The Chase Park Plaza

In 1921, a parcel of land at the corner of Lindell and Kingshighway was purchased by a group of businessmen, headed by attorney Chase Ulman. They planned to build a hotel-apartment complex on the property to take advantage of those individuals wishing to stay or dwell in the Central West End. In the short span of nine months, the Hotel Chase and Chase Apartments were constructed.
 

Hotel Chase, 1922

The Hotel Chase had its public opening on September 29, 1922; Paul Whiteman’s orchestra came from New York to play at a formal dinner dance. The nine-story hotel contained 500 guest rooms and multiple dining areas, including the Palm Room, which was open for the winter season, and the Roof Garden, open for the summer season.

The Palm Room was located directly behind the ground floor main lounge. There was a dance floor, with nightly dancing to a featured orchestra.

The Palm Room got off to an inauspicious start. On New Year’s Eve 1922, partiers jammed the spacious venue for dinner, dancing and midnight noisemaking. However, as it was the second New Year’s Eve under Prohibition, no alcohol was served. At each table, a card warned: "Patrons are earnestly requested not to violate the law." But by 1922, revelers knew how to slip a flask into a public place.

The party also attracted Gus O. Nations, St. Louis’ chief Prohibition enforcer. After midnight, Nations and five assisting officers strolled brashly into the Palm Room, checking for drinks and glancing beneath tables. A woman screamed, claiming an officer mistook her gown for a tablecloth. Her offended escort slugged the agent and outraged patrons threw plates and silverware at the officers, who retreated with revolvers drawn.
 

The Palm Room, 1920s

When the weather turned warm, the Palm Room closed and activities moved to the Roof Garden.

The roof garden, with a capacity of 1000 guests, is two-thirds under open air, a high battlement extending around the tops of the two wings, one of which gives an especially attractive view of Forest Park and St. Louis to the west. Huge canopies will be placed over these wings when the gardens are opened next season. The remainder of the roof garden is glass enclosed on the sides, with the exception of the kitchen, an exact duplicate of the ground floor kitchen, on a smaller scale.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept 28, 1922

Chase Roof Garden Dining Area, 1931
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Whether you entertain an out-of-town business acquaintance or a host of fun-loving friends – you'll be delighted with the beauty and richness of the enchanting Hotel Chase Roof Garden.

There's dancing at luncheon – there's dancing at dinner – there's dancing at supper – and there's always the distinction of being in "The Center of Social Activities" when you entertain on the Chase Roof.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 31, 1926

Chase Roof Garden Bandstand, 1931
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Chase Roof Luncheon Menu, 1927
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Chase Roof Dinner Menu, 1937
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Chase Roof Bar Menu
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In the summer of 1936, the Hotel Chase received complaints from tenants in a neighboring building that the music and floor show of its Roof Garden was keeping them awake a night. The City Excise Commissioner threatened revocation or suspension of the hotel's liquor license. Whether for this reason or, more likely, because summer roof gardens were being displaced by air conditioned venues, in 1940 the Chase Roof was enclosed and became the Starlight Roof.

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In 1927, the Westwood Country Club, which had been located in Glendale at the intersection of Lockwood and Berry for twenty-five years, relocated to grounds at Conway and Ballas. The Glendale location was sold to a syndicate headed by Walter L. Pfeffer and converted to a semipublic golf club under the name Westborough Country Club.

In the summer of 1933, the Westborough Country Club opened an outdoor venue on its grounds called the Terrace Gardens, open to the public for dining and dancing.
 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept 11, 1933

The Terrace Gardens provided first class entertainment, attracted large crowds and proved a financial success. It was so successful that the Westborough Country Club contracted with the Hotel Chase to use their Palm Room as a complimentary winter venue for their entertainers, with a complimentary name – the Westborough Town Club.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept 29, 1933
 
The Palm Room, Oct 13, 1933
 
The Palm Room Bandstand, Oct 13, 1933

The Westborough Town Club attracted country customers and town customers alike, and was an immediate success. However, on November 26, 1933, the Westborough Country Club in Glendale was destroyed by fire. The loss was estimated at $125,000.

In January of 1934, plans to rebuild the country club were announced. It was also announced that, "Westborough probably will not open any of its facilities, day or night, to the public this year. Supper dancing will be for club members only." Since a members only venue in a public hotel was problematic, Westborough sold its Town Club to the Hotel Chase.

Irving Rose and his Hotel Chase Town Club Orchestra is the correct billing . . . The popular maestro has been known as the boss fiddler for the Westborough Town Club band for all these months, but when the Westborough Country Club people reorganized themselves recently and decided to build a new and elaborate structure for members exclusively it was held they weren’t entitled to a city place and – well, now we have the Hotel Chase Town Club.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Mar 10, 1934

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mar 8, 1934

The Hotel Chase Town Club would move out of the Palm Room to a new space across the hall in November of 1935. By then, the "Town" moniker had be dropped.
 

Chase Club Entrance, 1934

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Sam Koplar was born in St. Louis on July 4, 1888 in a small house at the corner of Broadway and Tyler. He was forced to drop out of college after one year; his family could not afford the tuition. After unsuccessfully trying to find work washing cars for auto dealers, he stumbled into the construction business, where he made his fortune.

In 1929, Koplar acquired a lot near the corner of Lindell and Kingshighway, adjacent to the Hotel Chase, where he built a hotel modeled after the Savoy Plaza in New York City, with oversized windows, velvet draperies and divans in the lobby, uniformed bellhops and fine dining. He named his hotel the Park Plaza.

Koplar would lose the 28-story Park Plaza to foreclosure during the Depression, but he would reacquire it in 1944. And by 1946, he had acquired majority control of the Chase Hotel.
 

The Park Plaza Hotel adjacent to the Hotel Chase, 1930
 
Sam Koplar and son Harold, 1940s

The Park Plaza offered fine dining, as well as more casual venues. The Empire Room opened by December of 1930.

For you who choose to make an “Occasion” of dining. A magnificent room, in the Empire manner, where sophisticated diners will find an atmosphere truly distinguished, where guests whom you entertain will appreciate instantly the compliment bestowed upon them in selecting this exclusive dining room. A setting extraordinary . . . a menu that surpasses the most ambitious expectations.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr 29, 1931

1931 Empire Room Easter, Lunch & Dinner Menus
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In April of 1931, the Park Plaza announced the opening of the Terrace Restaurant.

Inimitable cuisine . . . deft service . . . and a charming environment. Service from 12 noon until 9 at night . . . ala carte and table d’hote.

Special luncheon (12 until 2) — $1.00. This includes bridge table service for ladies who wish to enjoy both an unusual luncheon and an afternoon of bridge. And outstanding dinner $1.50, nightly 6 until 9.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Apr 28, 1931

1931 Terrace Restaurant Menu
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The Park Plaza drug store, with a full soda fountain, made incomparable malts and milkshakes, as well as tasty tuna salad sandwiches. The Park Plaza Grill served breakfast, lunch and dinner, specializing in "fancy, oversized ice cream sodas and luscious sundees" and "mouth watering sandwiches in unusual combinations."

The Park Plaza Grill Menu
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The Park Plaza Grill Breakfast Menu
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There was more sophisticated entertainment and fine dining in the Crystal Terrace, an upscale dining room in the Park Plaza's lower level which opened on November 17, 1934.

Of course the Park Plaza would do it differently, strike just the right note. The Crystal Terrace and Crystal Bar, subtly decorated to bring out your gayest moods, will be acclaimed the classics of them all. Sparkling entertainment from America's sophisticated night clubs and an orchestra that knows what it takes to create dance-inspiring rhythms. These are the extra dividends of enjoyment that will make this St. Louis' most popular rendezvous for dinner and supper.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Nov 17, 1934

Crystal Terrace New Year's Eve Menu, Dec 31, 1938
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Crystal Terrace Dinner Menu, Mar 26, 1950
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On March 24, 1951, the Crystal Terrace became the Gourmet Room.

Not since the days of Tony Faust has St. Louis had a restaurant to compare with Chambord, Pavilion, 21, or the Pump Room. Now we are creating the Gourmet Room, dedicated to the followers of Brillat-Savarin and Esoffier, to replace the Crystal Terrace, on the Park Plaza lower level.

Here is a room for leisurely, gracious lunching or dining . . . flattering glow of soft lights in a luxurious setting . . . service that pampers . . . proper temperature of food and drink . . . imported delicacies to tempt gourmets.

No music, no dancing . . . no minimum, no cover . . . no entertainment tax.

Romi Campagnoli, who will open the new Gourmet Room, was formerly executive chef for many years at New York's famous El Morocco. He comes to St. Louis from the west coast where he has presided over the continental cuisine of such celebrated restaurants as La Rue's and L'Aiglon.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 22, 1951

The Gourmet Room, 1950s
 
Gourmet Room Menu, January, 1956
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On December 5, 1940, the Chase Hotel opened its new Starlight Roof and Zodiac Cocktail Lounge, a glass-enclosed supper room and bar, which replaced the open-air Roof Garden. A blue neon "CHASE" sign was installed atop the Zodiac Lounge's circular orchestra bay.

Starlight Roof and Zodiac Cocktail Lounge
Architectural Record, Feb, 1942

The Starlight Roof, with a capacity for 1100 people, became the hotel's main dining room, with dancing and entertainment. Decorated in rose and gray, it afforded a panoramic view of Forest Park and the west end of the city. An open terrace retained some of the charm of the old Chase Roof. Murals by Chicago artist Eric Mose were at the east end of the room.
 

Starlight Roof
Architectural Record, Feb, 1942
 
1943 Starlight Roof Menu
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The Zodiac Lounge had its own dance floor, with a circular orchestra bay. It terminated in a circular glass bar at the south end, 62 feet in circumference, with the 12 signs of the Zodiac sandblasted into its surface. In the center, a silver statue of a girl pointed to the sky. At the flick of a switch, a dome above the silver figure slid back, revealing the star-studded sky.
 

Zodiac Lounge
Architectural Record, Feb, 1942
 
Zodiac Bar
Architectural Record, Feb, 1942

There were other dining venues at the Chase, including the Fiesta Grille, which specialized in cheese blintzes, and the Steeplechase Room, where Harry Fender broadcast live on KMOX radio from 1954 until the mid 1970s.

Harold (Sam Koplar's son) wanted me to do the show from the Zodiac Room upstairs, where all the action was. I told Harold, "I want to go where the business ain't," so I chose the Steeplechase. "You're sticking your neck out," he said. Harold was going to close the Steeplechase.

But people just jammed in the place to see and hear all these great people. And they could do it for the price of a bottle of Budweiser.

For 20 years, Fender entertained late-night radio listeners with a veritable who's who of show business – Frank Sinatra, Sophie Tucker, Jimmy Durante, Nat King Cole, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Mary Martin, Pearl Bailey, Ethel Merman, Rodgers and Hammerstein and on and on.
 

The Steeplechase Room
 
Harry Fender
 
Fiesta Grille Luncheon Menu, 1946
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The premier venue at the Chase was the first floor Chase Club, which had moved from the Palm Room to a windowless interior space on the north side of the lobby in November of 1935. It would provided dining and entertainment for the next four decades.
 

Chase Club Menu, Apr 4, 1937
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When the Chase Club opened for the fall season in September of 1939 it had been completely redecorated. It boasted a blue plush ceiling, modernistic decorations and a larger dance floor, surrounded by tables where fine food was served.
 

Chase Club, early 1940s
 
Chase Club Menu, May 17, 1942
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The real attraction at the Chase Club was the entertainment. Hack Ulrich, who joined the Chase Hotel staff in 1936 as a bus boy, was the Chase Club's maitre d' for many years until he took the same position at the hotel's Tenderloin Room when it opened in 1962.

Things really started about 1945, after the war ended. The Chase Club had all the top talent. We had Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Perry Como with the Ted Weems Orchestra. . . . We would serve 1400 to 1500 people. We had Guy Lombardo's Band there for two New Year's Eves.

By the 1950s, the Chase Club had a national reputation; it was known as one of the leading nightclubs in America. The greatest stars in the country came to St. Louis to appear at the club.
 

Chase Club Menu, February 1952
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Nat King Cole at the Chase Club, April 1955

The Chase Club continued to book events throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s. The list of entertainers appearing at the club in 1964 included Eddie Albert, Sophie Tucker, Robert Goulet, Milton Berle, Vikki Carr, Kay Stevens and Frank Sinatra, Jr. After that, bookings became more infrequent, with performers replaced by fashion shows, banquets and Persian rug sales.

In February of 1972, Harold Koplar announced he was closing the Chase Club, explaining the hotel would emphasize food rather than entertainment. The space was converted into two restaurants – the Sea Chase and the Hostaria dell 'Orso.

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On October 30, 1960, the following article appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Chase and Park Plaza Hotels will be joined into a single unit at the lobby level. Construction will start in mid November. A single reservation desk will be manned by staff members now working at both hotels.

New space created in the lobby will be occupied by shops, new dining rooms and entertainment facilities. A steak house and adjoining taproom will be built on the site of the Park Plaza Grill, kitchen and Merry-Go-Round lounge. An espresso shop featuring pastries and ice cream confections also will be built in the lobby area.

The Chase Hotel’s Fiesta Grill will be redesigned and renamed to serve as a supplement to the less formal coffee shop facilities. Another dining room, the Hunt Room, will be nearby.

When the work is completed about the middle of next year, the establishment will be known as the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel.

The Chase Park Plaza, 1968

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The Hunt Room opened in 1962. It was the first restaurant in St. Louis to serve Sunday brunch. The Hunt Room was styled after a gracious dining room in old Williamsburg, with a high ceiling and bleached pine walls. There were displays of antiques used during the Williamsburg period, including hand-blown glass water carriers, a tea canister from China, hunting horns, pictures taken from magazines published in that period and boots. Twin chandeliers of Waterford crystal hung at each end of the dining room.
 

Hunt Room Luncheon Menu
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Hunt Room Dinner Menu
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Sunday Brunch in the Hunt Room

The popular Tack Room was added at the north end of the Chase lobby. The restaurant was modeled after a typical Virginia tack and trophy room, most of which were styled in the manner of English architect Sir Christopher Wren. A tack or trophy room was an area next to the stable where gentlemen met after a hunt to rest and talk about the events of the day.

The booth separators were patterned after English horse stall dividers. The antique brick walls, curved beams and hand-pegged oak floor reflected the sturdy seventeenth century style. The lighting fixtures were antique railway carriage lamps purchase at the Paris Flea Market, ancient brass lanterns and iron coach lanterns, and large brass lanterns that were once street lights from the town of Dundee, Scotland.

Blending with the room's antiquity was modern food equipment, color-cued upholstered banquettes and Formica table tops.

The Tack Room St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 18, 1968

The twenty-four hour "coffee shop" served an array of good food at reasonable prices, and offered table, booth and counter service. It was the place to see celebrities and business bigwigs while you enjoyed a chili-cheeseburger.

The Tack Room Menu, 1966
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In December of 1972, Harold Koplar opened The Sea Chase at the site of the shuttered Chase Club on the lobby level. He spared no expense to make the restaurant look authentic. There were various sea-oriented wall hangings, wrought iron gates and railings, and a ten-foot model of the Sea Witch, an ocean tugboat used in the film "The Wreck of the Mary Deare." While the Sea Chase lasted over a decade, it never received favorable reviews.

The Sea Chase Menu, 1970s
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On Mach 28, 1962, Harold Koplar opened the Tenderloin Room on the ground floor of the Park Plaza and put Hack Ulrich in charge.

Henry "Hack" Ulrich was a St. Louis legend. He started working at the Chase as a busboy in 1936, right out of high school. He was the maître d' at the Chase Club. When Koplar planned a new dining room for the hotel, there was never any doubt who would be its maître d'.

If you needed a table, you called Hack. He knew the name of every individual who came once to the Tenderloin Room, and if they came twice, as most did, he knew the names of their family members, banker and barber. In 1982, the restaurant was renamed "Hack's Tenderloin Room" to commemorate his many years of service to the Chase Hotel and his standing as a St. Louis institution.
 

Henry "Hack" Ulrich

The Tenderloin Room was elegant and old-fashioned, with carved panels and woodwork that Koplar had bought from a demolished mansion on Vandeventer Place. On the left side of the room was a specially built charcoal grill, with an outsized metal ventilating hood, where food was cooked and then served within seconds.

"We bought nothing but the best prime meats, and it was aged good, and everything made to order," said Ulrich. "We took it off that grill and put it on a plate and gave it to you. Everything was just perfect, hot."
 

Tenderloin Room, 1964
 
Tenderloin Room's Charcoal Grill

Mainstays of the Tenderloin Room menu were its U.S. Senate Bean Soup, served at both lunch and dinner, and its popular Hellenic Salad, which was almost a meal in itself. But the Tenderloin Room's specialty was beef – particularly Hack’s trademark Pepperloin Steak with its piquant mustard sauce.

For dessert, many chose the sumptuously rich cheesecake, conjured up by the Chase’s pastry department under chef Alfred Fink. "You know, we made the greatest cheesecake in the world, unbelievable," said Ulrich. "If I gave you a piece of that cheesecake, I’d pay you if you could eat it in one sitting."

The cheesecake was only one item on the pastry cart, which featured other gastronomic delights: Napoleons, hazelnut cake, strawberry pie, banana cream pie, mocha whipped cream pie and coconut cream pie.
 

Tenderloin Room, 1960s
 
Tenderloin Room Lunch Menu, 1966
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In 1968, the Tenderloin Room was almost totally destroyed by fire. Undaunted, Hack and his staff moved the entire operation to the lower level of the Park Plaza and opened the same night of the fire, ready for business as usual. When the Tenderloin Room reopened in 1970, it was like stepping backward into time, only better; the room changed only slightly from the original design.
 

Henry "Hack" Ulrich
Chase Park Plaza Publication Cover
Tenderloin Room Menu, 1974
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In January of 1986, Hack Ulrich retired after 50 years at the Chase and Harold Haynes, who had been Hack's second in command at the Tenderloin Room for 17 years, took over. But Haynes only lasted until mid-year, when he departed to join the ranks of Anheuser-Busch.

On September 22, 1989, the Chase Hotel, which had been sold by the Koplars in 1981, closed its doors. Management said the closing would not affect the adjoining Park Plaza, which had been converted to apartments some years earlier, or the Tenderloin Room restaurant on its ground floor.

But the restaurant's business, which had already been waning, declined to unsustainable levels without the hotel to feed it. On August 11, 1991, the Tenderloin Room closed after its dinner service.

On that last evening, Hack Ulrich sat in one of the restaurant's burgundy wing-backed chairs, sipping coffee. Glancing at a sheet of paper, he read off names of presidents, actors and athletes who had frequented the restaurant.

We had practically every celebrity that ever was. It's a shame to close this room . . . but all things come to an end, I guess.


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