Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 5-3-17

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Pull up to The Brass Rail for exceptional steaks and much more
By AMY ARMOUR
In a quest to save money for his first car,
Scott Ellinger worked as a dishwater in a
local restaurant at the age of 15. That first
job ended up leading him into the restaurant
industry and a lifelong career.
The owner and executive chef of The
Brass Rail in O’Fallon, Ellinger worked
his way up through restaurants including
Buffalo Wild Wings, J. Alexanders
and Dave & Buster’s. Ellinger said that
experience ultimately trained him for his
dream job – to run his own restaurant.
Ellinger’s dream was realized in February
2012 when he opened The Brass
Rail at 4601 Hwy. K in O’Fallon. Since
opening, the restaurant has expanded four
times, adding an on-site butcher shop,
indoor/outdoor atrium and outdoor patio,
and expanding the overall restaurant.
All of the steaks and seafood at The
Brass Rail are hand cut. The salad dressing
is fresh and handmade, and all of the
soups are made from scratch.
“Everything on the menu is made to
The Brass Rail
order when it’s ordered, so we take a lot
of special requests,” said Ellinger. “We
have a pretty extensive gluten-free menu,
so we can really cater to a lot of different
types of people.”
At its heart, The Brass Rail is a steakhouse
and sells hundreds of pounds of
steak each week – but the most popular
item on the menu is the Buffalo Chicken
Sandwich.
“We’re [also] known for our crab cakes,”
said Ellinger, who cooked in Baltimore
for two years. “They are legit Maryland
crab cakes that we feel are the best ones
you can get around here.”
The Smoked Chicken Wings are the current
house signature item – and Ellinger
said they’re hard to keep in stock.
“Everyone out there right now has their
standard fried wings and we are doing
ours very differently [and] going through
incredible amounts of them,” Ellinger
said. “It’s a very popular item.”
Ellinger said he recommends that new
diners check out any of the menu items
containing the prime sirloin – whether it’s
4601 Hwy. K • O’Fallon • www.brassrail1.com • (636) 329-1349
Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight, Monday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday
a steak filet, a steak quesadilla or a steak
sandwich.
“All of those items are made with prime
sirloin, which really is a differentiator
from other places where you may not get
such high quality,” Ellinger said. “We
really try and tailor the menu so you can
spend $7 or $40 and be really happy with
what you get.”
Matching the quality of the food is the
exceptional customer service.
“We have attracted a team of people who
genuinely care about giving great service.
We seem to attract and retain people who
are conscientious and want to do a good
job for our guests, and that makes a huge
difference,” Ellinger said.
The restaurant takes its service to
another level each Thanksgiving by giving
back to the community. In 2014, Ellinger
decided to provide 100 needy people with
a free Thanksgiving dinner. Run completely
with a volunteer staff of chefs and
servers from numerous restaurants, The
Brass Rail fed 1,300 people in 2015.
“I wanted to give back. It started small,
but it’s exploded,” said Ellinger, who
served more than 3,100 meals on Thanksgiving
in 2016. He said people have already
started asking about volunteering for 2017.
The Brass Rail also caters events on-
May 3, 2017
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
I 37
Scott Ellinger, owner of The Brass Rail
and off-site – from birthday parties and
retirement parties to corporate events and
weddings. The 6,500-square-foot restaurant
has four private rooms available for
parties between 16 to 80 people.
The restaurant’s on-site butcher shop,
the TBR Prime Steak Market, features
steaks, burgers, ribs, homemade soups,
sides and fresh produce. The market even
has flavored smoking chips available for
purchase.
“There are very few places out there
where you can buy something of this quality
and take it home to cook out if you feel
like it,” said Ellinger. “Our goal is to provide
a one-stop shop for a cookout without
having to go to the grocery store.
Upscale Casual American Grill
24 Local Craft Beers on Tap
Freshest Local Ingredients
New hours:
TUESDAY - THURSDAY 11a- 10p • FRIDAY & SATURDAY 11a-11p
Specials:
TUESDAY
$9.99 classic burger and a pint
(all day 11am to 9pm)
WEDNESDAY
Wraps and Taps (speciality wrap menu
with select pints and speciality cocktails. 4pm to 9pm)
THURSDAY
Happy Hour all night 3pm - 9pm
2447 Hwy K - O’Fallon • 636.240.0633 • www.MikesGrillandTap.com
TREAT MOM TO A FRITZ’S
GIFT CERTIFICATE!
SEE THE
FLAVOR
OF THE DAY AT
FLORRISANT ST. PETERS
1055 St. Catherine 506 Jungermann
314-839-4100 636-928-2606
www.fritzfrozencustard.com
O’FALLON
2453 Hwy K
636-379-2799
DRIVE-THRU
FREE
Baby Cones
to Kids
3 and Under
GIFT CERTIFICATE!
A FRITZ’S
TO MOM TREAT
(And our 4 Legged Friends Too)
WENTZVILLE
1105 W. Pearce Blvd
636-639-8088
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DRIVE-THRU
SUN-THURS: 11:30AM-10PM • FRI-SAT: 11:30AM-11PM SUMMER HOURS: 11:30AM-11PM DAILY
FREE Baby Cones
steakhouse
introduces the
located in brass rail
steakhouse
4609 Highway K • O’Fallon
636-329-1349
www.brassrail1.com
Hours for the TRB Prime Steak Market:
the
Mon. - Thurs. 11AM-7PM • Fri. 11AM-8PM
Sat. 9AM-8PM • Sun. 9AM-7PM
Restaurant Hours:
Mon. - Sat. 11AM-12AM • Sun. 11AM-11PM
FULL SERVICE BUTCHER SHOP
FOR CARRYOUT
• All flavors of smoking chips
• Cedar planks for salmon
• Fresh Seafood daily
• Special Orders • Bulk Orders
• Fresh Produce daily
• Beer & Wine Carry-Out
Buy 4 certified Beef Filets
& get 4 shrimp skewers
FREE
Offer expires June 6, 2017. Not combined with any other offers.
$10 OFF
Any purchase of $50
Offer expires June 6, 2017. Not combined with any other offers.
Receive 2 10 oz. USDA
Prime Graded Sirloins
with any $100 purchase.
TBR PRIME STEAK MARKET | Logo Concepts Round 3 | 1A
Offer expires June 6, 2017. Not combined with any other offers.
OFFERS VALID ONLY IN TRB PRIME STEAK MARKET
the 2015 & 2016 steakhouse of the year