A former car wash at 8111 Olive Boulevard housed Frank & Helen's Pizzeria for close to 60 years. Its menu covered thin-crust pizza, charbroiled steaks, broasted chicken and a creamy garlic house dressing. St. Louis Magazine reported that Frank was so protective of the recipe that for most of his tenure he made the dressing himself. According to St. Louis Magazine's November openings roundup, the next tenant is Double Sword Ramen & Udon, planned for early 2027.
That name tells you how University City's food scene is changing this fall. The places that opened on Olive in October and the ones getting ready on Delmar are each built around one thing: kimbap, matcha, pho, hot pot, beef noodles, or coffee with room for kids. Several also have an existing business behind them. The old model was a place where every table found something on one long menu. The new ones are narrow, and there are more of them.
The building that served everything
The restaurant started in 1956, when Julius Seitz opened Jule's Pizza Place at Olive and Midland. Three years later he sold it to his brother Frank. Their sister Helen became a partner about a year after that, and the name followed. The restaurant outgrew that corner and moved farther west to 8111 Olive. The St. Louis Jewish Light dates the move to 1967. The business changed hands several times over the decades. Becca and Patrick Horvath bought it in 2008.
A new owner bought the building in September 2023 with plans for a restaurant concept of her own. The Horvaths spent more than a year looking at other locations, then announced December 8, 2024 as their last night of service. As the closing date approached, Patrick Horvath told the St. Louis Jewish Light that the couple was trying to find a way to keep Helen's dressing available to customers.
Double Sword is named for two noodle styles, ramen and udon, in the building where Frank & Helen's built its reputation on pizza, steaks and broasted chicken. Its listing gives early 2027 as the target.
Two October openings a few blocks apart on Olive
Bukchon Kimbap Cafe opened October 8 at 7827 Olive, a short stretch east of the old Frank & Helen's building. St. Louis Magazine lists it as coming from the team behind Chuang Yi Bentos. The menu centers on Korean kimbap, with fish-cake soup, tempura udon and specialty matcha drinks like rose and black sesame. A November 6 review in the Pathfinder, the student paper at Parkway West, priced a tuna-mayo kimbap at $13 for 10 medium pieces, an order the reviewer said two people can share. Two specialty drinks with a cold-foam add-on cost $21.64.
Café O'Play opened October 21 at 6757 Olive. It belongs to Urban Sprouts Child Development Center, and the café is designed so children can play with toys and books while their adults eat, work or meet a friend. St. Louis Magazine's September preview listed the hours as 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, with specialty coffee, breakfast, lunch and kid-friendly food. Alexis Qualls, director of storytelling and engagement for Urban Sprouts, described the café's niche in that preview: "If you don't want to hear kids in the background while you're working, it's probably not the space for you. But that's the whole point of it."
Both cafés have something behind them. Bukchon comes from the team behind Chuang Yi Bentos, and Café O'Play is run by Urban Sprouts Child Development Center.
On Delmar, the specialists keep arriving
The Loop's west end has been filling the same way, and faster. In the six months before June 2026, FOX 2 counted five new restaurants in the Delmar Loop: Dumplings Plus, Kishimoto Mendo, Sumo Sushi, OME Cafe and Zhanglala Beef Noodles. The same report tied that growth to new housing, including LOCAL on Delmar, a five-story mixed-use project with 259 apartments and townhomes. LOCAL on Delmar describes itself as a University City development.
The next wave is just as specialized. In St. Louis Magazine's November roundup:
| Name | Address | What it focuses on | Opening window as listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junbi Matcha & Tea | 6372 Delmar | Matcha drinks made with ceremonial-grade matcha from Uji, Japan, plus coffee, soft-serve and light snacks | Mid-November |
| Pho Now | 6665 Delmar | Traditional Vietnamese noodle dishes | Late 2026 |
| Little Fish | 6685 Delmar | "Pickled mustard fish, hot pot, and robot kitchen" | Late 2026 |
| Double Sword Ramen & Udon | 8111 Olive | Ramen and udon | Early 2027 |
Junbi is a California chain, and the Delmar shop is its first location in Missouri. FOX 2 reported that local franchise owners Tony and Jessica Tran signed with the company and leased the former Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop space in July. Rocket Fizz closed in 2018. In July the Trans were aiming for October, and St. Louis Magazine's early-November listing now gives mid-November. Before signing a lease, Junbi tested the market with pop-ups, most recently as a vendor at the Red Lantern City Night Market.
Junbi's arrival means matcha is now a headline item on both corridors. Bukchon pours it on Olive, and Junbi has built its entire Delmar shop around it.
At the Skinker end, a restaurant has closed and a bar is closing
At the far eastern end of the Loop, near Skinker on the St. Louis city side of the line, one restaurant has closed and one bar is about to. Session Taco at 6235 Delmar closed October 17. Sauce Magazine reported that the closure ended more than a decade in business for the restaurant group founded by brothers Adam and Jason Tilford.
International Tap House, known as iTap, has been at 6217 Delmar in the Link in the Loop development since August 2021. It announced Sunday, November 15 as its final day. The bar pours more than 40 draft beers and stocks hundreds of bottles and cans, and customers have been free to bring their own food or order from nearby businesses. After it closes, its Soulard location at 1711 S. Ninth St. will be its only St. Louis outpost. Sauce put the closing in the context of a contracting craft beer industry, noting that Missouri lost craft breweries in 2025 while production declined.
Those two departures sit at the opposite end of the Loop from the matcha shop, noodle counters and hot pot kitchen opening on the University City side.
Dates on the calendar
These dates run from this week into early 2027:
- November 12 to 15: the Flyover Comedy Festival puts headliners and newer comedians on stages along Delmar, from The Pageant to neighborhood bars, according to the Loop's events page.
- Sunday, November 15: last day for iTap at 6217 Delmar.
- Mid-November: Junbi Matcha & Tea's listed opening window at 6372 Delmar.
- Saturday, December 5, noon to 5 p.m.: the Loop's Holiday Cookie Crawl & Santa Take Over moves through the district's shops.
- Late 2026: listed windows for Pho Now at 6665 Delmar and Little Fish at 6685 Delmar.
- Early 2027: Double Sword Ramen & Udon at 8111 Olive.
Bukchon Kimbap Cafe at 7827 Olive and Café O'Play at 6757 Olive have been open since October, and the Pathfinder's $13 tuna-mayo kimbap is a dish meant for two.
When a building like 8111 Olive changes hands, its next use depends on what the space can support, what a new tenant can afford to build out, and what the corridor around it is attracting. Those are the questions Ryan Patton and the team work through with owners of commercial and investment property across University City and the rest of the St. Louis metro. If you own a building on Olive or Delmar and want a clear read on its value or its next tenant, contact us.
