I’m afraid another landmark has disappeared from the roadside and this time it was the Noah’s Ark Restaurant that was torn down for a new development. It was located in St. Charles, Missouri off of Interstate 70 and for more than thirty years Noah’s Ark was a sanctuary to hungry travelers and fiberglass animals. This unique restaurant was known for its clam chowder and offered a large salad bar appropriately named the Salad Ark and a popular cocktail lounge called the Ravens Roost. (I doubt the real Noah had a cocktail lounge on his Ark, maybe a couple of cockatoos, but no cocktails)The restaurant closed sometime in 2000 and the Ark just sat there as if it was waiting for another great flood to come along. Noah used to stand at the bow greeting people as he released a dove into the sky, but apparently he jumped ship as he turned up missing after it closed. Another great flood never came and instead, the Ark was greeted by the wrecking ball. It’s kind of ironic that a large aquatic center will be built in the Ark’s place, which is slated to open sometime in the next few years.
I snapped these photos back in 2004 and the postcard and matchbox are from the late 60's or 1970's. Also, check out some of the links where you can see photos of how it looked before, a couple of articles about the demolition and two YouTube video links of it being destroyed.
Roadside America posts
Bon Voyage to Noah's Ark
YouTube demolition video
YouTube demolition video
9 comments:
Wow, it just makes me sad when I hear about a piece of classic Americana disappearing like this. Everything quirky and cool will be replaced with condos and mini-malls.
And another thing, what's with teenagers and their long hair??
Thanks for the photos!
Major - Yes, I agree it's very sad and we're moving into a boring era of boring buildings.
Good question about those crazy teenagers!
Have I been out of high school that long? What great memories of Noahs Ark, prom dates, great food. My uncle use to work there as a plumber. I miss it already.
Noah's Ark was the highlight of our trips home from Nebraska to Georgia with our young children. I was hoping to keep the custom going with the grandsons,but guess its not to be...
Does anyone have their clam chowder recipe?
Yes and I'm a Chef real easy recipe and it's just as good as Mike Betts made their .Mike was a good Chef and he really knew how to make that chowder .If you want the recipe I'll be glad to share it . Chef Gebhardt
Please do share Chef Stan :)
We are from Michigan but lived in St Louis for a short time back in 1977. We used to go to this restaurant quite often. Sad that it's now gone.
For pretty much my entire adult life (I'm now 52), I've been telling people about this "Ark place" I remembered in Missouri that I visited once as a kid... the place that had the best clam chowder I ever tasted. I never knew what happened to it, but today I had that memory again and started looking on the internet to see if anyone else remembered it. So sad that one of my childhood memories (and the best clam chowder) is now gone.
So, now the prize for the best clam chowder (and I've had it nearly everywhere I go) is a place in Meridian, Idaho. The name of the restaurant is "Kahootz Steak & Ale House".
Post a Comment