emma Boyle is an editorial intern at Sauce Magazine.