Business & Tech

The Egg & I Planning for April Opening in Chesterfield

The breakfast and lunch restaurant opened in Des Peres last July and will add more St. Louis locations throughout the next several years.

The Egg & I, a breakfast and lunch restaurant chain, opened in Des Peres in July 2012. With business doing well, according to owner/operator Robert Gombas, II, the restaurant is ready to move forward with plans to add more St. Louis locations.

The Egg & I, located at 11692 Manchester Road, is in the Dierbergs Plaza at Baxter Road.

Gombas said the new place will open April 22 or 29.

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"It started out as an upscale breakfast and lunch restaurant," Gombas told Patch. He said The Egg & I started in Fort Collins, Colo., 25 years ago.

"We really get to know our guests well, often by first name," Gombas added. "We're a little more family-focused than a First Watch will bring you."

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Gombas told PatchΒ he and two business partners plan to open a total of seven restaurants in the St. Louis area, with a goal of opening one each year. With the Chesterfield location opening within the first year as the current Des Peres restaurant, they're a bit ahead of schedule. Gombas said no other specifics as to the next location picks are determined.

Each restaurant hires about 30 employees, Gombas said, with mid-March being the target start of the hiring process for the Chesterfield location.

With a Monday grand opening date, Gombas said they hold a soft opening for family and friends the Sunday prior. The soft opening functions as a run-through and continued training for employees, but also as a fundraiser for a local charity.

"The soft opening meal is on me," Gombas said. "But at the end, people can choose to donate money to a charity."

The Des Peres location's soft opening benefited Backstoppers, a local organization that assists families of first responders killed in the line of duty. Gombas said Des Peres raised $5,000, and that the Chesterfield restaurant will also support Backstoppers.

"We don't really advertise," Gombas said. "We like to put our advertising budget into the community."

The Egg & I also offers a free meeting room area and Wi-Fi for guests. The restaurant is open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.


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