Joe Garavelli first came to the United States from Italy in 1901 when he was 17 years old. He joined his two brothers, Ben and Charlie, in New York, where they had a bar and restaurant. But Garavelli got homesick and returned to Italy. When he came back to the United States a second time in 1903, his brothers had moved to St. Louis, and Garavelli followed.
Ben and Charlie Garavelli opened a cafe at Grand and Olive; their “Garavelli’s” would remain in business until 1979. But Joe Garavelli struck out on his own. He opened a tavern on a vacant lot at the corner of DeBaliviere and DeGiverville in 1914, furnishing it with a splendid old-fashioned bar and mahogany paneled walls. At first, the only company he saw was the motorman on the streetcar which looped at DeBaliviere and went back to town. But as the neighborhood began building up, business picked up and Garavelli became THE place to go. Continue reading “Throwback Thursday: Garavelli’s”