Episode 69: The Brass Rail

When Scott Ellinger opened up his restaurant The Brass Rail in O’Fallon, he didn’t have enough money to change the sign.
So he kept the name of the previous restaurant.
But over the last six years, he has made a name for himself as not only the neighborhood steakhouse but also as the restaurant that serves up the largest Thanksgiving dinner.
Ellinger, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, donates and delivers 10,000 meals on Thanksgiving. It’s an effort that takes nearly a week to pull of and results in four tons of food.
We sat down with the restaurant owner to talk about giving back, the best way to cook a steak, and why he found himself settling down in St. Louis after living all over the country.