DIVERSITY ALONG THE OLIVE LINK A PROFILE OF ETHNIC ENTREPRENEURS The Olive Link, a four-mile stretch of Olive Boulevard in University City, links Greater St. Louis to the rest of the world through the diverse ethnicities of its business owners.The Link features an eclectic retail and dining scene led by entrepreneurs who are immigrants or recent descendants of immigrants. By combining their cultural contributions with their business skills, these entrepreneurs reflect the spirit of openness and economic opportunity that define University City as a “Neighborhood to the World.” Here are a few of the stories behind businesses that populate The Olive Link.
2 U CITY MERHABA
Nick Menghesha, an Eritrean immi- Nick left Sudan for Nairobi, where grant and entrepreneur, has taken his father was arranging for his fam- over a restaurants called Queen of ily to emigrate to the United States Sheba, which provided authentic on a diversity visa. In 1997, Nick and Ethiopian cuisine, and renamed it his family came to America and Merhaba, which means “hello” in settled in St. Louis. As he explored Arabic. Luckily, East African food St. Louis’s cultural attractions, Nick can still be found at the location came across the Delmar Loop. The that Queen of Sheba left behind. Loop’s entrepreneurial spirt inspired Nick to open another restaurant, Merhaba’s roots lie in Eritrea, which and when he learned that Queen was once part of Ethiopia until it of Sheba’s owners were leaving the gained independence in 1991. There business, the opportunity was too Nick grew up among the Tigrinya, good to pass up. one of several ethnic tribes inhab- iting the region. Throughout his No matter where you’re from, you’ll childhood, Nick gained an appreci- find something great at Merhaba. ation for cooking after seeing how You can also rent out the restaurant food could bring people together. for weddings, birthday parties, baby He also learned a great deal about showers and other gatherings. A Eritrean cuisine’s influences, from huge component in Eritrean and its similarities and differences with Ethiopian dining is social inter- Somali cuisine to the Ottoman action, so Merhaba is the perfect and Italian influences obtained place to come together with family from the region’s colonial history. and friends for a celebration.
In adulthood Nick would apply his → 6665 OLIVE BLVD. culinary knowledge to opening a (314) 833-4477 WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MER- restaurant in Sudan. After three HABASTL years of operating the restaurant,
U CITY 3 OLIVE GREEN INTERNATIONAL CUISINE
The story of how Christine Sser- started her own IT training business. emba’s life led her to Olive Green Unfortunately for Christine, the International Cuisine is a perfect government took an interest in the illustration of the truth that how land that Christine’s building sat knowledge of an owner’s background on and sent several men to warn can elevate a business from great to Christine that she should vacate the unforgettable. Christine grew up in a premises. When Christine arrived at suburb of Kampala, the capital city her building one morning, she found of Uganda. Intelligent, inquisitive and it being demolished. It was the most creative, Christine studied sociology, traumatic experience of her life. religion and philosophy in college and planned to use her education to With her safety at risk, Christine become a writer. decided to come to the United States with her youngest son. While Christine was still adjusting Despite struggling with the trauma to post-college life, her sister and depression induced by the introduced her to a theater pro- tragedy in Uganda, Christine held ducer. Over time, Christine and the onto hope. It was during this time theater troop gained a fair amount that Christine discovered an intrinsic of acclaim in the Kampala area pleasure in feeding others, and she and eventually the troop amassed began to toy with the idea of open- enough resources to tour the world. ing her own restaurant. The idea She gained a great deal of business slowly became more defined, and experience when she took over eventually Olive Green was born and management of the troop’s public joined the ranks of the Olive Link’s relations in these foreign markets. unbeatable ethnic restaurant scene.
In 2004, Christine leased a building → 8615 OLIVE BLVD. from the Uganda government, (314) 942-8730 OLIVEGREENINTERNATIONAL purchased several computers and CUISINE.BUSINESSCATALYST.COM/
4 U CITY DAO TIEN VIETNAMESE BISTRO
Diane Bui, the owner of Dao Tien could move to the St. Louis region. Vietnamese Bistro, grew up in After they settled in, her husband Saigon, where her family owned a started a construction business restaurant. Her grandmother, and while Diane spent some time later her mother, ran the restaurant, working in the nail salon industry. so Diane was constantly exposed Eventually she decided to get back to the challenges and responsi- into the restaurant business and bilities that come with managing opened Dao Tien in 2012. a small business. Unfortunately, Diane’s family was forced to leave Speaking of the restaurant, you’ll Vietnam during the Indochina find the food as amazing much as refugee crisis. They arrived in the Diane’s story. A variety of spring United States in 1992 and settled in rolls, egg rolls, sandwiches, noo- Dodge City, Kansas. dles and rice platters are available alongside seafood, vegetarian Although the family restaurant options, and Vietnamese smoothies was left behind in Vietnam, Diane and desserts. There are countless followed in her mother and grand- other offerings on the menu as well. mother’s footsteps when she The lemon grass chicken is a must opened her own restaurant in 1994. try, along with their numerous soup In addition to starting her own bowls. With all of these options, business, she also married a fellow you’ll have every reason to stop in Vietnamese refugee who arrived in repeatedly to try something new. 1989. After running her restaurant for several years, Diane sold it to her → 8600 OLIVE BLVD. (314) 995-6960 cousin so that she and her husband DAOTIENBISTROSTL.COM/
U CITY 5 OLIVE SUPERMARKET
Located in The Olive Link’s Interna- from a U City Chinese establish- tional District (home to St. Louis’s ment, so if you ever need to grab a China Town), Olive Supermarket bite before you go grocery shop- boasts a huge assortment of fresh ping, Yummy17 has you covered. and live seafood and a vast selec- Of course, if you live too far away tion of Asian groceries. to shop at Olive Supermarket frequently, or if you simply prefer It’s no surprise that people fall in love to order your groceries online, with Olive Supermarket. The store John also has an online store called offers a plethora of delicious prod- Yummy99. The online store carries ucts that you can’t find anywhere several of Olive Supermarket’s else. As the largest Asian grocery non-perishable items, so it’s a store in the St. Louis region, the convenient alternative for those store carries over 20,000 products, who can’t go to the store’s physical with roughly 80 percent of them location. being Chinese and the other 20 percent being from the rest of Asia. If you shop frequently at Asian supermarkets, you’ll be impressed In addition to the supermarket, the by the selection of quality brands building that houses Olive Super- and the diversity of cuisines that market also contains Yummy17, the store supplies. So stop by Olive John’s very own restaurant. John Supermarket the next time you’re opened Yummy17 after customers in the Olive Link. Once you do, repeatedly suggested that he you’ll be hooked! open a food court in the store. The restaurant offers all of the delicious → 8041 OLIVE BLVD. Chinese food you would expect (314) 997 5168 WWW.STLOUISSUPERMARKET.COM WWW.YUMMY17.COM
6 U CITY ST. LOUIS FISH AND CHICKEN GRILL
Originally from Sudan, Muhammed The St Louis Fish and Chicken Grill immigrated to the United States in is known for its delicious – you 2005 after completing an account- guessed it – fish and chicken, but ing degree. After a five year stay in is also noted for the fantastic Philly Chicago, he moved to St. Louis in steaks and gyros. If customers are 2010 to be closer to family, working looking for a healthier option, they many odd jobs in order to make ends can try baked tilapia or a classic meet. In April 2015, he moved to 8613 Greek salad. Parties are welcome at Olive and became manager of the St. the St. Louis Fish and Chicken Grill, Louis Fish and Chicken Grill. However, where 50 pieces of Buffalo or BBQ Muhammed’s dreams do not stop Chicken are only $25.00. there! In addition to managing the restaurant, cooking the food and “Olive is good for food because overseeing employees, Muhammed there’s a lot of activity – a lot going hopes to go back to school later this on,” says Muhammed. “But I stay year to obtain his CPA. here to eat if I’m in the restaurant, I don’t need to go anywhere else!” “I am constantly pushing to be bet- ter,” says Muhammed. “I especially → 8613 OLIVE BLVD. (314) 695-5820 want to develop the website for the WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STLFC Grill, to get people really excited about our great food.”
U CITY 7 DE PALM TREE
Jamaica is a great place for a he felt no passion for the subject. In tropical beach getaway. The sand the following years, he spent some is white, the water’s blue, and the time working as a server, host, and forests are vast and lush. Oh, and cook at various area restaurants. the food is unbelievably delicious. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone Since there were very few Caribbean could bring a small piece of restaurants in St. Louis, Easton Jamaica to University City? Well, became interested in opening his Easton Romer, the Jamaican-born own. His grandmother had taught owner of De Palm Tree, has done him how to cook traditional Jamaican just that. While the beaches food when he was a child, and that and the forests couldn’t make it fact combined with his experience through customs, Easton was able in the restaurant business gave him to bring authentic Jamaican reci- the confidence to take the plunge. pes all the way to The Olive Link. In 2004, Easton and his wife Tammy opened De Palm Tree in Jeffrey Plaza, Easton was born in St. Andrew, which is located in the Interchange Jamaica, a parish on the southeast District of The Olive Link. side of the island. He moved from St. Andrew to University City in It’s clear that De Palm Tree won’t be 1989 and has remained in St. Louis leaving us any time soon, so anyone County ever since. After graduating who is interested in Caribbean from high school, Easton went to cuisine should definitely give it a try. school to study computer electron- It’s all but certain that your first time ics, but he left after realizing that eating there won’t be your last.
→ 8631 OLIVE BLVD. (314) 432-5171 WWW.DEPALMTREESTL.COM
8 U CITY MOUND CITY SHELLED NUT COMPANY
There’s a stereotype that It’s no surprise that people from Greek-Americans make their U City want to see Mound City livings in one of two ways: owning succeed. The store is a rare gem a restaurant or owning a store. in that it is completely focused on Byron and Stacy Smyrniotis, selling salted and unsalted varieties owners of Mound City Shelled Nut of every popular variety of nut, from Company, are proud to embrace almonds to pistachios to pecans. that stereotype. You can also find several chocolate covered offerings. Additionally, the Mound City originally opened in store has its own exclusive peanut 1917 in the Delmar Loop. After the butter that is made from toasted passing of founder Henry Kessel, fancy peanuts. The peanut butter his wife sold the company to Byron is all natural. No preservatives. No Smyrniotis in 1973. An engineer by artificial flavorings. Just creamy trade, Byron planned to own the deliciousness. company only for a year or two before selling it. Four decades later, → 7831 OLIVE BLVD. he and Stacy are still running it and (314) 725-9040 WWW.MOUNDCITY.COM have no intention of letting it go.
U CITY 9 LU LU SEAFOOD & DIM SUM
Jerry, Li, who studied engineering different Chinese regions. Adding at Tongji University in Shanghai, to the authenticity of its offerings, designed bridges and led develop- LuLu’s employs four main chefs ment projects in Kenya, received a from different regions of China to Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering prepare its meals. Each chef special- from Washington University, oper- izes in the cuisine that originated in ates Lu Lu Seafood & Dim Sum with the region that they are from. The his wife, Jenny, and their daughter, cuisines represented on LuLu’s menu Julia. Jerry opened Lu Lu Seafood originate from Shanghai, Hong Kong, sixteen years ago, and it has been Beijing, and Sichuan. In addition to one of the most popular Chinese its regional chefs, LuLu employs two destinations in U City ever since. dim sum specialists who handcraft all of the dim sum offerings. In an era where Chinese cuisine is associated with both small, The award-winning LuLu Seafood authentic ethnic restaurants as well and Dim Sum was among the first as large “Americanized” chains, Lu Chinese restaurants to open on a Lu Seafood stands out. Whereas stretch of Olive Boulevard that is most Chinese restaurants, authentic something of an emerging China or Americanized, purchase their Town, and its longevity of sixteen seafood frozen, Lu Lu Seafood pur- years is testament to the fact that the chases its seafood live from Seafood family knows how to do business. City to ensure quality and freshness. → 8224 OLIVE BLVD. In addition to seafood, Lu Lu (314) 997-3108 WWW.LULUSEAFOOD Seafood offers a diverse range RESTAURANT.COM of traditional meals from several
10 U CITY U CITY FOOT MASSAGE
Enter U City Foot Massage, owned posits that specific parts of the foot by Liling Wemhoener. Friendly, correspond to different parts of high-energy, and entrepreneurial, the body (for example, the middle Liling has lived in U City since of the big toe is said to correspond 2006, but her ties to the city go to the cerebrum; the middle of back further than that. In 2001, she the sole, to the kidneys). In theory, opened Shu Feng Restaurant on applying pressure to a specific Olive Boulevard. She owned the part of the foot can stimulate and restaurant for fourteen years, and relax the associated body part. It is during that time it became one of traditionally held that reflexology the most popular Chinese restau- can improve health by balancing rants in U City. one’s life energy, or chi as it is called in Chinese culture. Helping others is a huge part of Lil- ing’s life. She’s provided assistance The typical session at U City Foot at Wei Hong Seafood Restaurant Massage begins with a foot soak. and at the Mandarin House many Once your feet have finished times. Determined to find a new soaking, the therapist will proceed way to help people, she opened U to massage every inch of your feet: City Foot Massage earlier this year. the soles, the toes, and even the heels. While the therapist works, all Liling and her employees practice you have to do is recline in the big, foot massage techniques that are comfy massage chair and enjoy life. based on reflexology. A form of alternative medicine, reflexology → 8431 OLIVE BLVD (314) 325-5297 WWW.UCITYFOOTMASSAGE.COM
U CITY 11 FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE OLIVE LINK, VISIT: WWW.THEOLIVELINK.COM
Jodie Lloyd Manager of Economic Development City of University City [email protected] (314) 505-8522