When Kohn’s Kosher Deli closed abruptly last year, the St. Louis area was left without a kosher-only butcher and deli for the first time since 1963. That’s when Holocaust survivors Simon and Bobbie Kohn opened their shop on Old Olive Street Road in Creve Coeur.
The closure left a gap in the market. A few pop-ups and eateries — even a Chicago-based caterer — are now trying to fill at least part of the gap.
Steven Grady of the Coney Island Deli at Busch Stadium, makes a “killer pastrami” sandwich for a customer on Monday, April 14, 2025. The food cart, not under kosher certification during Passover this week but selling the same menu, is normally known as Stuie’s and kosher on weekdays, also selling corned beef sandwiches in addition to kosher knockwurst.
Robert Cohen, Post-Dispatch
One high-profile effort debuted on Opening Day at Busch Stadium. A kosher food stand behind section 147 sported a new name — Stuie’s — but its weekday-only kosher menu of pastrami and corned beef sandwiches and hot dogs remains the same as when the stand was previously named Kohn’s.
On weekends and holidays Stuie’s operates as Coney Island Deli.
Stuart Rosenblum, who owns the Stuie’s stand, said the need for a kosher eatery and butcher shop goes beyond a hankering for sandwiches. It can serve as a cultural and community gathering place for Jewish families, including those thinking of moving to the area.
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“There’s a tremendous hole,” Rosenblum said. “If they don’t rectify it, it’ll be a problem.”
Zelda’s Catering, a kosher business in Chicago, has periodically driven made-to-order food in a refrigerated truck to the St. Louis area.
“A community our size should be able to support a kosher butcher,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham of Congregation B’nai Amoona in Creve Coeur. “Most similar-size cities have a few options.”
The St. Louis area has nearly 46,000 Jewish adults and children, according to a 2024 study by Brandeis University and the University of Chicago commissioned by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. It found that about one-third of the adults follow at least some kosher rules, such as keeping meat and dairy foods separate, not eating pork or shellfish and only using plates and utensils that have not touched non-kosher food to cook and serve.
At Lefty’s Bagels in Chesterfield, which uses kosher methods for its products, co-owner Scott Lefton said the business is planning more kosher options in coming months.
“There’s so little in the way of true kosher offerings,” Lefton said. “There’s something very, very special about keeping kosher and keeping those traditions alive is really important. These laws go back thousands of years.”
Shortly after Kohn’s Kosher Deli shuttered last July, Nate’s Kosher Deli took over the space at 10405 Old Olive Street Road and offered butcher services. At the time, owner Avi Rosenberg said he was looking for a permanent space for the business.
But Nate’s closed in December, with the promise to reopen in Clayton, though an opening date and location were not disclosed. Rosenberg did not respond to requests to comment. Clayton’s planning department says it has not received any permit applications for a new deli.
‘There is a need’
In 2013, Rosenblum opened the then-Kohn’s cart at Busch Stadium, which the help of his friend and former Kohn’s Kosher Deli owner Lenny Kohn.
Rosenblum remembers finding limited or no kosher food options at the stadium when he attended games. He pitched the idea of a kosher-certified food option to the Cardinals.
He and Kohn maintained the cart for many years, but Kohn eventually sold his share and the deli to an investor group in 2022.
When the deli closed last July, the owners, Yehuda Kestenbaum and Avraham Blum, faced a lawsuit from an Illinois food distributor over nearly $150,000 in unpaid bills.
Rosenblum bought Kestenbaum and Blum out of their ownership of the Busch Stadium stand last year. He said he rebranded from Kohn’s to Stuie’s to distance himself from the legal issues.
“It’s really there to enhance and give access to the Jewish community,” Rosenblum said. “I felt that there is a need. There’s a limited amount of access to the food.”
Lefton, of Lefty’s Bagels, said there’s a lot of nuance when it comes to kosher food preparation. Orthodox Jews, for example, keep the most strict version of kosher, while some Conservative Jews may eat things made in the kosher style but are not necessarily certified by the Vaad Hoeir of St Louis, a local organization comprised of a group of rabbis who provide kosher certification.
Reform Jews generally do not keep kosher, but may follow some of the guidelines.
As a business, Lefty’s Bagels hasn’t been certified by the Vaad. But its bagels, cream cheese and fish are certified kosher, Lefton said. The bagels are baked in separate ovens and kept “two arms lengths away” from non-kosher ingredients.
It’s expensive to maintain a kosher license and procure kosher ingredients, Lefton said, in addition to the general decline in the kosher deli industry as fewer people keep strictly kosher.
“It all costs money,” Lefton said. “From a business standpoint, it becomes hard.”
Restaurant offerings and deliveries
Gokul Indian Restaurant has been kosher-certified since it opened in 2010. The owner, Jitendra Sandhe, said a longtime Jewish customer of his previous restaurant encouraged him to contact the Vaad.
Now, he ships frozen kosher meals across the country and he says about 70% of his dine-in clientele is Jewish. Though there are certain Indian cuisine staples he can’t serve, like pani puri, Sandhe said the kosher restrictions aren’t an obstacle.
“If I didn’t have their support, I wouldn’t have this location,” Sandhe said of the Jewish community. “I am very proud to be the only 100% vegetarian and kosher restaurant in St. Louis.”
Linda Neiman, founder and president of Zelda’s Catering, said the business has been catering events and scheduling drop-offs in the St. Louis area for a few years now. It has upped the frequency of deliveries in recent months.
Zelda’s makes monthly deliveries for pick-up for about 25 local households. Last week, the company delivered dishes such as Matzo ball soup, Cabernet-braised short ribs, honey and apricot glazed chicken, roasted potatoes and kugels for Passover.
“Hopefully we’re filling a need for the community,” Neiman said. “(St. Louis) is a community that just doesn’t have a lot.”
For now, says Abraham, of Congregation B’nai Amoona, he and others can also get by by making a kosher burger or sandwich at home — or attending a weekday game at Busch and visiting the Stuie’s stand.
“My office was joking, ‘We all have to buy a Cardinals ticket to get a fresh kosher meal,’” he said.
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