Bevo Mill

August A. Busch, the second member of his family to guide Anheuser-Busch, built the Bevo Mill as an alternative to wicked saloons. The year was 1916 and Busch had already launched Bevo, which took its name from the Bohemian pivo (beer) and contained less than one-half percent alcohol. The Bevo Mill, a replica of a Dutch windmill, was a high-class restaurant, with beer and wine (no hard liquor) available only at tables. There was no bar, no sawdust, no bawdy women.

Of course, Busch couldn't hold off Prohibition -- and when it arrived, the public rushed to drink bootleg liquor instead of low-alcohol beer -- but St. Louis was left with a terrific German restaurant. The Bevo Mill consistently wins awards for its reasonably priced German fare, such as sauerbraten, rouladen and hasenpfeffer. The main dining room has the feel of a Teutonic hall with antlers on the walls and plenty of dark wood, but the premier seats are in the Mill Room, which is directly below the still-operating mill blades.

The ceilings in the foyer and Mill Room, which was Busch's private dining room, have groined arches which end in stone-carved gnomes, each of them holding a mug. The gnomes were originally exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1889. On the walls of the Mill Room are two large, tile murals of angelic children frolicking with animals. All the tiles, light fixtures and millwork are original. Anheuser-Busch spent $1 million on a 20-month restoration project in the mid-1980s, four times what the Bevo Mill cost originally.

The Bevo Mill is located halfway between Grant's Farm, Busch's lavish estate, and the brewery. An entire neighborhood, named for the mill, has grown around the restaurant, and the giant windmill juts out over the storefront businesses along the surrounding streets. The exterior of the building was finished with stones gathered from Grant's Farm and, following German and Dutch traditions, a pair of cement storks sits on top of the chimney for good luck.

The restaurant offers a variety of bottled beer with meals, including a solid selection of imports and A-B beers. A-B's "American Originals" seem right in place here.

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October 1997