The Beast BBQ empire expands with Wing Runner delivery and takeout service

Beast Craft BBQ Co. and Beast Butcher & Block co-owners David and Meggan Sandusky are introducing Wing Runner to St. Louis starting today, Tuesday, Aug. 11. The new concept offers wings via delivery, as well as at the Beast Butcher & Block pickup window at 4156 Manchester Ave. in the Grove, where the wings will be prepared.

“We know we have an opportunity to create something that is going to be unique and might be something that we’re able to roll out into its own brick-and-mortar eventually,” said David Sandusky.

Wing Runner will use cage-free jumbo wings with no hormones or antibiotics, and will pair them with house-made sauces and accompaniments.  

Corporate executive chef Ryan McDonald helped conceptualize 10 flavors including habanero jerk, fish sauce caramel, char siu, and roasted shishito lime, along with a St. Louis-style barbecue flavor with chicharrons and dill pickles. Fries and Zapp’s chips are offered as sides, while large house-made chocolate chip cookies are available for dessert. There are also Excel soda products. 

The new spot also welcomes vegetarians with its smoked cauliflower wings which, David Sandusky assures, are “just as good, if not better” than the chicken. Additionally, there’s a dinner package, which includes 30 wings, four orders of fries and four cookies.

“Just like in barbecue, we wanted to be the forerunner of growth in St. Louis,” said David Sandusky. “We want to do the same thing for the wing sector. … We’re not into bullshitting our clients; we don’t want to just put something on the plate for the sake of making money. We wanna give them the best thing that we can deliver them, and we’re very prideful about that.”

Online orders can currently be made via phone to 314-944-6003 and through Wing Runner’s website for pickup, as well as delivery via a partnership between Square and Postmates; however, Wing Runner will not show up on the Postmates app. Sandusky said there will likely be an integration with third-party delivery platforms in the future.

The new concept will be open the same hours as Beast Butcher & Block: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. 

The Wing Runner announcement comes just under two months after the news that a third location, Beast Southern Kitchen & BBQ, is slated to open late summer (or possibly early fall, David Sandusky added) at 1280 Columbia Center in Columbia, Illinois.