County of structure: St. Louis County
Location of building: S. Kirkwood Rd., middle of block S. of W. Madison Ave, Kirkwood
Built: 1893
Architectural Style: Vernacular - Commercial
Phone: (314) 966-3666
Hours:
Monday: 11:00AM - 11:30PM
Tuesday: 11:00AM - 11:30PM
Wednesday: 11:00AM - 11:30PM
Thursday: 11:00AM - 11:30PM
Friday: 11:00AM - 12:30AM
Saturday: 11:00AM - 12:30AM
Sunday: 12:00PM - 10:30PM
"The year was 1964, Ed and Margie Imo, a young couple with dreams of buying a home for the family, just opened a pizza parlor in The Hill neighborhood. It wasn’t too long before their name and square-cut pies would become synonymous with St. Louis traditions and pizza history.
"Devoted Catholics, the Imo family would wait until 11:30 pm every Friday to order a meat-topped pizza from one of the many Italian restaurants near their home. After years of picking up their pizzas after midnight, they asked themselves, “Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would deliver the pizza to us?” Their thought would soon revolutionize the pizza industry.
"Eight months into opening their first parlor, Ed and Margie’s friends asked if they could open a second location for them. That was only the beginning. Soon the couple had stores everywhere, reaching 30 parlors across the St. Louis region by 1985. At that point the family decided to open the brand up to franchising.
"As time went on, their menu expanded to include pasta, appetizers, sandwiches, and desserts. Their product lineup was not the only thing to grew over the years; their fanbase reached a new level. Soon the family was packaging and shipping their St. Louis-style pizza, Toasted Ravioli, and Provel Bites across the country to their loyal customers." ~ Imo's Pizza
The building they are in is also important:
"215 S. Kirkwood Road. Imo’s Pizza. 1987. Architect-Campbell Design Studio.
Contractor,
unknown. Non-contributing.
The frame commercial building located at 215-217 S. Kirkwood Road was built in 1987 for
Imo’s Pizza based upon designs by Campbell Design Studio. Since it is a relative by new
building, it is not historic or contributing." ~ NRHP Nomination Form, PDF page 84
"215 S. Kirkwood Road. Imo’s Pizza. 1987. Architect-Campbell Design Studio.
Contractor,
unknown. Non-contributing.
This is a neo-Colonial style, two story, frame building with a side gabled form that has brick
sidewalls and two forward facing false gables with smaller gables inside, each of which has two
round arched, transomed casement windows. There are other round arched transom windows on
the upper façade and in a southern bay of the first floor. There is brick around the central
entrance, centered between the gabled bays. Built in 1987, it not only is a non-contributing
building in the historic district, it is also out of scale, of a different setback, with strikingly
different stylistic details (such as the roof shape and broad façade), and finished with different
materials than most of the district’s buildings." ~ NRHP Nomination Form, PF page 34