Luna Cafe's Legendary Cherry Glows Again in Granite City!
Luna Cafe (201 East Chain of Rocks Road, Granite City, Illinois; 618-931-3152) opened in 1926, which makes it the oldest structure on Historic Route 66 still operating under its original name. More important, it just won "Best Neighborhood Bar (East Side)" in the 2011 edition of Riverfront Times' "Best of St. Louis," thanks in no small part to the sign.
Suzy Rust After more than twenty years of darkness, the Luna Cafe sign is lit!
More specifically, the legend of the cherry in the sign's cocktail glass.
It's said that back in the day, when that red fruit beamed down at passing motorists, it advertised what red lights have for ages: working girls for hire.
The cherry's beckoning glow returned this past Saturday, October 22, 2011, celebrated with a big-ass party complete with fried chicken and beer. The event was attended by a mix of Route 66 fans, Luna Cafe regulars and curious passers-by. At sundown a long-haired blonde sang "The Star Spangled Banner," a switch was flipped and the fabled sign flared to life.
The restoration of this '40s-era neon marvel was made possible by an enthusiastic partnership involving Luna owner Larry Wofford, the Friends of the Mother Road and the Illinois and Missouri Route 66 Associations. Restoring neon ain't cheap. A grant of $11,000 from the U.S. National Park Service's Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program (scroll down) helped to defray the hefty price tag.
Jim Thole, who heads the Route 66 Association of Missouri's Neon Heritage Preservation committee, says this project was a logical one for Missouri and Illinois Route 66ers to go in on together. "Every time our groups drove through Mitchell on annual motor tours of each state's sections of the Mother Road, we would stop to admire this sign," Thole says. "The Luna Cafe may be in Illinois, but it's also very much a part of metro St. Louis. City bigwigs used to unwind inside when it was a gourmet restaurant, away from prying eyes."
Suzy Rust 66er Jim Thole helped to get all the light bulbs screwed into their rightful sockets.
Before his 1932 imprisonment, Al Capone reportedly used to stop over at this spot (just out of firing range of St. Louis-area bad men like Dinty Colbeck, Buster Wortman and Jelly Roll Hogan), then send his goons into the big city to conduct business. Ike and Tina Turner rolled here. At one time the marquee read: "Topless Piano Player Inside." 
Suzy Rust Fresh paint, new bulbs and re-blown neon tubing by St. Charles-based Neon Time. The restored sign was re-erected by Signcrafters of St. Louis and wired by Larry Wofford's IBEW pals.
"That drew people in," owner Wofford explains. "But what they got was a guy without a shirt on named Skinny, banging away at 'Chopsticks.'"
Asked if he has found any interesting items from the old days tucked into forgotten corners, he says, "There's a working phone booth from 1933, complete with light and fan. Maybe some gangster ordered a hit over that phone." (Or called his mother.)
Most regulars, like, say, Smitty "Don't Use My Last Name" of Granite City, have been drinking here since they acquired illegal driver's licenses many moons ago. One old baldy says he has been shoving money across the bar for 60 years. "This place used to be wall-to-wall, all the time," he claims. "It's not as crowded these days, though that flashy fixed-up sign may change things."
Suzy Rust Larry "Rooster" Wofford with two of his favorite hens.
Karaoke brings in repeat business as well. A middle-aged Jeannie C. Riley wanna-be in miniskirt and go-go boots belts out a mean "Harper Valley P.T.A." An Elvis in a blue jumpsuit croons "In the Ghetto." Widows with penciled-on eyebrows laugh at the beer-bellies who try to woo them à la George Jones with "She Thinks I Still Care."
Suzy Rust Elvis Karaoke (of Elvis Karaoke Graceland) serenades Barbara Whitehead (of Granite City).
In short, the longnecks are cheap, the people are nuts and their stories are interesting, regardless of whether there's any truth to them. A place like this deserves a cherry on top.
Suzy Rust Monte Rapp and his wife Janine. Rapp's grandparents, Chet and Vera Wyres, and his parents, Fred and Gerry Davis, owned Luna Cafe before it was sold to Wofford thirteen years ago.
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