Beignet All Day has opened a location in Webster Groves

Beignet All Day, which began in local farmers markets in summer 2022 and moved into the Urban Eats kitchen incubator and marketplace in Dutchtown in early 2023, opened a new location in Webster Groves on Wednesday, Jan. 24. This space is located at 43 South Old Orchard Ave. They will share a building with shaved ice company Tropical Moose, which occupies the space from May to September. During these months, both Tropical Moose and Beignet All Day will serve their products here.

Jennie Sloss, who co-owns Beignet All Day with her fiancé, Joe Lamprich, said the company's birth came from a family trip. “It all started with a family trip to New Orleans over a Christmas holiday in 2021,” said Sloss. “My fiancé and business partner, Joe Lamprich, tasted a beignet for the first time and wondered why we don’t have these in St. Louis. We came home and over the next six months developed our recipe. We officially launched in June of 2022.” The light, airy pastries can most simply be described as a French, yeast-based doughnut that traditionally gets served in orders of three that are liberally topped with powdered sugar. The beignet is widely popular in the South, specifically in New Orleans. What makes Beignet All Day stand out from the rest can be summed up in their tagline, “A New Orleans treat with a St. Louis twist.”

The twist? Savory beignets. “Joe had this vision that we needed to offer something that was not sweet, so we experimented a lot with more savory options,” said Sloss. “Our first one was the Italian beignet with a black peppercorn and Parmesan dough topped with marinara, Parmesan and green onion.” The popularity of this dish inspired their next savory creation, beignets and gravy. A take on biscuits and gravy, the beignets and gravy are three beignets topped with housemade sausage gravy and butcher-cut peppers. More recently, they started offering beignet sliders, which include two seasoned chuck burger sliders served with lettuce and pickle. Although the savory options are what they’re known for, their sweet options lead the way in terms of popularity. “Everything is made from scratch. All the dough is generally the same, we just change up the toppings,” said Sloss. “We offer a cinnamon-apple pie along with a chocolate and cherries option. Those are neck and neck for the most popular.”

Other toppings are subject to change and are often seasonal items. If beignets aren’t enough of a New Orleans experience, Beignet All Day also offers a chicory coffee. This is a mix of regular coffee and chicory root and makes for a signature New Orleans drink.

After they tested this concept in farmers markets around the St. Louis area, Beignet All Day decided to join the Urban Eats kitchen incubator and marketplace in June 2022 as a place to make their dough. “In February [2023], we opened up our storefront with the Urban Eats complex and the whole concept is to leave the nest,” said Sloss. “It was a great learning opportunity. The town of Dutchtown welcomed us and helped us learn a lot of lessons about opening a restaurant and we want to thank them for that.” Due to the size of the Webster Groves space, Beignet All Day remains at Urban Eats only as a commissary kitchen to make their dough. Taking that next step led them to partner with Tropical Moose in Webster Groves. This space, which is 500 square feet, can be described as a counter service beignet joint with hints of New Orleans throughout. Although there is no indoor seating, there is a patio outside for customers to use when the weather permits.

Beignet All Day will still be doing private events and vending farmers markets around the St. Louis area. According to Sloss, their goal in the future is to be able to execute more than one of these at the same time. For now, they are focused on quality and don’t want to expand too much with the potential to lose that quality.

Beignet All Day in Webster Groves is open Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday hours will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hours are subject to change. Follow Beignet All Day on Instagram and check out their website for updates on Beignet All Day in Webster Groves as well as events/farmers market dates around St. Louis.