Our Mission
The mission of Stone Turtle restaurant stems from the passion all of us share for food, beverage, and giving our guests the best possible experience we can deliver. Chef Todd Bale runs a scratch kitchen making all food, sauces, and dressings in house. The focus of Stone Turtle's overall menu is an updated take on classic American pub fare. Owner Nick Funke's bar program offers a wide selection of affordably priced whiskies, specialty cocktails, grower producer wines, and craft beers. Please come and visit us soon. We would love to see you!
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The buratta salad is heaven and I want the recipe to the salad dressing so I can have it in my daily life for lunch. The macaroni and cheese makes me think naughty things, for real I'd lick the cast iron skillet.
Andrea J. | Yelp Review
About Us
When we set out to create Stone Turtle, we wanted to bring a bar with a focus on whiskey as well as a sit-down restaurant to the Dogtown area. We ended up with a high quality American gastropub offering customers dinner, lunch, brunch, and an old fashioned happy hour. Stone Turtle is purposefully half restaurant and half bar both as a physical space and as our overall concept.
With the bar, we emphasize smaller and lesser-known distillers, vintners, and brewers with a large assortment of spirits, wines, beers, and more. With the restaurant, we are elevating food options as we believe customers will appreciate the quality and reasonable prices we offer. Finally, we want to be distinctive while being a great fit for Dogtown. We look forward to you visiting!
Nick Funke
Nick Funke, Stone Turtle's principal owner and general manager, started working in the restaurant industry as an intern to chef Michael Johnson in his hometown of St. Louis at age 18. Like many a St. Louisan, he left for college (and obtained a degree in Mathematical Economics from Pomona). After a brief period in corporate finance, Nick returned to his passion of restaurants and bars, working in different positions in restaurants in St. Louis.
The St. Louis native has worked in the business for many years, from Barcelona and Flaco's Cocina in town, to several restaurants in New York City, where he moved to in 2009 to continue to advance his knowledge of the overall hospitality industry (as far as increasing sales and profitability while maintaining a highly-trained staff).
In New York, he worked for Casa la Femme for 2 years, becoming an Assistant Manager and Captain. Afterwards, he moved to Osteria Cotta, working his way up to General Manager. Over his last 5 years, Nick managed Osteria Cotta and two of its sister restaurants, including opening the 6700 square foot restaurant and gastropub, Carroll Place.
Nick moved back to St. Louis in 2016 determined to open a restaurant of his own and reached out to his former colleague, Maz Nooran, to be part of the project. Maz Nooran, who owned Momo's Greek Restaurant and Flaco's Cocina, liked Funke's ideas, and the two paired up with Adam Tanksley to realize their vision for Stone Turtle.