There were steakhouses (Magnolia House, Marty’s, Jacks or Better, Mr. After-hour parties took place above street level, in apartment buildings and flats.
Nonetheless racial tension would become a major factor in its downfall, most evident in white patrons’ grossly exaggerated fear of black-on-white crime.įrom the area’s beginnings as an entertainment zone to its serious decline by 1968, at least 20 restaurants, dozens of nightclubs, and numerous coffeehouses and theaters were in business there. Louis and managed Two Cents Plain before moving to Chicago for a career in catering.Ĭompared to the city as a whole, Gaslight Square was a somewhat integrated area. She cooked in several of the area’s better restaurants, including Kotobuki and Port St. Parks occupied a rare position in America, that of black female chef. Yet, Gaslight Square offered opportunity to a few Afro-Americans. Terry Kennedy, an Afro-American who grew up in the neighborhood adjacent to the area and became a city alderman in 1989, observed that if you were black “you better not be there too long, or the police would run you off.” (Interviews with Kennedy, Martinez, and others are found in the book Gaslight Square, an Oral History, by Thomas Crone.) The transfer of objects from Mill Creek to the nightclubs and restaurants in Gaslight Square can also be seen as an illustration of a troubled relationship with the city’s black population who lived close by, worked in Gaslight’s restaurants, and performed in its clubs, yet whose patronage was not welcome.Īccording to Jorge Martinez, owner of a couple of jazz clubs, the block’s business association ruled against his proposal for a dance hall out of fear it would attract Afro-Americans.
There the destruction of residences formerly housing 20,000 people (95% of them Afro-Americans) freed up tons of antique woodwork and hardware for decorators with a taste for Victorian. Slum clearance in an area known as Mill Creek Valley brought its bounty. Its decor, like most of the restaurants and clubs in Gaslight, consisted of an extravagant, crazy melange of salvaged windows, doors, railings, paneling, statues, fountains, and light fixtures from structures mowed down by a city obsessed with urban renewal. The Three Fountains exuded luxury with a multi-level interior lavishly decorated with antique fixtures complemented by an oversize menu filled with expensive dishes (the $6.50 pepper steak would cost about $46 today). Louisans and the city’s many conventioneers with restaurants, live theater, and clubs that featured national acts such as the Smothers Brothers, Joni Mitchell, Lenny Bruce, and Miles Davis.ĭeveloping out of a racially borderline, transitional neighborhood populated with apartments, music schools, and antiques stores, its pioneering establishments included the Crystal Palace theater, the Gaslight Bar, Smokey Joe’s Tavern, the Laughing Buddha coffeehouse, and the Dark Side jazz club. The one-and-one-half block area attracted affluent suburban St. Louis which began in the late 1950s and was officially named Gaslight Square in 1961. The Three Fountains was the star restaurant in the entertainment district of St. On the minus side, the fate of such restaurants was highly dependent upon the fate of the districts. Please contact the box office if you have any other questions.Though it seems fairly obvious when you think about it, the development of entertainment districts post-WWII encouraged the growth of restaurant-ing in many cities across the U.S. Contact the box office to request an exchange. We do not refund ticket purchases, but we can exchange your tickets for another performance of the same show if you are unable to attend your selected performance. The Gaslight Dinner Theatre is located in the lower level of the Renaissance Center. Show times are varied each performance, but usually begin an hour after meals are served. Meals are served approximately 30 minutes after the doors open. Upon arrival, check in with our host, and you will be seated when the doors open. The doors open at 11:00 am for matinees and 6:00 pm for evening shows. Most of our patrons wear business-casual, but it is not required. Tickets will not be available at the door.Įach ticket includes drinks, meal, dessert, and the show! Do tickets need to be purchased in advance?
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