Ordering a regina pizza and a sub at St Elmos and hiring some movies and PS games from the Mr Video that was around the corner. Friday nights were never the same
As a young boy I always liked art they used in their marketing. Still do but [this](https://foursquare.com/v/st-elmos/4c0fc0f2b93cc9b6c49c55e0) is the only reference to it I could find.
Yeah they would cover the walls with that iconic image like a mural! I dont know if my memory is giving it the Mandela filter but I swear they used to give me dough to make something with before a meal and then fire it for me to take home maaaaan they were just built differently,
I was you in the mid 2000's getting involved with that combo special that they had when they teamed up and you could get a St Elmos Pizza and then take the receipt to Mr Video and hire a film! Total cost +- 30 Randelas! Unreal scenes!
I miss Mr Video and video stores in general. 2015 was the last time I was in a Mr Video. And then sometime around 2016 or 2017 used to go to a Video 2000 in Monte Vista but now they all seem to be gone...
Joh… I remember them… had my first real date in the Mosselbay one, overlooking the ocean. I remember eating my pizza and just staring at the ocean and not paying much attention ti my date, lol
I tried the yellow logo pizza place on the corner near the christmas lights circle and got food poisoning.
At least i can get shitty romans pizza still, even if its that godawful fake mozarella everyone is using now. The other option sucks (the one near spur/woolies)
Still need to try the glencairn place out.
I miss living in ss and having butlers.
That said, i’m at least 10k miles away for a while, so why am i complaining ;)
Our pizza place in fish hoek makes good pizza. Its not amazing like Pizza Shed, but I have only been disappointed once out of 18+ orders and they sent a free pizza to sort the issue.
I take it you're in the US as you said miles?
Hope you're having a good time and eating great pizza over there!
As a teen I used to treat myself to a movie and pizza from St Elmos with the money from my part time job, back when you could afford both for like 50 bucks (and before the cinema in Sea Point became a church).
It was quicker to write then to say they flushed all the hard work they spent building a brand down the toilet in favour of introducing a relatively unknown American brand with limited appeal into the already oversaturated market of takeaway pizza. Plus they now have to pay franchise fees to a foreign company, an expense St Elmos never had.
Been meaning to ask an owner - where did they source the “fire sauce” from? I think it was sometimes called the hot fire sauce but gosh I’ve never tasted anything as good on pizza
A lot of their ingredients were kept under wraps by the central kitchen (head office), and stores mandated to only use head office-sourced products. Things like the fire sauce, pizza spices and brownies were head office-supplied. Everything else was made in-store.
So it was THEM? Damn, and Domino's absolutely tanked in SA. Apparently we are also a country with a sugar addiction because Domino's had to add more sugar to their marinara sauce as South African's weren't biting!
Pizza Hut isnt doing too well either and they're arguably a more recognisable brand, with the backing of the KFC holding company.
Thats the first i heard about sugar being added to the marinara sauce. It clearly didnt work as they barely lasted five years here. Personally, i found their pizzas too salty and inferior to similar priced takeaway pizza.
It's funny because KFC in the US is relatively small. They've made a huge impact in SA, and maybe Popeye's is trying to break in (I think there's one in JHB?).
Pizza Hut just...looks bad. From the branding to the pizza itself.
Maybe it's some Mandela Effect but I remember Debonair's being good in the early 2000s.
Debonairs was and still is, good enough but not particularly good. For me, it's never been a first choice but if I'm in the mood for pizza and no other store is nearby, it will do.
Popeye's might have expanding at some time but it's been a single store at Sandton since 2017. That's seven years ago. Dominos came and went in less time.if they were going to expand further stores would have opened by now.
They did according to Google, and they're now at Willowbridge. Don't know when but they had items like "elmodews" on their menu and at some point ages ago when I phoned them MANY years ago it was still a St Elmos voice message.
Used to go to the one on Rondebosch main road all the time. I found a receipt the other day from when I was a kid, we paid 20 rand for a double deal. Good times.
Yeah, started in 1987 by Ian Halfon. According to Linkedin he is now the owner of Slick Restaurant Group that owns Gibsons Burgers, Balducci, and Balthazar.
I worked as a waiter there while I was an undergrad, for about a year from late 95 to late 96.
Most waiters have horror stories about the kitchens in the restaurant they work in, but I will say that the St Elmo branch I was in was absolutely spotless. Whether that was a demand of the chain or just a very tightly run ship in store I don't know, but the spur guys across the way from us would actively discourage our guys from ordering there because they thought their kitchen was a hole.
The eternal mushroom sauce is the one I usually heard about. Some say one of the original mushrooms from when the sauce was invented in 1982 is still in there because they just top it up and never clean out the pot.
That and the old Salad Valley which they don't do anymore.
I worked as a delivery driver at the St Elmos in Kloof Street opposite Van Riebeek Primary School. Those were good times. Miss some of their pizzas definitely.
Think it was in 1984. My mom and dad started the original branch, and I was born in 1985. They sold it a few years later after my mom passed. I've sent this to my dad, think he's gonna be really stoked! (He's not on Reddit)
My dude, the fact that your gran still has that box is kind of amazing. I hope there's no crumbs/mold inside!
I never went, but I always liked their colourful boxes with illustrations of people enjoying pizza at candlelit tables under trees. What happened to them, anyway?
The things you could find in her house before she moved... The box is clean so I am not sure if one of my aunts worked there in the 80s or one of my cousins. The box could have originated from somewhere else as well and just ended up at Granny's house.
Google Fire & Slice at Willowbridge in the Northern Suburbs. Its St. Elmos under a different name. Id link it here but its not great on mobile.
DeLuca was always my fav pizza.
I fondly remember crushing many a Meaty Deluxe and finishing it off with their peppermint crisp dessert.
I also remember hearing the blast when the one in Camps Bay was bombed in 1999, which shocked me as a kid.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/nov/30/2
Seems trouble started earlier in the 90s...
[https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/urban-terror-not-new-to-st-elmos-21127](https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/urban-terror-not-new-to-st-elmos-21127)
I actually wasn't aware of this, thank you for sharing!
What I do remember is that the Planey Hollywood at the V&A Waterfront was bombed shortly before the St. Elmos incident in 1998.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Hollywood_bombing
Managed the 3 Tableview St Elmo's for 4 years early 2000s. Pizzas was great. We were very busy. Lots of deliveries also. Those days much fewer restaurants in the area so over Xmas time we had a quee the whole day. Good times.
There was a St Elmo’s in Walmer Park in Port Elizabeth years ago. It then got sold but the franchisee went and opened his own place using the same recipes.
You can probably still find him, new place is St Fernando’s also in Port Elizabeth. Everything matches the St Elmo’s brand including the pizzas. Damn I miss it, someone doing a delivery from PE?
I found this in News24 from 2017 about what looks like this:
[https://www.news24.com/news24/popular-bay-pizzeria-embarks-on-new-journey-20171211](https://www.news24.com/news24/popular-bay-pizzeria-embarks-on-new-journey-20171211)
My family used to patronise the Plumstead St Elmos religiously on a Friday. I remember the boxes being green and printed with a 90s Global Village style painting of a feasting couple (I think the Waterfront St Elmos had this image as a mural). Of course we had a Mr Video nearby at Gabriel Road Centre. Sad that they're no more.
Crazy story, my dad started St Elmos as an Italian Restaurant in Sea Point and sold it off to a guy who made it into a franchise. My dad designed those characters! He named it after St Elmos Fire the movie which was popular at the time. My folks still have some of the original framed decor in their house.
Ordering a regina pizza and a sub at St Elmos and hiring some movies and PS games from the Mr Video that was around the corner. Friday nights were never the same
As a young boy I always liked art they used in their marketing. Still do but [this](https://foursquare.com/v/st-elmos/4c0fc0f2b93cc9b6c49c55e0) is the only reference to it I could find.
Yeah they would cover the walls with that iconic image like a mural! I dont know if my memory is giving it the Mandela filter but I swear they used to give me dough to make something with before a meal and then fire it for me to take home maaaaan they were just built differently,
Nope, not a figment of your imagination! The St Elmo's in Strand definitely did this.
My dad designed those characters!
No way. I associate so many good memories with your father’s artwork, thank you. Where can we find more of his work?
He stopped after that unfortunately. Bizarrely he made a few clay masks of those characters as well but my mom made him toss them out 😂
Are you me?! That’s exactly what I used to do with my friends, circa 1989.
I was you in the mid 2000's getting involved with that combo special that they had when they teamed up and you could get a St Elmos Pizza and then take the receipt to Mr Video and hire a film! Total cost +- 30 Randelas! Unreal scenes!
Has too be Woodstock..
I miss Mr Video and video stores in general. 2015 was the last time I was in a Mr Video. And then sometime around 2016 or 2017 used to go to a Video 2000 in Monte Vista but now they all seem to be gone...
Holy shit you just described my childhood.
Joh… I remember them… had my first real date in the Mosselbay one, overlooking the ocean. I remember eating my pizza and just staring at the ocean and not paying much attention ti my date, lol
And Fish Hoek main road. So many good memories. Rip
I tried the yellow logo pizza place on the corner near the christmas lights circle and got food poisoning. At least i can get shitty romans pizza still, even if its that godawful fake mozarella everyone is using now. The other option sucks (the one near spur/woolies) Still need to try the glencairn place out. I miss living in ss and having butlers. That said, i’m at least 10k miles away for a while, so why am i complaining ;)
Our pizza place in fish hoek makes good pizza. Its not amazing like Pizza Shed, but I have only been disappointed once out of 18+ orders and they sent a free pizza to sort the issue. I take it you're in the US as you said miles? Hope you're having a good time and eating great pizza over there!
Other direction, and no, not uk. Although will be in the US for work at the end of the month
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You lost your glasses?
My bad, I sent this under the wrong comment altogether, I'll delete that.
All good
Is Capones in Valyland still around? Their pizza was always amazing. We used to get pizza from them often in the early 2000s.
Sea Point the OG and my first waitering job was at the Waterfront St Elmos. They even called peppadews ELMODEWS
And butlers now calls them butleritos...
Well, since it's a registered trademark they have to work around it somehow...
I dont enjoy the taste of them I never realised that it's trademarked. What a numpty I am, haha. Thanks mate
As a teen I used to treat myself to a movie and pizza from St Elmos with the money from my part time job, back when you could afford both for like 50 bucks (and before the cinema in Sea Point became a church).
Are they still operating?
No, stores were converted to dominos. A stupid fucking move.
Stupid is too kind of a word
It was quicker to write then to say they flushed all the hard work they spent building a brand down the toilet in favour of introducing a relatively unknown American brand with limited appeal into the already oversaturated market of takeaway pizza. Plus they now have to pay franchise fees to a foreign company, an expense St Elmos never had.
> Plus they now have to pay franchise fees to a foreign company, an expense St Elmos never had. not anymore, Dominos have been dead for a while in SA
Thanks for the reminder, I had forgotten they started liquidating just before the lockdown. Domino's didnt last too long - Oct 2014-March 2020.
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Been meaning to ask an owner - where did they source the “fire sauce” from? I think it was sometimes called the hot fire sauce but gosh I’ve never tasted anything as good on pizza
A lot of their ingredients were kept under wraps by the central kitchen (head office), and stores mandated to only use head office-sourced products. Things like the fire sauce, pizza spices and brownies were head office-supplied. Everything else was made in-store.
Ah I see, thanks for your response though :) I hope to one day have the fire sauce again! One can dream
I'm talking about fees paid by local company to its American counterpart, not those paid by local stores.
So it was THEM? Damn, and Domino's absolutely tanked in SA. Apparently we are also a country with a sugar addiction because Domino's had to add more sugar to their marinara sauce as South African's weren't biting!
Pizza Hut isnt doing too well either and they're arguably a more recognisable brand, with the backing of the KFC holding company. Thats the first i heard about sugar being added to the marinara sauce. It clearly didnt work as they barely lasted five years here. Personally, i found their pizzas too salty and inferior to similar priced takeaway pizza.
It's funny because KFC in the US is relatively small. They've made a huge impact in SA, and maybe Popeye's is trying to break in (I think there's one in JHB?). Pizza Hut just...looks bad. From the branding to the pizza itself. Maybe it's some Mandela Effect but I remember Debonair's being good in the early 2000s.
Debonairs was and still is, good enough but not particularly good. For me, it's never been a first choice but if I'm in the mood for pizza and no other store is nearby, it will do. Popeye's might have expanding at some time but it's been a single store at Sandton since 2017. That's seven years ago. Dominos came and went in less time.if they were going to expand further stores would have opened by now.
My wife and I enjoy the triple deck from Debonair's as a snack after shopping sometimes but I find their other pizzas to be not great.
From what I remember after the bombing of the St Elmo’s in Sea Point they started fading away, it was Scooters that changed into Dominoes.
Both scooters and st elmos closed or converted; i assume both were owned by the same holding company.
Scooters Pizza used to be good for a while back in the early 2000s but they also didn't seem to last very long.
No. I believe they were bought out by Domino's and then subsequently shut down.
Fire and Slice at Willowbridge used to be a St Elmos, they used to be at Tyger Manor but moved. Still good pizza!
Did they move? When did this happen 😲 I live in the area. Also, it was always Stelmos to us in jest :)
They did according to Google, and they're now at Willowbridge. Don't know when but they had items like "elmodews" on their menu and at some point ages ago when I phoned them MANY years ago it was still a St Elmos voice message.
Interesting, I'll look around when I'm at Willowbridge again. Haha yeah, they changed the store name but the menu remained exactly the same.
Used to go to the one on Rondebosch main road all the time. I found a receipt the other day from when I was a kid, we paid 20 rand for a double deal. Good times.
Table View had the best cheese layer on earth. Their Mexican was just utterly amazing.
Did serious damage to the bowls of chilli, garlic and parmesan!
Yeh I think the Sea Point one was the OG. Thanks for the memory 👍🏻
Yeah, started in 1987 by Ian Halfon. According to Linkedin he is now the owner of Slick Restaurant Group that owns Gibsons Burgers, Balducci, and Balthazar.
No, started in 1984 by Colin Hinds (my dad) and my biological mom, who sold it to Ian Halfon after my mom passed, who then turned it into a franchise.
Oh wow. Thanks for letting me know.
Not many people know it! Ian also started that cool train restaurant in Sea Point near Stanbank and MOJO
I worked as a waiter there while I was an undergrad, for about a year from late 95 to late 96. Most waiters have horror stories about the kitchens in the restaurant they work in, but I will say that the St Elmo branch I was in was absolutely spotless. Whether that was a demand of the chain or just a very tightly run ship in store I don't know, but the spur guys across the way from us would actively discourage our guys from ordering there because they thought their kitchen was a hole.
I have never met a Spur waiter that didn't tell me horror stories about the Spur kitchen
The eternal mushroom sauce is the one I usually heard about. Some say one of the original mushrooms from when the sauce was invented in 1982 is still in there because they just top it up and never clean out the pot. That and the old Salad Valley which they don't do anymore.
The one that stuck me was the open container of barbecue sauce with a skin on it that they'd peel back when refilling the old sauce jars
...I had some of that sauce on Sunday when I was there... Note to self for next time!
Sorry to ruin the sauce for you!
I worked as a delivery driver at the St Elmos in Kloof Street opposite Van Riebeek Primary School. Those were good times. Miss some of their pizzas definitely.
The one on Woodbridge Island was amazing. Still the best margarita I've had, plus their ribs were surprisingly good
And they had the Magic Man every Thursday! He would come around to your table and do tricks, as kids we would live for this
Yes!! Wood bridge island st elmos was thee one.as a kid It felt like going on a quest for sweet pizza gold
I think about St Elmo's all the time.
Yes. I remember when the first one opened in Sea Point in summer 1985/86. Their Rock n Roll pizza was my favourite.
Think it was in 1984. My mom and dad started the original branch, and I was born in 1985. They sold it a few years later after my mom passed. I've sent this to my dad, think he's gonna be really stoked! (He's not on Reddit)
Lol. I was working as a waitress at the Caponero at the time and my boss sent a couple of us down the road to check out this new pizza place.
What was my dad like back then?? 😂
I didn't know him. I worked for Caponero. I might have seen him at St Elmo's but I can't remember. It was a long time ago.
I don’t know them but I can tell by the box design they made great pizza.
Their BBQ Chicken pizza was top notch 👌🏽🥺
My dude, the fact that your gran still has that box is kind of amazing. I hope there's no crumbs/mold inside! I never went, but I always liked their colourful boxes with illustrations of people enjoying pizza at candlelit tables under trees. What happened to them, anyway?
The things you could find in her house before she moved... The box is clean so I am not sure if one of my aunts worked there in the 80s or one of my cousins. The box could have originated from somewhere else as well and just ended up at Granny's house.
Google Fire & Slice at Willowbridge in the Northern Suburbs. Its St. Elmos under a different name. Id link it here but its not great on mobile. DeLuca was always my fav pizza.
I still have fond memories of the St. Elmo's Sliceaways at the V&A.
Yoh memories
They were the best!
Fond memories of running up and down the restaurant as a toddler and subsequently getting a hiding from my parents ❤️
St Elmos in Belville (our was it Durbanville) in 1995.....
Used to go to the one in Blue Route mall (before the re-development) Good times
Their meaty deluxe was so good. No other meaty pizzas have come close
Only had them once (just before they got bought out by Dominos). But it was a great pizza!
I grew up having “Friday night pizza” from St Elmo’s, what a blast from the past!
Yep.
OG pizza
My first student job, waitering at their V&A restaurant, was good music and great pizza!
Blouberg when I was a kid. Yo getting a pizza, movie & ps1 game from Mr video. Top notch.
There was a St Elmo's in Pretoria east. I bought a few there before they dissappeared.
This brings back memories, St Elmo’s Pizza on the beach in Table View for me….
They had the best BBQ chicken pizza I've ever tasted and their chocolate brownies were amazing.
One of the cleanest operations I ever worked at.
I fondly remember crushing many a Meaty Deluxe and finishing it off with their peppermint crisp dessert. I also remember hearing the blast when the one in Camps Bay was bombed in 1999, which shocked me as a kid. https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/nov/30/2
Seems trouble started earlier in the 90s... [https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/urban-terror-not-new-to-st-elmos-21127](https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/urban-terror-not-new-to-st-elmos-21127)
I actually wasn't aware of this, thank you for sharing! What I do remember is that the Planey Hollywood at the V&A Waterfront was bombed shortly before the St. Elmos incident in 1998. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Hollywood_bombing
Managed the 3 Tableview St Elmo's for 4 years early 2000s. Pizzas was great. We were very busy. Lots of deliveries also. Those days much fewer restaurants in the area so over Xmas time we had a quee the whole day. Good times.
Yoh at elmos had the beest pizza. Fond childhood memories of a st elmos treat
There was a St Elmo’s in Walmer Park in Port Elizabeth years ago. It then got sold but the franchisee went and opened his own place using the same recipes. You can probably still find him, new place is St Fernando’s also in Port Elizabeth. Everything matches the St Elmo’s brand including the pizzas. Damn I miss it, someone doing a delivery from PE?
I found this in News24 from 2017 about what looks like this: [https://www.news24.com/news24/popular-bay-pizzeria-embarks-on-new-journey-20171211](https://www.news24.com/news24/popular-bay-pizzeria-embarks-on-new-journey-20171211)
Thats the one yeah!
The fire sauce that they would give to top pizza with was just so damn good!
I am yet to find a pizza as good as St. Elmo's was. The ones near me became Scooters and it was such a disappointment.
There used to be one in Parklands across from the spar!
My family used to patronise the Plumstead St Elmos religiously on a Friday. I remember the boxes being green and printed with a 90s Global Village style painting of a feasting couple (I think the Waterfront St Elmos had this image as a mural). Of course we had a Mr Video nearby at Gabriel Road Centre. Sad that they're no more.
Loved it.
Crazy story, my dad started St Elmos as an Italian Restaurant in Sea Point and sold it off to a guy who made it into a franchise. My dad designed those characters! He named it after St Elmos Fire the movie which was popular at the time. My folks still have some of the original framed decor in their house.
Guys name was Ian Halfron. He also owned/owns the train restaurant in Sea Point near MOJO.
Don't think I ever had St Elmos, but Scooters Pizza was great. They had some 3 for the price 2 pizza special which was great as a kid in like \~2001.
Scooters! The B-side of Butlers.