Photo by George Mahe
A landmark restaurant, and one of the most popular spots in St. Louis to grab a beer and a burger—a really good burger—is up for sale.
In an announcement made on social media over the weekend, managing partner John Parker, Jr., who has operated the storied O’Connell’s Pub (4652 Shaw) for the past few years, wrote, in part, “I’m selling the pub because I’m a fish out of water running it,” noting some of the unforeseen ways that the industry has changed over the past six decades. In a follow-up post, Parker, Jr. wrote, “The goal is for a group to buy the place that knows and loves the place, and wants the tradition to continue."
(Parties interested in acquiring O'Connell's Pub should contact David Wright at Lawyers Realty Co.)
O'Connell's is closed for annual repairs until Friday, July 5, when business will resume during normal hours.
The news follows a similar announcement last week regarding the availability of another historic restaurant, the 77-year-old Spencer's Grill in Kirkwood.
The History
In this SLM article, the late Ann Pollack opined that “O’Connell’s was a pub back when most St. Louisans needed the word explained to them.” It was the fall of 1961 when three non-Irishmen opened O'Connell's Irish Pub in Gaslight Square and named it after Irish statesman Daniel O’Connell.
Watercolor by Marilynne Bradley
In 1965, Jack Parker, a bartender there at the time, acquired it and expanded it, alternately working the bar or the grill. In 1972, he packed up the woodwork and the fixtures—including the beveled glass front windows and two chandeliers from the 1904 World’s Fair—and moved to a former Anheuser-Busch tavern on the corner of Shaw and South Kingshighway. O’Connell’s Pub has occupied that space ever since.
Parker became a legendary local boniface, a complex man known "not to suffer fools nor tolerate bullshit," according to his son, John Parker, Jr. In this SLM profile by Jeannette Cooperman from 2012, a patron described him as “modest but brilliant. He can discuss ancient history, modern history, anything!” A poker buddy said, “He’s like the right amount of everything,” serious and funny, shy and outspoken. Parker’s friend Gerry Ortbals said, “So many great conversations. St. Louis lore, law, politics, crime, religion, philosophy, art... You can get a sandwich and a beer at a lot of places. You go to O’Connell’s for something more.”
Photo by George Mahe
When Jack Parker died in June 2020, the business was passed to Parker, Jr, and his two sisters, Victoria Parker, and Elizabeth Parker Cruz. The three siblings ran the pub together for several years until Parker, Jr. bought them out.
Jack Parker also owned Second Floor Secondhand, an antique shop above the restaurant. Parker, Jr., who was as passionate about music as his father was about antiques, converted the space into a live-music venue/art gallery called Jack’s Joint. He changed the first three letters of the “Antiques, J. Parker” sign so it whimsically read, “Musiques.”
The Food
Through the decades, O’Connell’s hamburger—a grilled 9-ouncer made from top sirloin—was the signature item. An example of simple perfection, O’Connell’s burgers were temped in a way that most others weren’t. SLM called it, “The best local example of a consistently, uniformly cooked burger. Due to a combination of proper meat and grill temperatures plus cooking skill, a burger ordered mid-rare almost always arrives at that temperature all the way through, no easy feat.”
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
O'Connell's Pub in St. Louis
The legendary cheeseburger at O'Connell's Pub
Other menu items had their devotees—the thick-sliced, beyond-generously portioned roast beef sandwiches, the onion rings, the black bean burger—but a mandatory addition was a house salad with original recipe Mayfair Dressing (which also became the sidesaddle dipper for OC's fried mushrooms).
Present & Future Plans
In a social media missive, Parker, Jr. brought the public up to date and hinted at his future plans. He mentioned how the business has changed since the boom times "in the '80s and '90s from the 3 a.m. liquor license. Now, nobody stays out late and young people want screens everywhere to get a late-night scene going. [O’Connell’s famously and proudly has one TV.] You kinda gotta know that world, and I know nothing of that world. Ya gotta be open on Sundays, and I don’t want to work seven days a week. Ya gotta maximize revenue streams, and I can’t do that at the pub. I’m just too close to it. It’s too emotional. I just need to rip off the band aid, say thanks for the memories, and move on to things that I love.”
Reached by phone over the weekend, Parker, Jr. says his plan was to slowly and methodically improve O’Connell’s systems and physical building but leave the vibe unchanged. “My main objective after my father died was to save the pub,” he says, “to preserve the memories which included preserving the building. Now my objective is to find somebody who loves the place, who gets it, and who will keep it as O’Connell’s Pub."
For 25 years, Parker, Jr. was in corporate business-to-business sales, an area where he’s most comfortable and plans to return. “I want to get back to working 40 hours a week and producing live music on the side,” says the man who says his main priority has always been his three kids. "Saving this restaurant took an insane amount of work, but after four years, I feel like my work is done here. It’s clean. It’s organized. Things work. The pub is in great shape.”
Editor's note: The story has been edited to reflect additional changes in O'Connell's ownership.
