After eating at the original St. Louis Bar & Grill location in Toronto for many years, Gary Allen knew the restaurant chain was a winner.
So when the company's expansion plans coincided with him looking for a new business venture, the former real estate, sales and marketing professional jumped at the chance to own one.
Guelph's St. Louis Bar & Grill officially opened Monday in south Guelph on the northeast corner of the Gordon Street and Clair Road intersection.
The 3,100 square-foot restaurant seats 115 people inside, another 60 on the patio.
"I knew the brand from its inception as a customer," Allen said Monday. "A few years ago when I moved to Milton I thought 'wouldn't it be nice to have one out there?'"
But Milton was taken. So was Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge as the chain went on an aggressive expansion a few years ago.
Guelph was there for the taking.
"I've always wanted to own a restaurant but there would be a high risk with 'Gary's Bar and Grill,'" he says, half jokingly.
He did his due diligence, checked out the property the company had identified in south Guelph and went all in.
"Being in real estate, I realized that this was a great location, just a great spot," Allen said. "South Guelph is becoming the new Milton."
It took a while. Two years in fact.
"It's been exciting. The whole process has been exciting," said Allen, who's been getting lots of help from his wife Katherine.
Caitlin Tizzard, a marketing specialist with St. Louis who is in town helping get things going, said the chain started in Toronto in 1992 and now has 53 stores, mostly in Ontario.
All locations are owned by franchisees.
"The wings are what made us famous," said Tizzard, adding that the unbreaded wings served at St. Louis have the option of 26 proprietary sauces.
"You can't buy our sauces anywhere else," she said.
Allen was in the sales and marketing business for many years and spent eight years working overseas in Hong Kong and Holland.
He got into real estate when he returned to Canada, moving from Toronto to Milton, where he still lives.
"We bring an alternative to Guelph. It's another place to hang out in a unique and different environment.
"We take care of our customers. We won't let anyone leave unhappy."
St. Louis Bar & Grill is open 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday-Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
You can find them on Facebook and on Twitter at @stlouisguelph.
