With burger joint Intergalactic now open at City Foundry STL, three’s not a crowd for Brian Schmitz and co.

Reports of Intergalactic’s smashburgers have been greatly exaggerated, as the new burger joint in City Foundry STL’s food hall isn’t actually serving them. Co-owner Brian Schmitz is quick to clarify: “It’s not a smashburger.” But that doesn’t mean they aren’t going for the distinct Maillard reaction flavor and textures that burger fans know and love. “We’re very precise with them, and we make them to a very particular thickness. We match the diameter to the average diameter of the buns we’re getting. There’s some precision involved,” Schmitz explained. “With this, we want to provide the most consistent, highest-quality product and flavor.” 

Now that the new restaurant from the owners of Polite Society and The Bellwether is open, it joins Good Day and SubDivision Sandwich Co. as the group’s third spot in the food hall. That wasn’t always Schmitz’s plan, but it’s a turn of events that he and his team were happy to entertain. Originally, when the Foundry team realized there wasn’t a breakfast concept at the Food Hall, Schmitz and his team were quick to jump in with Good Day; second came SubDivision, which began last summer as a ghost kitchen, and Schmitz was happy to find a new home for it. Then, after a previously-slated burger concept dropped out, there was another hole in the hall’s lineup. “We were wanting there to be a lot of reasons for people to come down, to fill out the needs from a culinary perspective,” he said. “There was some degree of, ‘We’re already going to be here,’” he said, laughing. “We enjoy developing concepts – it’s one of the more fun parts of what we do.”

Then, after a previously slated burger concept dropped out, there was yet another hole in the hall’s lineup. “We were wanting there to be a lot of reasons for people to come down, to fill out the needs from a culinary perspective,” he said. “There was some degree of, ‘We’re already going to be here,’” he said, laughing. “We enjoy developing concepts – it’s one of the more fun parts of what we do.”  

At Intergalactic, customers can initially find around six burgers and six loaded fries, though the restaurant will eventually expand to eight or 10 for each side of the menu. “All burgers come on brioche, and all the fries are waffle fries,” Schmitz pointed out. “My favorite fry right now is confit turkey with gravy and cranberry relish and garlic aioli. My favorite burger is a jalapeno and onion with spicy aioli; that’s called the Supernova.” All the burgers are named after space-related concepts: the Homeworld is their basic burger, featuring lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle. The Event Horizon has cheddar cheese, spicy chili and diced onions, while the Andromeda showcases goat cheese, peppadew peppers, arugula and balsamic glaze.

Eventually, Intergalactic will offer milkshakes, once the logistics make sense. “Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry,” Schmitz said. “We’ve really figured out how we want them, in terms of consistency and flavor.”  

Intergalactic will be open for lunch and dinner Sunday and Monday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.