A foundation of Indiana cuisine, St.

Elmo Steak House has stood the test of time in downtown Indianapolis.

We're taking a behind the scenes look at the inner workings of St.

Elmo.

Both before the first steak hits the grill and during its peak service, where tonight they are expecting over 750 guests.

Welcome to St.

Elmo.

This is our bar.

This right here has been here since, 1902 we opened up.

Quick math on that.

You know, over 120 years.

We've been we've been doing this, steaks, seafood.

This restaurant, when it opened by Joe Stahr was originally a seafood buffet.

It's interesting that, St.

Elmo's named after the patron saint of sailors.

And here we are in one of the largest landlocked cities in the country.

We're a steakhouse, not a seafood joint.

Although we have great seafood.

And, I guess Joe was nautically inclined.

I think there was a merchant marine history there.

And that's why he named the buffet The St.

Elmo Buffet and eventually switched it from Joe Stahr's Tavern to St.

Elmo Steak House, where it became much more of a restaurant than it than it was a tavern.

There was another owner after him, but then Harry and Izzy, Harry Roth and Isidor Rosen guided this place from 1947 to 1986, and they were kind of the original odd couple.

My dad bought this restaurant in 1986.

It really gives me and my dad and our family a sense of purpose.

We take it pretty seriously.

I mean, it's we feel like this is a this is Indianapolis restaurant.

We're stewarding it during a period of time trying to leave it in a better place than we found it and, continue this legacy.

So that it last another century.

And I thin one of the main ways we can do that is just keeping it just the unique St.

Elmo Steak House that it is.

And what are some of those uniquely St.

Elmo aspects that make this restaurant its own?

As you can tell, we have a lot of photos from notables that have come here throughout the years.

So it's a lot of fun for u to have to keep those updated.

And then this is our wine cellar.

Over 10,000 bottles.

It's kept at 55 degrees.

We want to make sure tha our red wines in here are cold.

We keep our white wines in a, a basic, you know, walk-in chiller.

This, is a very iconic room for us.

This is what we now call the Legends Room.

If you go through and you look at the walls, each one of these individuals that has a portrait here has been here for over 30 years.

Usually in the restaurant industry, it's, you know, there's quick burn and turn, right, and you hear someone that's been there for five years.

They're ancient.

I just passed my my ten year and I'm no longer the the the new guy.

We had one of our individuals, Kerry Wafford, who just celebrated his 40th anniversary here.

Half of our staff aren't that old.

Obviously, we can't talk about St.

Elmo without mentioning their famous shrimp cocktail.

Their signature dish consisting of Black Tiger shrimp served on ice with a sinus clearing cocktail sauce.

The St.

Elmo Shrimp Cocktail has been served here from as far back as we know, and we've seen menus from 20s and 30s.

I don't know why Joe Stahr chose that.

I'm so glad that he decide to make it with a lot of fresh ground horseradish and like, over the top with spice because it's such a memorable menu item.

Now.

However, a restaurant isn't just represented by its traditions and history.

Without a doubt, the lifeblood of St.

Elmo is its dedicated staff keeping the ship afloat regardless of the reservation list's length.

Right no it's bricks and mortar, right?

But when the staff start arriving around, like, 2:00 and that vibrancy starts building, and then guests like it right at 4:00, this place is going to be filled.

The bar will be full.

Ill have people maybe not today, but throughout this week they'll be people before we open, lined up out the front door.

So this bar is full immediately.

That vibrancy I love.

You know, on any given night we're looking at five six, 700 reservations in here.

And the bulk of that comes in during that time.

And it is just go go go go go.

But we're, we're always prepared.

We're ready for it.

We're used to it.

So, nine times out of ten goes extremely smooth.

And it's not just go, go, go in the front of house.

Back in the kitchen, cooks man their stations and keep the stoves flaming and the ovens hot, feeding hundreds of patrons all night long, churning out entrees, shrimp cocktails, desserts and quality cuts of prime beef.

However, one question remains for this longstanding institution.

What will another century look like for St.

Elmo?

Yeah, I hope that, 50 years, 100 years from now, the people look back at St.

Elmo and recal some of their experiences here.

I think a meal at a restaurant is always about who you dined with, and, that makes it special.

And they'll think about some of those celebrations, whether they were graduations or engagements or business deals, whatever it was.

And that they think of this still as this is Indianapolis is steakhouse, this is Indianapolis restaurant.

The way I see it, we're like, we are a part of the histor of Indianapolis at this point.

When people come from out of town, this is always at the to of their list of things to do.

And then once they've been here, it' always at the top of their list when they come back next year.

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