The White Grill first opened its doors on Main Street in 1938, and is now the oldest Festus business still in its original location.  Caroline and Mike LaBrayere purchased the restaurant in 1998.  They were managing other restaurants when they noticed that the White Grill was for sale.  “We walked in and an hour later it was ours,” Caroline LaBrayere says.

Caroline LaBrayere came from a family of eight children and she raised a family of eight children.  She has six children including twins and a set of triplets, and she also has two step-children.  The children, teenagers and pre-teens at the time of their purchase, started bussing tables and washing dishes within the first year.  Twins Vincent and Tony; Tara, who is one of the triplets, and daughter Christina still work regular shifts at the restaurant.  Currently triplets Brad and Brandon are serving in the navy, and her step-sons, Matthew and Mark, have worked there in the past. 

When they purchased the White Grill, Caroline LaBrayere says that the place was trashed.  “The carpet had big holes in it and it was pretty run-down,” she says.  “We painted and carpeted and cleaned for two weeks straight.  We had to put a new grill in.  We had to put a new hood in.” 

The restaurant wasn’t busy when they re-opened it.  For the first year, Caroline LaBrayere had to keep her job while Mike LaBrayere ran the White Grill.  “So I guess we kind of revived it,” she says.  “Within that first year, we were rolling.  Then I had to quit my job because we were so busy.”

Caroline LaBrayere attributes the White Grill’s success to the burger.  “Word got out because people love our hamburger,” she says.  Part time server, Lisa, points out that they also sell a lot of chili, between 15 and 20 pounds of it every three days. 

Chili and burgers were the popular items when the White Grill originally opened in 1938, too.  According to author Howard C. Litton in Tanglefoot, Volume 1, the empty lot sat between two other Main Street businesses, the Gift Chest store and Fink’s Undertaking Parlors.  Long-time area resident, Leo Cavagnaro, had the building constructed entirely of locally-made materials and using only local labor.  Crystal City’s Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (PPG) furnished the picture window and ‘Cararra’ white glass blocks with black accents.  This striking façade remained in use until several years ago when some of the blocks fell. 

Cavagnaro selected the name from several hundred suggestions.  He served five-cent hamburgers, OT Hodges Chili, pastries, soups, and other foods.  Cavagnaro successfully operated the business for a decade before selling it to Samuel Temperato and Doan Noce.

The business changed hands at least eight times before the LaBrayeres purchased it.  Some of those owners and operators had more success than others, and at least one owner gave up on the business after just one year. 

White Grill regulars call the LaBrayeres at home on the odd holiday or occasion that they open late or close entirely.  “You open the door at six, and there they all are,” she says.  “They’re fighting over their stools in the morning.”  It’s no wonder White Grill regulars feel out-of-sorts when the restaurant closes. More than half of their regular customers show up every single day for breakfast, lunch, or both, and Caroline LaBrayere knows what they’ll be eating before they walk in the door.  For many, the White Grill is as much a part of their daily rhythm as slipping their feet into their shoes.

Speaking of customers that can’t get enough of the White Grill, Caroline LaBrayere believes she has a few regulars of the other-worldly variety.  “I should tell you about the White Grill ghost,” she says.  At least once she has felt like someone was following her into the basement when she was the only person on the premises.  Sometimes people hear footsteps on the stairs when no one is there and the doors open and close on their own on breezeless days.  Occasionally the bells that hang from the door jingle for no apparent reason.  “Mike swears one day he saw a man sitting at a table here with a hat on,” she says.  “He turned around and looked back, and he wasn’t there anymore.  He said it was a man sitting at a table drinking coffee.”  Perhaps some of the customers just love the White Grill too much to leave it behind, ever.  The restaurant certainly seems to have that effect on its living clients.  

According to Caroline LaBrayere, one couple traveled from California to have their 50th anniversary dinner at the White Grill.  “They didn’t have much money,” she says.  “But where they came for their dinner after they got married was the White Grill.  They flew all of the way back to Missouri in the hopes that the White Grill would still be here.  She was crying when she came in the door.  I said, ‘You should have called.  We would have had you a table set up,’ and she said, ‘No, I want it just like it is.’

The White Grill is located at 218 Main Street in Festus, and their telephone is 636-937-7090.  They offer dine-in and carry-out breakfast and lunch from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm weekdays and 7:00 am to 2:00 pm Saturdays and Sundays.