The Speakeasy Café (527 Holly Hills Avenue) could be from another time. In a way it is.
Fanned palms welcome you at a front door made out of a homey honey oak. The green awning that shades outdoor bistro chairs is well complemented by stained glass windows that only let you see partially inside. Like any proper speakeasy, you can’t let outsiders see too much.
Mike De Long — the owner, builder and designer of the cafe, which opened March 11 — tried to keep as much from the building’s days as an actual speakeasy in the ’30s intact. The room that housed the liquor was converted into a small seating space hidden behind a faux wardrobe. Currently, it’s not open to the public. But the mystery remains.
De Long refurbished what could be saved from the last time the space was touched by skilled hands back in the ’30s. He traveled across the county and the country to find complimenting pieces for the aesthetic.
“Let’s talk about the Green Goose Resale & Consignment and the Cool Stuff Store,” he says, laughing. “Frenchtown Records on Park Avenue. Every yard sale from Maine to San Diego that was selling stuff from Prohibition.”
The result is a cafe that is filled to the brim with the old and new. When you visit, you’ll even hear songs from the 2010s and the 2020s, sung in the jazz and blues style.
The menu is locally sourced, with a longtime St. Louis roaster Dubuque Coffee Company supplying the beans. The coffee is good, but the cinnamon roll is show stopping. Crunchy and crusty, almost like a croissant, with thick icing, the packs flavor into the perfect size. It’s also the most popular item at the moment.
De Long fills every inch of the space, describing his taste as “what you would call maximalist. Every inch is maximized. You will see things which are really flamboyant.”
The Prohibition era was a time in history where decadence was the norm. De Long believes this is what you should expect when visiting his baby — also world-class service. After working in the army for 10 years, serving in South Korea and Iraq at Baghdad, he has found that civilian life can benefit from the organization of military life.
“I bring a level of constant, constant organization. The logistics are very iron-clad,” he says, referencing his two other businesses, De Long Property Management and De Long Construction and Remodeling.
He originally bought the property in May of 2019 to serve as his full-time residence. His experience as a contractor specializing in late 1800s and early 1900s homes, as well as a property manager, had prepared him for the big project. After learning that the space was zoned for multi-use, he considered all his travels and the lessons learned while working in the army. He realized he could use the space to be more than just his home, but also a community hub.
“I wanted to invest in a neighborhood I felt like had room for growth and potential,” he says. “[Carondelet] did not possess a coffee shop outside of Starbucks. There was one, but that closed down during COVID, and I freaked out because that was my breakfast.”
Without his meatloaf sandwich breakfast, he knew he had to do something to fill the void that was left in his stomach and neighborhood.
De Long hopes the Speakeasy Café wishes to bring something to a part of the city that is often forgotten. Carondelet is primarily residential and lacks the amount of businesses and nightlife as most downtown and other South City neighborhoods.
Jokingly, and even a little lovingly, De Long calls Carondelet “the bastard stepchild of south St. Louis.” But he wants to change that. Hopefully, Speakeasy Café will be the start of that change.
“I want to bring a constant, a cornerstone,” De Long says. “I built it for the neighborhood. It was important for me to have those types of pieces — like a corner-store candy shop —which was mindful of a [specific] niche. I want to create something which is generational. I want kids to come by when they're older and be like, ‘I used to get a muffin at the Speakeasy.’ This is a bridge for people to connect.”
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