Yolklore Brings Fast-Casual Breakfast Food to Crestwood

Mary and John Bogacki and Billy Oziransky suspected Crestwood's residents were hungry for a non-chain, chef-driven breakfast option. At Yolklore's grand opening this past Sunday, they felt the full weight of that hunger. 

"We had a line out the door for two hours straight," Oziransky says. "It was 100 degrees out and people were standing out into the parking lot. They just kept coming."

Crestwood has good reason to be excited about its new brunch restaurant. As one of the few independent breakfast spots in the area, Yolklore (8958 Watson Road, Crestwood; 314-270-8538) is answering diners' demands with a daytime option that features from-scratch cooking and local products — and there's even a drive-thru. 

The chef-driven breakfast and brunch restaurant is the realization of a dream for the Bogackis and Oziransky. All three have extensive backgrounds in the hospitality industry: the Four Seasons and Strange Donuts for Mary, Old Warson Country Club and Bolyard's Meat & Provisions for John and the Four Seasons for Oziransky. The three had tossed around the Yolklore idea for some time, and finally brought it to fruition via a successful Kickstarter campaign that launched this past spring. 

Yolklore is tucked into a generic strip mall off Watson, near Grant's Trail. But what it lacks in curb appeal, it makes up for with a charming interior. The restaurant is painted in a deep eggplant hue with white wainscoting. A long, steel communal table sits in the center of the dining room, along with a few white metal tables and a wooden wall-counter. 

The kitchen is open on two sides, so you feel like you are in on the action. Even the prep area is visible through a large window. "We have nothing to hide," Oziransky laughs. 

Yolklore follows the fast-casual model: Guests order at the counter, grab coffees, utensils and water from the open-kitchen's window and wait for food to be delivered to the table. Ticket times are meant to clock in under five minutes. 

Even with that, everything — the ciabatta, the biscuits, the juices, the sausage — is made in-house. "We're using the best local products — Rolling Lawns milk, Buttonwood Farms turkey, Hodgson Mill Flour," Bogacki says. "It's just the expectation, but we're really excited about using these great producers. The cows get milked on Monday, bottled that day and sent to us on Tuesday. It doesn't get any fresher than that."

Look for items like the restaurant's signature "Nest Egg": two poached eggs, bacon and cheddar cheese encased in a buttery biscuit and topped with pickled onions, greens and preserved lemon. 

The restaurant offers classic breakfast items as well, like biscuits and gravy, housemade sausage and pancakes, as well as a handful of brunch-style sandwiches. Fresh squeezed juices, Mary's signature gooey butter cake and coffee from local roaster Dubuque Coffee are also available. 

"When we were looking for a place to open, we heard that Crestwood was getting ready to redevelop the mall," Mary explains. "To us, that meant the city was ready to grow and change. We wanted to be a part of that." 

Yolklore is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. Look below for more photos. 




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