NEWS

Industry Interview: Pablo Weiss of Mercury
By Thomas Crone June 21, 2006

Now I’ve known Pablo Weiss since he introduced his first, two-room concept – the Hot Locust Cantina and the Side Door Club – in the mid-‘90s. And since then, aspects of his personality have remained remarkably the same. Business-wise, he continues to invest in Downtown and takes chances on buildings along underdeveloped blocks, often the first person to take the plunge. Personally, he maintains a certain roguish, boy’s club charm that makes for outrageously good happy-hour conversation.

In fact, I caught up with him yesterday afternoon, not at Mercury, but at his mezzanine HQ at Kitchen K at 1000 Washington, where his shared office is given over to his many interests; walls feature photos of Weiss with Ron Jeremy, along with countless representations of his favorite vegetable, corn. Though the setting was the K, the topic was, in fact, Mercury, this latest Downtown joint. His mood was, well, colorful.

As in intro, he suggested that I ask about a new promotion. Knowing something amusing was coming, I went for the bait.

Okay, I understand you have some new promotions at Mercury!
Yeah, July 10, the Monday just after the 4th of July, we’ll start the Gentleman’s Club at Mercury. It’s gonna be a lunch that caters to businessmen, construction (workers) and other gentlemen around the area. It’ll be modeled after what I’ve been doing at Kitchen K. Having attractive female servers with just a good guy’s lunch. I think that’s something really missing down here. You see the response to it in Soulard. I’m really excited about this.

You opened doors right before baseball season. How’s that been treating you?
It’s really interesting. I’m from Chicago, I grew up around Wrigley. I was at some games there last week. It’s mainly an adult crowd and the bars are popping. So I said, “Heck, I’ll open up a place near (Busch) and it’ll be a one-in, one-out type of place.” And it’s not been that, in a good way. There’re a lot more kids at games here, which is not a good thing for me. It is what it is. But we’ve developed a really nice clientele. It’s not the fraternity party, guzzling a 24-ounce beer atmosphere. It’s a little more refined, you can actually get a seat. We’ve got a nice outdoor area. And we sell the Bud and Bud Lights in the 16-ounce aluminum bottles, not the 24-ounce cans. We have the attractive servers. And it’s just a little bit older clientele. It’s urban chic, as I like to think.

That corner of Downtown was one that was hidden from people, prior to you opening and prior to the lofts opening.
Yeah, it’s really been a no-man’s land. But across the street from me, McGowan-Walsh has been doing a development, the building next to me is being developed by Conrad Properties and they’re talking about a J. Buck’s going in. An ad/marketing firm called Rogers/Townsend is coming in, they’re under active construction. I’m the first one down there, though I’m right on Spruce, west of 11th and west of the (Westin) Hotel. From the outdoor patio, you can see the left field gate. People are finding out about me, they’re having a good experience. Like I say, it’s not absolutely jam-packed with a bunch of young punks. It’s people 25-45, exclusively female servers. A good mix of people. We’re also doing DJs on Friday and Saturday nights, doing a house mix, a little trance mix, not the hip-hop stuff which grates on my nerves, personally.

This is a smaller space than some of your previous works.
Right, Mercury inside is 75 people and you’re full; outside, it’s 75 people and you’re full. So it’s a little more exclusive, it’s higher-end. It’s away from the racket of the other places. I don’t want to bring them down, but they’re not for everybody.

Is there anything about the process of putting this place together that you’ve reflected on, a couple of months later.
The process is just getting people their drinks quickly, before and after games, give them a higher-end experience than they might be getting elsewhere. You start out with some flaky, hot chicks and they fall by the wayside and you find more flaky, hot chicks. It’s funny that there’s an endless of supply of flaky, hot chicks to make us happy and to serve us our beers and food.

(Considerable laughter.) What are the popular drinks there, would you say?
First of all, this is Tim McKernan’s website, so we can cut to the chase here. And we don’t have to pull any punches. We’re in St. Louis, so the hot drink is Bud Light. You could run out of tap water, but if you have Bud Light, you’re good to go. I have a lot of Boulevard beers for the Kansas City-type people. I do some Hot Shot martinis and I just added a Jaeger machine and it’s amazing how easily that goes down with a cold beer.

Any other thoughts on promotions? You mention the gentleman’s lunch, the DJs. Any other changes coming over summer?
No, no more changes. But what differentiates us is that you can get food. People know me from Kitchen K and the Hot Locust and I do some foods that are simple and good. I do the old Hot Locust vegeatarian nachos, which you can add chicken to. I have my own salsa, my own guac, flatbread pizzas. I have sauce for my chicken wings. So you can bring your girlfriend…. quite frankly, you can bring your parents. I have 60-year-olds there before games, that’s cool. They find it when the bigger places aren’t their speed. The thing for younger people is, you’re not there with thousands of people, anonymous. You’re there with 75 people and I’ve always found it easier to pick up chicks when there are less people and less of a scene. Let me tell you, the condom dispenser in the restroom has always been empty. Of course, I’ve never filled it, but it’s always been empty.