Parkmoor Restaurant


Today is the 20th anniversary of when my father passed away, one month before my daughter was born. Although it’s not a happy occasion I found myself thinking back and remembering all the wonderful things about him and the things that made me laugh.

Back in those days people ate hot dogs along with everything else without a worry about high blood pressure, cholesterol, fat content or anything else for that matter.

One of my dads favorite restaurants to go to for casual food was Parkmoor. He loved their Premium Frank. I’m sure some of you remember it but many of you may not even recall Parkmoor.

The Premium Frank was a hot dog, covered in cheese and wrapped in bacon on this incredible bun. My entire family loved this hot dog except for my mom who never even tried it.

I spent part of my morning today trying to see if I could find any posts at all on Parkmoors Premium Frank but was unsuccessful. Apparently though their fried chicken was to die for based on the articles and blogs I read.

I don’t eat hot dogs at all anymore. Not that I don’t like them but they don’t like me. So I just try to ignore them when I see one.

My dad loved food and all kinds. It was nice to go down memory lane today and remember all the wonderful things about him and how he made me smile and laugh.

If you love hot dogs try to make yourself a Premium Frank. They really are delicious!

I miss my dad but I’m so happy for the memories. They last a lifetime!

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24 comments

  1. Great post Vicki, I eat a hot dogs now and again, but have to have a craving for it and it can only be beef! Sometimes there’ just nothing like a good beef hotdog in the summer, especially crisp right off the grill!

  2. I agree the all beef hot dogs are the best. When grilling I always liked mine charcoal black and crispy. Somehow I thought it tasted best that way. Haven’t had a dog in years though. Kind of miss them.

  3. Ok, I’m bad, I like the dogs! Especially the really bad ones from the butcher, with pork and beef. If I don’t have them grilled, I like to split them and pan fry with – get this – a little butter!

    Fortunately, my cholesterol is in good shape 🙂

    How nice to have such good memories of your dad, Vicki.

  4. Yum! Cooking a hot dog in butter sounds wonderful. Of course anything in butter is great!

    • Hi Vicki for some reason your Parkmoor site would not recognize my email address. If this does, I hope you respond I an interesting story about the good ole days of the Parkmoor in St Louis at Clayton road and Big Bend.
      Hope to hear from you.
      Regards

  5. I grew up in Clayton, and we went to Parkmoor all the time! Loved their “Pedigreed” Hotdogs-which they later called the “Premium Frankfurter Sandwich”. I was always impressed that Dad could eat a whole King Burger.
    As a culinary teacher have you come across any Gooey Butter or Deep Butter cake recipes from the late Lake Forest Bakery? Everything at that bakery was wonderful!
    Be well.

  6. Hi Anonymous,

    There are plenty of recipes out there for Gooey Butter cakes but I never found one for the one they served at Lake Forest Bakery. I’ve spent years though trying to get the recipe for their Black Forest Cake and have had no success. That was my families favorite cake.

    When they changed hands in the old location after the shooting I picked up a Black Forest Cake that was the absolute worst thing any of us had ever tasted. As a result I now make my Chocolate Avalanche Cake for our birthdays and sometimes with a yellow cake batter like the one at Lake Forest instead of the chocolate batter that’s in my recipe.

    I have tried the Black Forest Cake from Lake Forest Confections that claims it has the recipe and it’s pretty good. Still not the same but quite tasty. If I ever locate the gooey butter recipe I’ll let you know.

    As for Parkmoor, those were the good ol’ days. It was amazing the amount of food that was served and what our dads could put away.

    Thanks for your post.

  7. Hi, I keep looking for the recipe for the caeser salad dressing from Parkmoor restaurant. It said you have the recipe. Also I would like the Green Goddess salad dressing recipe if possible. Thank you so much.

  8. I do not have those recipes. I was just a little girl when I use to go with my family. Unfortunately I can’t help you. I wish I could.

    You should be able to go online to find the salad dressing recipes but I’m not sure they would be from Parkmoor.

    Thank you for your post.

  9. gimme a shout about what recipes you wish to have I worked every position at parkmoor at one time. I remember or have recipes for just about everything.

  10. Oh my goodness you’ve got to be kidding? The first would be the premium frank. My entire family loved that. I feel like the secret was in the bun.

    Also:
    Onion rings
    Caesar dressing and green goddess I’ve been asked for the
    Fried chicken reci
    I loved the spaghetti. I was little. For all I know it could have been chef-boy-r-d. But I loved the sauce.

    Hot fudge sauce
    I’m pretty sure my dad liked their chili. I know he’d get the premium frank with soup and I think it was chili. Sure wish I could ask him.

    Any recipes you’d like to share would be appreciated. You can send them in an email to me or with an attachment to: vkb2@hotmail.com.

    Which location did you work at? Which dishes did you find to be the most popular? My moms favorite was a grilled cheese and French fries. Boy wouldn’t that be a fun Mothers Day surprise? The other was the King Burger.

    Oh my goodness I could go on and on. Thank you for your reply. I look forward to hearing back from you.

    • did you ever get the parkmoor recipes? i waited tables at the clayton location and learned a few of the recipes, i.e., premium hotdog, hot fudge cake sundae, king slaw, (on top of the king burger), etc. would LOVE the onion ring recipe if you’ve stumbled upon it!

  11. If you are talking about the Parkmoor in Dayton, Ohio you are a Godsend. I have been craving a Parkmoor Jumbo Double Burger since we left Ohio. The sauce was what I remember. If anyone has that I would be eternally greatful. I cant even find anyone who knows what I an talking about.

    • Did you ever find the recipe for the Jumbo Double Burger sauce? I too left there 42 years ago and would love that recipe too. Thanks!

    • No Joe I never did find that recipe. If I do I will be sure to post it. Thank you for stopping by.

    • still looking for the jumbo double burger sauce recipe. It was so wonderful, I cant believe someone didn’t clone it or something. So sad. The memory of the taste has lingered with me since the 50’s

  12. I would die for the chickburger recipe. My family went there nearly every weekend. So sad when they closed. If you have it my email is monihepps@gmail.com

  13. I would love to have the recipe for the salad that had dill pickles in it, I used to get that at least once a week, it sounded weird but it was delicious. Where can we go to see any other recipes found?

  14. I used to ea t at least once if not more every week at Parkmoor at Clayton and Big Bend. I’d love to have the recipe for my favorite “chickburger” sandwich. Any chance you could email it to me?

    jbreite38@gmail.com

  15. Dear Vicki, Thank you for you article on the Parkmoors. I was a student nurse at St Luke’s Hospital on Delmar just east of DeBaliviere in 1951. Like many of my classmates I was from out of town but it didn’t take us long to discover the Parkmoor on DeBaliviere. It became a favorite place to congregate, especially if we had spent time at the Wintergarden Ice Rink just a few doors away, or if we had walked a little further south to the entry to Forest Park where the Lindberg trophies were housed. Like you, my favorite then was the astonishing Parkmoor Premium Frank along with the French fried onion rings. I honestly think it was the bun that made it so special for me…whatever it was I loved it. Like you I don’t indulge any more because they don’t like me. I married a St Louis guy and we left St Louis in 1958 but came back to visit fairly frequently and when we learned of the closing of the last Parkmoor at Clayton & Big Bend in 1999 we made one last visit. Like so much it was the passing of an era, but it sure felt like a piece of me was going as well.

  16. Any updates on the burger sauce or onion rings… My 72 yr old mother is stuck on creating these to eat. We own a bakery in Highland Illinois please let me know any updates. Thank you so much.

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