Chuck-A-Burger Drive-In Restaurant closing

****We have gotten an extension on our lease and will be open till at least the end of May 2008****


As of Dec. 31, 2007 Chuck-A-Burger Drive-In in St. Louis will be closing it's doors after 50 years of business. I have been waiting to say anything but the property owners are putting up a "for sale" sign very soon, and it will no longer be a secret.

(Chuck-A-Burger will still be in business at the St. Charles location with plans for future expansion)

My grandpa started Chuck-A-Burger in 1957 with a man named Bud Taylor. They started with 1 store and by the early '70's had 8 locations. Tough times led to the closing of 7 stores. My grandpa bought the remaining store from Taylor in 1977. My dad started working there in 1980 and eventually bought the business from my grandpa in 1995. We have been doing relatively well, even opening a 2nd location in 2005, which will remain OPEN.
The property that the St.John location sits on is still owned by the Taylors. After YEARS of trying to buy the property with no interest from them, they have decide to put it on the market now. We have tried everything humanly possible to buy the property, but it is just not in the cards.
My family would like to thank all the cruisers throughout the years who have visited this location, and look forward to seeing everyone at the other store. Again this will be the last year for Chuck-A-Burger on the Rock Road, so if anyone is interested we will be having a few cruise nights this year including 2 BOMBERS MOTOR CLUB shows, one of which is this Saturday at the "original" location.(See links below)

Thanks for listening.
Ryan Stille, Bombers Motor Club and 3rd. generation "Chuck".

1st known pic of St. John location


Now



St. Charles location

 

Damn, sorry to hear that. I live a little far south to visit very often. But I have to say best cheese burger I have ever had. See you guys next weekend. Brian

 

As a local car nut,I cruised the Rock Road often.Chucka burger and Steak and Shake were loaded almost every night with hot rods ,mild customs ,super stocks and girls.Street races on graveyard hill,Airway drive-in,trips to Palace of Poisen,comeing home from the drags atParks field with your pit pass hanging from your mirror so everyone knew where you'd been.Those were the days.I miss um. Sorry to see it go,but we now go to the new store.Good luck

 

Never been there but I did hear the burgers rocked.Sorry to hear it's closing.

 

Sorry to hear that Ryan..... I had a lot of good times up there in my teeny bopper days. The good food and good people are gonna be missed in that area.
Good luck with the St. Charles store!

 

Man when you hear stories from car peoples states away then you know its a kewl as place with a lot of good times and stories. The start of next year will most definatley be a sad one for those in the area. looks like i need to road trip the 54 before it closes

 

"The times they are a changing" and not necessarily for the better for us old guys. We gotta hang in there!

 

Since the late fifties, I and my friends spent a lot of quality time in Circle Steak and Shake, Chuck-a-burger and Mac's bar-b-que down the street. That is where clubs like the the Strokers could line up late night drags with the Duke Howard and Mike Kuhl from the Vagabonds, either down cemetary hill or on Banshee Blvd behind McDonnell aircraft. The burgers were great and the car guys neat. The passing of an era.

 

Damnit - Damnit - Damnit........... I grew up in that dang place, so did my folks. Shit, I hate hearing this. Even attended the very fine 'Bombers' get-together last summer.
I remember sittin' in the back of dad's p/u, and watching the July 4th festivites at the high school across the street.
My folks have been going there since BEFORE I was born........CRAP.
Big Tony, your right, might have to have a Torques road trip before it happens. How about late July??????

 

well, sometimes life just sucks. it's gonna be hard to see another st louis establishment disappear. i guess i'll be getting lunch from there as much as i can until the time comes. thanks to the taylor's there's always been one cool place to cruise and hang out in stl.

 

even though i didnt go there alot you couldnt ask for a better place to hang out & eat a good o'hambuger. sorry to hear its going away the same as so many St Louis landmarks. BUT we can be thankful it was here as long as it was & be happy that there still will be a Chuck-A-Burger to cruz to....joe

 

My father and I appreciate all the kind words. We hope to see as many people come to this place while they can. My dad keeps telling everyone, take photos while you can. we are not sure if the new owners will keep the building or not. It will probably be razed for a Walgreens or something. Hope to see some HAMBers this Sat at our show or at least on Sept. 15th for the "bomb run".

 

Hey Ryan, just got off the phone with my dad to let him in on the news. He's dissapointed as we all are. Funny thing is, he used to work on Bud Taylors boat, back in the 50's. About the time the whole Chuck-a-Burger kicked off. You should know him, Ken McClure, has a pair of '58 Chevies, Nomad and a Del Ray.
Guess when I'm up there next, gonna have to make a mandatory cruise over, and visit.
Good luck on the St. Charles location, and maybe more.
Few pics from my last visit..........

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117875&highlight=chuck-a-burger

 

Of course! I recognize the cars and I'm sure my dad knows your dad.

 

Dude that sucks. I used to go there all the time in high school. My folks live in webster groves but i always went up to donelson's cycle for parts for my bikes and would stop there every time for a burger. Hopefully i'll get some leave and be able to stop by one last time before it closes. if they put a best buy there like they did the rte 66 drive in or condos like they did at the coral courts i'm gonna be mighty pissed!!!

 

Ryan,
Is there anything that can be done to purchase the property??? Is it listed???? That day closing is exactly 6 years to the day
The Broiler closed and we have had a hell of a fight on our hands with the owner of the property ever since.

Every day we are losing a piece of Americana to corporate America or something that we as consumers really cannot use.
What are the residents of these particilar communities going to do for a fast food fix now?

Most people don't understand the domino effect that this has on related businesses. Example. The milk supplier loses another customer,same with the bakery who supplies the buns/bread products,condiment suppliers-also lose another customer.

Lest we forget the restaurant supply person who themselves loses another customer and hence they now loose their job due to lack of an adequate customer base.

The cruisers loose their cruise spot which in turn keeps their rides in the garage which in turn doesn't allow the fuel to be used,wear item-parts like tires batteries ect to wear out and hence affects the tire shop as well as the local parts house.

Hell if the car isn't getting used, the owner isn't gonna wear out the paint/interior and a whole other deal takes place. So you see,losing that one burger joint can affect a whole lot of peoples lives.

 

No thanks I'm waiting for a double chubby chuck! you know what I mean, some ones needs to buy it and keep it going. The world is changing and I'm not, so at least I'm happy, the hell with the rest. Rags

 

Thanks for a perfect example of 'Trickle-Down Economics'....... Effects are felt all over.

 

The property will be listed in the next few weeks, there is nothing we haven't tried, to purchase the property. It's just not feasible at this time. True this is one of the original locations now closing but Chuck-A-Burger will still be around just at the newer store. Just because the building is closing does not mean WE are. We would love to have anyone and everyone out to the St. Charles location, and for the rest of the year at the St. Louis location!

 

Sorry to hear the Rock Road store is closing... it is a St. Louis landmark. I'm going to try to make the show this Saturday in the T.

 

I used to go there in the 80's with my 75 Duster. I wonder how many of you guys I know from then?
Gold Duster, 225 six with nitrous, South County, name's John.
Used to smoke a lot of 5.0 Mustangs!
Put a 440 in it in '89

My dad used to cruise there back in the 50s-60s. Sorry to hear another great icon is going to die. Wish I could help somehow.........

 

can it be listed as a historic location or landmark? then it wouldnt be able to be razed.

 

we don't own the property, so I don't think it would matter?

 

how many cars are expected for sat night? i'll be there with my dad, unfortunatly either in my 06 Magnum or a new Solstice. obviously we won't be parking on the lot

 

dickoff?

 

Not sure how many cars. just going to see what happens.

 

ryan, how far from busch stadium is it>> my uncle and i got free tickets to a game on the weekend after the RUST REVIVAL...its on a sunday afternoon...id love to swing by and hang for a spell and take some pics!
sorry to hear the news bro....but looks like your still kickin it hard at st charles!!!!good for you!

todd

 

It's about 45 min. or so, Hwy 40 west ,Hwy 170 north, to st.charles rock rd. exit ,west 1 mile. Let me know if you come I'll meet ya there.

See you at the Revival!!

ryan

 

well, i found out tonight my mom in law is goin to use the tickets afterall! sooo,,, imma get some weekday tickets for june anyway...ill letcha know when and try to get hooked up with ya!!!!

todd

 

excellent.