Beffa Brothers Carlo Beffa married Luigia Forni on July 9, 1851. They lived in Madrano, Switzerland, where Carlo worked as a farmer and Luigia gave birth to children – 17 of them. There were ten Beffa sons and seven Beffa daughters, and at least five of those sons immigrated to the United States and lived in St. Louis.
Anselmo Beffa was born on February 10, 1879; he
was child number 16 and son number nine. Anselmo immigrated to the
United States in 1897, and by 1899 was working as a bartender in St.
Louis at the the Beffa Brothers Place in the Garfield House at 13th
and Market streets. His older brothers, Basilio and Pasquale, also
worked there as bartenders, but they were not the "brothers" on the
saloon's marquee. Martin and Severo Beffa owned the saloon. They had also immigrated from Madrano
and were likely Anselmo's cousins.
Attilio Beffa – the seventeenth and last of Carlo and Luigia Beffa's progeny – was born on May 6, 1882. He immigrated to the United States from Madrano in 1900. By 1901, Attilio and Anselmo Beffa had opened their own Beffa Brothers saloon at 2658 Olive, at the southeast corner of Olive and Beaumont streets. In 1917, Anselmo left his brother Attilio to open a tavern next door to the King’s Theater at Kingshighway and Delmar. He operated there until 1920, closing because of Prohibition. In April of 1921, Anselmo opened the Locust Luncheonette at 1017 Locust, a popular sandwich shop for downtown office workers for many years. When the building in which it was housed was demolished, Anselmo opened Beffa's Buffet at 1103 Olive with his sons, Leo and Ray. Attilio Beffa continued to own and manage Beffa Brothers at 2658 Olive. In 1917, he was joined for a short time by his brother Pasquale. Pasquale Beffa died in April of 1919. Basilio Beffa had died in 1913. When Prohibition came along in 1920, Attilio began serving sandwiches in his saloon. In time, Beffa Brothers became a cafeteria.
A 1941 photo of Attilio Beffa standing in front
of his restaurant at Olive and Beaumont displays the name "Beaumont
Buffet" on the window. A Laurel Springs bourbon ad in the November
5, 1953 St. Louis Post-Dispatch also lists the "Beaumont Buffet" at
2658 Olive. With his brothers no longer involved, Attilio had
changed the name of his eatery.
After the Second World War, three of Attilio’s
children joined him at his restaurant – Francis, Robert and Marie.
Robert was usually behind the bar, with Frances and Marie in the
kitchen or behind the steam table. With brothers once again
involved, in the mid 1950s, the restaurant again became known as
Beffa Brothers.
Attilio Beffa died in 1963 at the age of 81. The structure at 2658 Olive, which had housed his restaurant since the turn of the century, was also deteriorating. On St. Patrick's Day of 1966, Attilio's children moved Beffa Brothers to a new building across the street, on the southwest corner of Olive and Beaumont. Francis Beffa's son Michael recalled, "Customers had lunch at the old saloon, carried the furniture and equipment across the street, and started drinking at the new place; we never closed."
The new Beffa Brothers space at 2700 Olive was
hidden in a nondescript two-story brick building. Perhaps because
they were simply moving across the street, the Beffas didn’t put up
a sign. As the years went by, the absence of a sign became part of
their lore. You either knew about the restaurant or you didn’t.
The restaurant itself was relatively austere.
The steam table was to the left and the bar to the right. Above the
steam table was a long mural, which included wine casks and St.
Louis scenes, along with the phrase "Salute! Prosperita’ e Lunga
Vita" – a regular greeting of Attilio Beffa's.
Behind the bar and above the backbar was a
painting depicting the flags of the 23 states, or cantons, of
Switzerland. In the center was the red and blue flag of the canton Ticino from which the Beffa clan hailed. Also above the backbar
was a charcoal drawing of Carlo and Luigia Beffa, in a gold frame above
the bar cash register, and the Beffa coat of arms, with the head of
a woman under a falcon.
Francis Beffa's son Michael and his daughter Terry joined their father as the third generation at the restaurant, as did Robert Beffa's son, John. Michael and Terry handled the food operation with their father, while John helped run the bar with his. Movers and shakers dined at Beffa Brothers. There was an urban mixture of cops and reputed mob figures mingling around the steam table. High-ranking members of the police department gathered for spirited gin rummy games in a room upstairs.
There were mayors, fire chiefs, judges,
restaurateurs, barristers, media personalities, clergy leaders,
bankers, sports figures and business owners. Yet, the restaurant was
still a neighborhood place. AT&T was across Olive, just to Beffa’s
north, and A.G. Edwards was just south on Beaumont. Workers from
both places came filing in at noon.
Many said Beffa Brothers served the best diner food in the world. An incredible selection was available as one moved along the steam tables. Daily favorites included Monday's fresh corned-beef hash, turkey with wild rice, and tamales with chili. There was pork sausage, tongue and hearty beef stew on Tuesday. On Wednesday, one could eat BBQ franks, with or without chili, or homemade meat loaf. On Thursday there was chicken-ala-king with pimentos, Italian sausage and Salisbury steak. The Friday fish fry featured grouper and grilled salmon, and there was also chicken fried steak or creamy macaroni and cheese. There was a soup or two each day, with bean on Monday, chicken noodle on Wednesday, fresh garden vegetable on Thursday and spilt pea on Friday. In addition, there was BBQ ham on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and BBQ pork on Tuesday and Thursday. Other favorites included a turkey club with crisp bacon, a tuna-salad sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on wheat toast, a sardine sandwich supreme and the Sala special sandwich, made with roast beef, ham, shredded lettuce and pickles on three pieces of white toast.
In addition to lunch, Beffa Brothers served
standard breakfast fare, including bacon, eggs, pancakes and
biscuits – all top quality.
Unlike other cafeterias, Beffa Brothers did not post a price list behind the steam table and there was no printed menu. What one paid varied from day to day, though the same person staffed the cash register. A corned beef sandwich could run $5 on a Tuesday and $7.50 the following Friday. It was part of the mystique.
Without fanfare, in the spring of 2011, Michael
Beffa announced that the family restaurant was closing. Beffa
Brothers served its last lunch on May 27, 2011.
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