In 1978 two of the nation’s top grossing independent restaurants were New York’s Tavern on the Green and Mama Leone’s, according to Restaurant Hospitality magazine. At the first, guest checks averaged $14.50, while at Mama Leone’s the average was $13. A big aspect of both restaurants’ business was alcohol, accounting for 30% of revenues in the case of Warner LeRoy’s Tavern on the Green.
Meanwhile, a sturdy favorite in downtown St. Louis, the venerable Miss Hulling’s, home of chicken livers, creamed spinach, and carrot marshmallow salad — with a negligible drinks business – had a check average of $2. Yet it still managed to rank #58 out of the 500 restaurants in the survey.
Miss Hulling’s was the creation of Florence Hulling, who came to St. Louis around 1907 as a teenager from rural Illinois to work as a private cook. After a few years in domestic service she went to work for the Childs restaurant chain. Eventually she was promoted to manager, a rare status for a woman at that time. Childs closed in 1928 and she and her sister Katherine took over management of the cafeteria in the Missouri Hotel. When it closed in 1930 Florence bought the failed restaurant on the opposite corner and named it the Missouri Cafeteria. It would stay in business there for the next 62 years [shown just before razing].
In 1934 the Apteds opened a second cafeteria at 8th and Olive, calling it Miss Hulling’s, a name that would eventually apply to the Missouri Cafeteria as well. The Olive Street restaurant occupied a basement site that had previously held the Benish cafeteria [entrance shown] and before that – I think — Lippe’s, a restaurant operated by Detlef van der Lippe.
How well I remember a job I once held chauffeuring an alcoholic boss to Miss Hulling’s, his regular eating place and virtually his true home when he wasn’t bunking in the office of his advertising agency. I suspect he was not the only St. Louisan who relied on Miss Hulling’s for more than just food.
A 1939 Miss Hulling’s menu reveals the kinds of homelike dishes featured there. In addition to those shown, a mimeographed attachment lists a number of dishes not found much in restaurants now. Among the choices are Stuffed Baked Veal Hearts and Braised Ox Joints. If a complete dinner was ordered, for about 50 cents, the diner also got soup or salad, bread and butter, a vegetable such as Creamed Kohlrabi or Fried Egg Plant, a beverage, and a dessert such as Peach Rice Pudding. (See Miss Hulling’s Sour Cream Noodle Bake on my Recipes page.)
In the 1940s and 1950s Miss Hulling’s was just the kind of place that earned high ratings from Duncan Hines and Gourmet’s Guide to Good Eating, the latter reporting, “Everybody in St. Louis swears by Miss Hulling’s. Food is exceptionally delicious, clean, and of high standard.” The cafeterias served their own ice cream and baked goods, used fresh fruit for pies, and prepared food in small batches.
Through succeeding decades the Miss Hulling’s enterprise, headed by the couple’s son Stephen J. Apted, grew large. It acquired Medart’s (turning it into the Cheshire Inn), and opened numerous restaurants in the metro area, among them The Cupboard and the Open Hearth, as well as running food services at two hospitals. Headquarters, including a bakery, were at 11th and Locust above the two-floor cafeteria. At the same location were the more formal dining spot Catfish and Crystal, His Lordship’s Pub, and a bakery and ice cream shop. In 1993 the entire operation at this site was closed down, the same fate having befallen the Olive Street cafeteria some years before.
© Jan Whitaker, 2012
We eat in restaurants several times a week and yet know very little about their history. I plan to dip into my archive of research and images every so often to present a little tidbit that highlights aspects of our American restaurant culture. Let me know your thoughts.
In 1963-64, I valet parked cars at the 11th & Locust Garage across the street from Miss Hulling’s. Two daily customers were Miss Hulling’s manager Miss Beulah and cashier Miss Kay. They arrived for work at 5am and would leave their cars parked on the street at the garage entrance and we would bring their cars in when we opened the garage at 6am. Florence and her son Stephen frequently used the garage too. I ate many meals at Miss Hulling’s. Miss Beulah would patrol the serving line rigorously, constantly checking the food and ordering anything that had set too long or didn’t meet her standards to be discarded. Quality was #1 then. They ran a first class operation.
I used to be a cook (part-time) at Miss Hullings in the 1960′s while going to school. Thanks for the memory of past joys.
When my mother brought home a seven-layer chocolate cake from Miss Hulling’s, all other activity stopped until the first slice was plated – and if one was lucky, there might be a second slice, too. That cake’s exquisitely delicate texture remains unmatched, despite years of searching for a substitute.
I can still remember Miss Hullings Cafeteria in 1967 when I started at the University of Illinois in Urbana. I would make periodic trips to St. Louis to explore the city and learn its history. You could still get to St. Louis by train from Champaign by taking a shuttle bus 10 miles south to a small town named Tolono. There you could catch with a day or night train to St. Louis via Decatur. The day train was only 2-3 cars and one car had a six seat counter in the center of the car. One man was the combination cook and waiter and did a great job in a very small space. The night train left St. Louis around 6:30 PM and it did not have a diner, but it did have a sleeper to Detroit. I usually spent the extra to get a seat in a roomette for $1.15. I never remember more than 4-5 passengers in the sleeper. But I discovered Miss Hullings on my first weekend excursion to St. Louis and ate there at least once on each trip until I graduated. The menu above was very typical even into the 1970′s and I would have items like the prime rib, lamb chops or filet of sole. Plus everything else was still home made. I left the area in 1972 and did not know it had closed in 1993. The building is now gone and people only have fond memories of good food at great prices.
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The carrot marshmallow salad was great, and I loved their baked white fish! Of course, the layer cakes were the best! Even the hot dogs, split and grilled, at the 8th & Olive location were amazing (I was just a kid)! And, we celebrated so many birthdays and anniversaries at the other location….
Love it.
Great memories of Downtown St. Louis in its prime! Thanks, Jan!
Just found your blog. Makes me think of lots of places that are no longer here.