Wil Pelly / chef-owner, Rock Star Tacos on

BY EMILY STANDLEE | PHOTOS BY SEAN LOCKE

On the walls of Rock Star Tacos hang the posters, badges and memorabilia that chef Wil Pelly and his partner Rebecca Schaaf have collected over the years – Motörhead, Alice in Chains, Tom Waits, Tool, the Foo Fighters and ZZ Top, among others. But Pelly is not your average music fan; these rock bands are, believe it or not, past catering clients.

For Pelly, music and food have always gone together. ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons once famously convinced him to bottle Rock Star Dust, Pelly’s signature seasoning blend. After moving out of its St. Charles location, Rock Star Tacos is back in full force on The Hill, in the same building as the Gaslight Lounge, which happens to house a recording studio. Inside the space – right next to all the posters – hang photos of Pelly’s grandparents, Blanca and Lorenzo. They immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba. His mother, Myriam Pelly, is also a Cuban immigrant who works alongside Pelly and Schaaf at Rock Star Tacos.

How does your Cuban identity inspire the cuisine at Rock Star Tacos?

I’m first generation and was raised in a Cuban household. But in my generation, there were a lot of people whose parents didn’t want you to learn Spanish because they wanted you to be “American.” My mom is an amazing cook. I have a Cuban pork taco on the menu; the tamales are called “Cuban Mama Tamales” – my family is absolutely the reason behind all of this.

When I was young, Cuban families would come over on Saturdays and make tamales. Everyone has their own version – I make my own creamed corn and mix it with the masa. That’s the Cuban twist. It’s super fluffy. Anyway, [on those Saturdays], there was a table: One person would make masa, one would make filling and one would fold aluminum foil. They’d seal it all up and put the tamales in a pressure cooker. I know it’s weird, but we ate them with ketchup.

How does your past relate to your music and food?

We’d make those tamales, and then – I don’t remember if it was “The Muppets” or “Saturday Night Live” that I was watching as a kid, but I saw Alice Cooper and KISS. [Kids] would say they wanted to be a doctor or an astronaut – I wanted to be a rock star. Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa – I wanted to be those guys.

So I started playing bass; I guess I got good enough to where people would hire me. In the ‘90s, I worked for the Department of Defense and got to go around the world and entertain troops. In the 2000s, I was in an original band, Neptune Crush, putting out records. But our record deal didn’t go through. My mom said, “You should get back into cooking.”

What’s the Rock Star Tacos origin story?

[The band I was in] was playing a show one night, thinking, “Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to grab some tacos when we get to New Town?” New Town was a desert at the time, but they had these 100-square-foot concrete huts – little kiosks. We turned one into the Rock Star Tacos shack.

We’re rock and roll, but we’ve always had really high standards for our food. My job in this business, as well as the music business, is to entertain you; when you come in, no matter what mood you’re in, you leave in a better one.

Rock Star Tacos, 4916 Shaw Ave., The Hill, St. Louis, Missouri, 314-571-9016, rockstartacos.com

Must-Try Dishes at Rock Star Tacos

“With this one, I make my own gyro meat; I do all beef,” Pelly says. “It gets whipped in a KitchenAid mixer with milk and all the spices, and we press it like a gyro. [It’s garnished with] tzatziki, lettuce and red onions. It’s a bestseller.” And, of course, it's a nod to the Foo Fighters.

Named after the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Tina Turner, Pelly’s poutine appetizer pays homage to both Black women in rock and the classic Canadian dish of French fries and cheese curds. “It’s a pile of Rock Star Dust fries, cheddar cheese, chorizo gravy, onions, limes and cilantro,” Pelly says.

Bonus: The Poutina Turner can also be made vegetarian.

Cannoli – the tube-shaped Italian pastries filled with sweetened ricotta – transform with Pelly’s Rock Star treatment. “This is our spin on cannoli filling in a fried flour tortilla,” he says. “It’s topped with glacé cherries.” The dish gets its name from the Dio album and song, “Holy Diver,” released in 1983.

LA CALLE IS A ST. LOUIS HUB FOR ANNUAL CELEBRATIONS OF BOTH MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY IN SEPTEMBER AND CINCO

DE MAYO IN MAY. Despite its typical commercialism in the United States, Cinco de Mayo commemorates an important moment in Mexican history – the Ba le of Puebla – in which Mexico kept its independence from France. To honor this significant cultural event, Thenhaus says, the section of Cherokee Street between Nebraska and Jefferson avenues transforms into one huge party each year. “We’ve go en to the point with Cinco de Mayo on Cherokee, where, even if we don’t build it, they will come,” she says. “The festival really is an amazing time, with three main stages –each with different music and acts all day – and over 100 vendors. There’s luchador wrestling, [which makes for] the best photos.”

When Emmanuel Vazguez couldn’t sleep growing up, he would get up and walk downstairs to El Chico Bakery – where his father worked – to help him in the early morning hours. Years later, Emmanuel’s parents, Ana and Refugio, opened their own shop: Diana’s Bakery. “I remember when we were gonna open this place up, my dad pulled me to the side,” Vazguez says. “We were walking into Six Flags, [and] he tells me, ‘We’re not going to be able to celebrate your birthday this year or get you anything for Christmas. We’re gonna need your help with the bakery.’” Now, Vazguez works at Diana’s full-time, alongside his family, selling more than 3,000 baked goods – including conchas, empanadas and much more – per day.

Diana’s Bakery is just one of the many Mexican-owned businesses that make up La Calle Cherokee – the Latin American food district on Cherokee Street.

According to Cherokee Street Community Improvement District Executive Director Emily Thenhaus, Vazguez’s story isn’t unusual for La Calle. “So many of these businesses are like legacy family institutions,” she says. “For some, the younger generation is often the one running the business at this point.” lease building, which was once a Woolworth’s.

Since the move, El Torito has expanded its offerings, with a bakery and meat market breaking up the rows of Mexican snacks, colorful leather boots and belts and household items. “It’s really awesome to see that we, as a Hispanic community, have contributed to this historic street and made it home,” Medina says.

When their a ached restaurant was forced to close its doors mid-pandemic, the Medinas opened a food stand inside El Torito to sell tacos, quesadillas, burritos and tortas – these recipes are influenced by culinary traditions from Michoacán and Mexico City. Despite its small size, the stand lives up to the family’s high expectations. “My dad always used to say that something good has to come out of a bad situation,” Medina says. “So [closing the restaurant] was actually a blessing to us. Now you can order your tacos –[wait] five minutes at most – and you’re out the door. Everything is made from scratch every single day.”

Across the street, La Manganita opened in the later stages of the pandemic, joining Cherokee’s tour

Oscar it west

The younger generation includes Oscar Medina, whose parents own Supermercado El Torito – one of the longest-standing businesses on La Calle.

Originally from the Mexican state of Michoacán, the Medinas first opened a corner store in 1998 at the juncture of Cherokee and Iowa Avenue. Medina remembers the street as it was back then: “We used to see this sign that read for sale or lease,’” he says. “My dad was kind of interested in [the building], but it was a big thing compared to what we had at the time.” Eventually, the family did move their store a block west on Cherokee Street, into that same expansive, for-

TACO & ICE CREAM JOINT

Taco & Ice Cream Joint owner Rico Salvador is the youngest business owner on Cherokee Street; he was finally able to add margaritas to the menu a er his 21st birthday last year. He’s also operating one of the few places on Cherokee that serves handmade Mexican ice cream, in flavors ranging from horchata to chocolate cupcake. facebook.com/tacoandicecreamjoint.

La Vallesana

La Vallesana first opened its doors as a small ice cream shop in 2003. Today, the restaurant has expanded to include two spacious patios, indoor seating and a full food, drink and ice cream menu. Try specialty flavors, including rose, fresa leche and guanabana (an acidic tropical fruit similar to pineapple), in a cup, cone or milkshake. neverialavallesana.com

Love Bank Park began as a community project in 2015 when a basketball hoop was installed on the vacant lots at the corner of Cherokee Street and Nebraska Avenue. With the input of stakeholders, business owners and young residents, the park will soon become the improved public gathering space La Calle needs, Thenhaus says. “There [aren’t many] places on Cherokee that are made for kids and young adults,” she adds. “You know, a be er place to host events, a be er place to sit and relax and get off the street. A be er basketball court to play on.” de force of small, family-owned businesses. The restaurant’s cozy space is warmed in the winter by a rotating spit of al pastor (grilled slices of pork) – some of the street’s best. “In July 2021, we started ge ing orders. We had four kinds of meat only and just tortas, tacos and burritos,” says Manny Garcia, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Lupe Medina de Garcia. “In September, business started picking up. This year, it’s been way be er. We feel more flexible, we have a bunch of customers, we feel like we can cook more food. Our menu is super simple because that’s what we started with, but now we can do more dishes.”

Although the menu at La Manganita might seem pared-down, it’s all the more refined and uncomplicated as a result. Lupe Medina de Garcia cra s her pozole, menudo (a traditional Mexican soup made with cow’s stomach, seasoned broth and a red chile pepper base) and birria without recipes and makes fresh tortillas daily – a task that’s as time-consuming as it is intricate. “It’s a li le different,” Manny Garcia says. “Our pozole is spicier than other places; some places just use pork. We use the pork ribs and the pork bu , so together there’s a li le more flavor because of the bone.” The birria – a stew made with goat, beef, lamb or chicken, vinegar and dried chiles – takes notes from both Jalisco, a state in western Mexico, and Michoacán. The dish has recently gained popularity in the form of quesabirria, where the stewed beef is folded into a cheesy taco and dipped in the remaining broth.

With so many Latin American businesses assembled in one place, a competitive spirit among shop owners seems inevitable. However, Medina has a different viewpoint: “I like to see other parts of Latin America, not just Mexicans; it could be Hondurans and a lot of Venezuelans coming in. I always tell them – whatever the food is over there, go ahead and invest in that and open something up. A lot of people are looking for that. When you come from those kinds of countries, you’re looking for the food or things you saw back there. You kind of miss them.”

Such ventures are becoming increasingly popular on La Calle, as St. Louis’ Latin American population rises. Thenhaus explains that the number of commercial vacancies on the street has decreased by more than 50 percent just in the last two years, and most of them are filled by small, family-owned businesses. But Cherokee Street isn’t the only place in the metro area where Latin American business hubs have sprouted up.

“Honestly, I would say that aspect of competition is most felt between Cherokee Street and Bevo, or Cherokee Street and North County, where there’s a growing Mexican community,” Thenhaus says. “[The question is], as the Mexican community grows in St.

Louis, generally, how do we continue to keep Cherokee Street as an anchor?”

By exploring the enigmatic nature of La Calle Cherokee, Thenhaus answers her own question: “It’s easy to paint with a broad brush and say [that] Cherokee Street is just a Mexican business district, or it’s just this predominantly Black area of South City, or it’s just white hipster bars. … A lot [is missed] by oversimplifying [Cherokee Street] in that way. I think the power, uniqueness and beauty of it is that all of these different cultures and communities are intertwined in one place –and that it doesn’t stay siloed.”

Supermercado El Torito, 2753 Cherokee St.

La Manganita, 2812 Cherokee St.

Diana’s Bakery, 2843 Cherokee St.

DIANA’S BAKERY

Located on La Calle between Nebraska and Oregon avenues, Diana’s was opened by Ana and Refugio Vazguez, aided by their son Emmanuel. Each day, Diana’s sells out of cases upon cases of so bolillo bread, churros and traditional conchas. Don’t sleep on the many variations of tamales – kept in a steaming case up front – or the dulce de leche cakes.

facebook.com/dianasbakery2843

El Chico Bakery

The oldest bakery on the street, El Chico Bakery has been open since 1998. In addition to selling its goods at farmers markets across the metro area, El Chico is always finding new ways to support and represent the La Calle community. The bakery has hosted printmakers and worked with the nearby Luminary Arts Center to host in-store art exhibitions. Customers rave about El Chico’s empanadas, as well as the staff’s kindness and a ention to detail.

facebook.com/ElChicoBakery

WRITTEN BY MARY ANDINO | PHOTOS BY SEAN LOCKE