The Fattened Caf in St. Louis: a first look at the new restaurant off Cherokee Street

The Filipino barbecue concept from husband-and-wife team Darren Young and Charlene Lopez-Young is now open

The Fattened Caf finally has a home of its own at 3405 S. Jefferson Ave. The Filipino barbecue concept from husband-and-wife team Darren Young and Charlene Lopez-Young built a following at Tower Grove Farmers’ Market before expanding into consumer goods with packaged longganisa and sauces (available for purchase at Schnucks) in addition to their regular pop-ups at Earthbound Beer and satellite location on the campus of Washington University. 

Laying down roots at the 2,100 square foot space just off Cherokee Street is long overdue for The Fattened Caf. They’ve been smoking meats out of rented commercial kitchen spaces for years and finally have the resources they need to expand and experiment. The back of the long, rectangular space features a retractable glass garage door that opens to the back alley home of a brand new charcoal grill custom-built by 1904 Pits, a St. Louis-based company owned by Louis Kohrs of St. Louis BBQ Store, where Darren first got his start. The grill has the capacity to fire up an estimated 150 pounds of meat at a time. 

The duo lives on Cherokee Street so they prioritized the nearby area when they were looking at potential spots. 

“We live here. We started here. We’ve always wanted to be here,” Darren said. “We want to invest in our neighborhood and hope they can invest in us. This is one of the ways we can take care of our community. We’re in it for the long run.”

The front half of the dining room opens with a bright, airy café-like area. There’s a cozy balance between warm and cool colors with sandy wood floors, rattan furniture topped with soft orange pillows and green, leafy plants draped across every available surface. The crown jewel of the space is a massive painting made specially for it by St. Louis-based Filipino American artist Hope Ainsworth. The vibrant scene depicts a mash-up between a Filipino market and a neighborhood cookout, which is exactly the vibe Darren and Charlene are going for.

“We hesitate to use the label ‘Filipino soul food,’” Darren said. “We just try to bridge the gap between our families and cultures. So much of this food is like what I grew up eating at family gatherings – baked beans, collard greens – it’s just food I love to eat.”

Barbecue plates dominate the lunch menu. Your choice of house-smoked meat is served with pickled red cabbage, cucumber salad, and your choice of garlic or java rice (golden fried rice). The massive 12-ounce Pinoy pork steak is basted and topped with housemade barbecue sauce while Piyanggang chicken is cooked in a blend of burnt coconut, ginger and turmeric. Vegan jackfruit adobo is fork-tender and packed with flavor, braised in a soy-vinegar sauce and coconut milk with garlic, bay leaves and onions. Sides like sweet barbecue beans, herby ube potato salad, and coconut milk-braised collard greens are available. Dinner menu items will be similar, but may showcase more experimentation.

Breakfast is served throughout the week with a small coffee program from Chicago-based Filipino American roasters Veloria Coffee as well as a continued partnership with Liz's Filipino Desserts in St. Charles. Expect to see flavorful beverage offerings like lattes with ube, coconut jam, and kalamansi with honey. On the savory side, the menu offers a variety of silogs, which are dishes of cured meat with garlic rice. There’s also a vegan eggplant omelet version. We love the ube pandesal sliders with a choice of chicken tocino, pork belly tocino or smoked spam, gooey fried egg, citrus-mayo, banana ketchup, pickled papaya and cucumber on a pillowy, gorgeously purple ube pandesal bun.

The Fattened Caf is currently in its soft opening phase. Guests should check their social media for the most current hours. When they fully open within the next week, their hours will be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with dinner service on Friday and Saturday from 5:30 to 9 p.m.