ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – After years of neglect and deterioration, a former Texaco gas station in St. Charles is on the verge of reopening to the community.
Andy Stark and his wife Stephanie Lai purchased the property in the fall of 2023. The decision came after Stark found himself frequently driving past the former gas station on his way to work.
“I was watching it for a couple of years and it seemed like it was active and then it started getting kind of quiet,” he said. “We came back from an overseas trip and noticed there was nothing happening here and it was getting untidy.”
Stark said the couple tossed around a couple of ideas for the property. The idea for a food truck garden came after a business trip.
“I went to a food truck lot and one of the truck’s struck me, it was kind of cool, mid-50s car, it had a piece of a car sticking out the side of it,” he said.
After nearly two years of work, the couple plans to open Bench Racers, a food truck garden, on March 21. The grand opening will take place later this summer.
Bench Racers will offer a bar, along with Sugarfire BBQ and an assortment of rotating food trucks.
“It’s kind of a neat little area that’s been overlooked and I think it’s time for people to realize Frenchtown is really cool,” he said. “The north end needed something down here and we thought this would really fit in down here. We got the Katy Trail right there people can jump off the Katy Trail.”
The food truck garden will offer pictures and memorabilia of old cars, along with an inside seating area and outdoor picnic tables and chairs.
Many of the chairs, Stark said, assembled by local car clubs who have stopped by to take pictures and lend a hand.
“Everything we’ve done to the building we’ve kept local,” he said. “Much of the work we did ourselves but everything else, we kept it here.”
Stark is hopeful the city’s plan to connect Frenchtown with Historic Main Street will result in increased traffic through the Frenchtown District and help the budding businesses along North Second Street.
“That’s going to bring traffic, and there’s only one way to get there and that’s down Second Street so that’ll bring traffic here,” he said. “Also we can kind of act like an overflow when they have bigger events, their parking is only so much.”
Just down the street, Maurice and Claudette Robinson own Big Mo’s BBQ.
“I’ve been in food service my entire life, but it wasn’t until 2010 I found a calling with BBQ,” said Robinson. “The dream was always to open a brick-and-mortar store.”
Robinson said he and his wife have always had an affinity for St. Charles County, despite living in North St. Louis County. For years, they kept their eyes out for the perfect spot to open a restaurant.
Last June, they hosted their grand opening.
“Business has dropped off since then,” said Robinson. “But I think we just need to weather the storm. Once the traffic flow gets going, and city hall is done, it’s going to be wonderful over here, it’s going to be fantastic.”
Last April, the city broke ground on the City Centre Complex, an $85 million project that aims to offer a new city hall building, recreation center, senior center and farmer’s market. In doing so, city officials hope to finally connect Frenchtown to Historic Main Street.
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