Meet The Owners! Steve &
Debbye Greer
My husband and I opened The Concord Grill the day after we
were married 20 years ago. It is amazing how that
number has been making me very sentimental over the past
few months. We look forward to updating this page
every year on our anniversary but 2009 is just very
special. On a personal note, even though we know The
Concord Grill is the best restaurant in St. Louis, we do
occasionally tend to eat elsewhere. We are not the
greatest storytellers but do want to share something with
all of you. We have been frequenting another
restaurant, which will remain nameless, for over 24 years
from the time we started dating until now. We went
there for my birthday a few months ago. First of all
we noticed they were not very busy. We also became
aware of major modifications that had been made to their
business; changes that made them the famous restaurant
they take pleasure in owning. Serving bread and
butter has been eliminated. There was no meat on
their signature salad and the portions were definitely
smaller while the prices were drastically higher among
other things. Needless to say we will not be going
back. The economy is hurting everyone and
restaurants are on the top of the list. We are
certain many eating establishments have made changes to
absorb the hit of having less business.
We have made a promise to
ourselves and now to you, our valued and appreciated
customers, that we will never compromise our portion size
and/or the quality of food. We try to have coupons
available at all times so you will continue coming in to
enjoy our great food even when times are tough for all of
us. Over the past year or two we have learned not to
take anything for granted. There are so many
restaurants near us and more to come. We greatly
appreciate your continued patronage when you "choose"
to eat at The Concord Grill. Operating a restaurant
is definitely a challenge, however still so very
rewarding. I am still in the kitchen cooking and
Steve is bartending. One of us is here most of the
time so if you have a question, comment or concern you can
just ask for us and we will do our best to help. We
have two daughters, 16 and 18. Their favorite thing
used to be helping in the kitchen but now one of them is
your busser on the weekends and the other is your
server. Jami will graduate from high school in 2010
and Allison is a sophomore. The "little
owners" are now young adults.
Meet
Our Staff
Most of the servers you
see day in and day out have been here for a very long
time. Sherry, the
Dining Room Manager, is still running the ship. She
is good to hang out with, holds your kids so you can eat
in peace, learns your life story and, if you are lucky,
becomes one of your good friends. Oh, she's a great
server, too! Jesse and Margie and now Susan continue
to run things during the day. They know what you are
going to drink and eat when they see you walk in the door
for lunch. Sometimes they need roller skates to keep
up with the pace but they wouldn't have it any other
way. We also want to thank Stacy, Julie, Shawn,
Kristy, Carol, Jami, Allison, Kayla, Emily, another Julie,
Jackie and occasionally Maria for being such a great staff of servers and
bussers.
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THE
ROSE  With deepest sorrow we unexpectedly say good-bye to a dear friend. Vicky Finger retired from The Concord Grill about 6 months ago after being a dedicated employee and best friend to all of us. Vicky underwent back surgery on Wednesday Oct. 7. She passed away on Saturday Oct. 10, 2009 due to complications. The shock was overwhelming for all of us. For those of you who knew Vicky, you know what a kind, loving, good hearted and completely unselfish person she was. Vicky was the type of person who would do and do for everyone and never expect anything in return. Vicky never judged anyone and took people for who they were. Vicky was more than an empoyee. She made time for everyone. She was a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother. We have watched her 3 daughters grow up and have families of their own. That is why it was so easy to be her friend. She enjoyed the simple things in life and appreciated everything and everybody. Vicky was always there for me as her boss and friend. She went above and beyond any expectations I could ever have of an employee. People always tell me "everyone's replaceable" well, I don't agree. I felt a loss when she retired and now there is no greater
loss.
Vicky would take a seat at your table when you ordered. She instantly made you feel at home the minute you walked in the building. . Customers would beg her to get up and sing with Dan on Thursday nights. That was the highlight of the night. For those of you reading this if you were one of the lucky people who got to know Vicky other than her being your server, we feel your pain and loss. |
Meet
Our Kitchen Staff
Arriving
early in the morning are my third and fourth hands.
Charles and Chad have worked here for over 14 years.
They get the day started, do all the prep work and
organize things to get us ready for action. My
sister Lorri replaces me and cooks the dinner shift with
the help of Josh, Tim, Anna and Joel. As far as we
are concerned, all of the employees are equally important
to us from dishwashers to bussers. We
appreciate all of our employees regardless of the task
they perform. Our main goal as a team is to serve
you and satisfy as many customers as possible. These
people are all the heart and soul of The Concord
Grill. We could not operate our business without
them.
Meet
Our Customers
If you are
reading this today, you are probably one who is now part
of our extended family. You are our
"regulars" to whom we look forward to seeing
every week and for some, every day. Over the past 20
years, our customers and business associates have become
our friends. We have seen you come in here on first
dates, celebrating birthdays, engagements, graduations and
anniversaries. We have seen you bring your children
and grandchildren back and introducing them to our Concord
Kids Menu. During lunch there is a flow of regular
customers and we greatly appreciate your business.
We take it as a great compliment when we see the same
customers day after day. Performance Automotive, SBC
Graphics, Allen Transmissions, The Linde Group, Kutis
Funeral Home, Mary & Carol from ReMax, Gravois Auto Repair and many local car
dealerships. Also, our thanks to our dedicated
Thursday night "DAN'S FANS and Joe & Bernice our
4:00 Saturday regulars! Believe it or not, we do know many of
your names and your businesses but there are too many to
list. Just know we thank everyone: friends, family,
employees and customers (old and new). Let's try for
another 20 years. Maybe by then I can stop cooking
and just let the "little owners" take over.
A thank you
to some of the best food service companies in the
business. McHenry Meats, Kenrick's Meats and M&L
Foods. Thank you for putting up with us.
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He Who Goes
Bump In The Night!
There was a time when we were the new kids on the block, when we could count our lunch customers on two hands.
One particular day we were bombarded with customers.
Listening in on some of the table conversations, it didn't
take us long to realize that Mr. Jim White of KMOX Radio
was the cause of this "Concord Mania." On his show,
he raved about the experience he and his wife, Pat, had
earlier that evening. If Jim could give a true testimonial
to bring all these people in, we knew where our advertising
budget was going. For years, Jim White has been our
personal spokesman, along with being one of our best customers.
It will be almost ten years ago that Jim White retired from
KMOX and at
that time we wished him "any kind of retirement he would
like to have." Edited
September 2, 2009 in memory of Jim White
Hearing the
news of Jim White passing away was heart breaking.
We had just talked to him a few months ago about how fun
it would be for him to tape a commercial for us and air it
on KMOX. Jim White helped build this business
through his advertising for us and allowing us to put his
name on our menu. The name "Jim White" is
mentioned in this restaurant hundreds of times a month as
people order their favorite burger. When Jim and Pat
would come in to eat, we would hear customers talking and
wondering "is that Jim White?" Some
customers would go and talk to him and others would ask
their server if that was him. We are truly honored
to have known such a wonderful person and have him as part
of the "Concord Grill Family" for so many
years. Jim, you will truly be missed. |
Most
important - a special thanks to our parents for their
years of support. We never would have made it this
far without them.
Debbye & Steve
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