Ozzy’s Market (1933 Washington), a combination sandwich shop and neighborhood corner store with a retro feel, opened this week in Downtown West. The team behind the concept includes Kenny Marks and Casey Colgan, co-owners of the bar Kenny’s Upstairs on South Grand, as well as Joe Stein, a bread baker and pastry chef who teaches in St. Louis Community College’s hospitality studies program, and Helen Petty, owner of the Chop Shop beauty and barbering collective in The Grove.
The four friends have collaborated on a menu of house-made breakfast and lunch dishes, surrounded by a grocery selection that’s both essential and eclectic.
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The Menu
The chopped cheese is the signature sandwich at Ozzy’s Market. The understated menu description—ground beef, American cheese, lettuce, and tomato jam on a hoagie—is the most simple way possible to describe the hot, gooey deliciousness of a New York City bodega classic that’s wrapped in foil.
“Food doesn’t have to be overcomplicated to be really good,” says Petty, who graduated from culinary school and worked as a pastry chef at acclaimed restaurants such as King Louie’s and the original Baileys’ Chocolate Bar before transitioning to beauty school and going on to own several hair salons.
In the kitchen, Stein makes almost everything in house, from the meatballs on the sub to the jelly on the PB&J—and most of the breads too, including focaccia, sourdough, buns, and even drop biscuits. At Petty’s request for a vegan dish, Stein created not one but two: veggie “meatballs” for a baguette sandwich and vegan burger patties of lentils, mushrooms, and mirepoix, available with vegan cheese.
Breakfast hours are from 8–11 a.m., when customers can order such dishes as the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and the quiche of the day. The kitchen then shifts into lunch mode, with sandwiches, burgers, and sides of coleslaw or dill potato salad. (Latecomers looking for a grab-and-go breakfast sandwich after 11 a.m. might find one in the warmer if they’re lucky.)
For only $5, kids can try Marks’ favorite childhood sandwich, bologna and cheese, made with “really good bologna and really good bread.” Other options on the Wee-Bites menu include grilled cheese, as well as peanut butter and jelly.
Ozzy’s Market will gradually unveil additional options such as wraps and salads in the cooler and pastries, pies, and cookies at a baked goods counter. The shop already offers some house-made specialty items, such as granola, along with staples of all-purpose flour, bread flour, and sugar, which are packaged in the kitchen.
Once its liquor license is approved, the market will stock wines, beers, and ready-to-drink cocktails as well as N/A cocktails in the cooler. For now, beverages include hot coffee and cold drinks from local companies such as Excel Bottling and Confluence Kombucha.
The Atmosphere
The Tudor-style building at the corner of Washington Avenue and North 20th Street was most recently a barbecue joint, Bootleggin’ Bob’s. Ozzy’s Market trades the heavy-duty smoker out front for a lighter vibe, highlighted by green-and-white checkerboards with intentional pops of color, such as the red plastic cups stacked by the water dispenser and the red MENU arrow pointing to the box holding paper menus.
Marks explains that on the color wheel, red is directly opposite the shade of green they chose for the walls, so highlighting key features with red gives visitors visual cues to navigate the space. An equal amount of thought and care went into decisions about every design detail, right down to the signage and the menu, which evokes the 1950s and demonstrates an abundant sense of humor.
“We deeply care about the actual physical space. People often overlook that,” Marks says, pointing out that both dine-in restaurants and bars like Kenny’s Upstairs are competing with customers’ favorite place: their homes.
And so the owners counterbalance their serious business sense with playfulness. “To me, this space is just a lot of fun,” Petty says.
For instance, the shop stocks household basics that neighbors have indicated they need, such as cat food and toilet paper, alongside classic candy and other items that are “stupid or goofy or cool,” in Marks’ words. “Taking yourself too seriously can be a hindrance. The moment you let go and have fun, that’s so important.”
The Team
Each of the co-owners brings a unique contribution. Marks provided the inspiration for creating a corner bodega similar to the ones they visited while splitting their early years between New York City and St. Louis. Customers could roll in to the shops, get hot food and coffee, and be on their way in five minutes.
The name came from Colgan, whose daughter, Ozzy, plays grocery store at home. When his wife wrote “Ozzy’s Market” on one of the bags, he recognized its potential for the establishment that he and Marks had been building out. Marks thought the idea was perfect. “I love her like she’s my own, and we’ve always wanted to do a concept dedicated to her—but it felt inappropriate to name a bar after a 4-year-old child.”
Ozzy herself was excited when she first saw her name on the side of the building during the soft opening. “And then she was more interested in the fact that her dress had pockets,” says Marks, still chuckling about the fast-changing whims of preschoolers. Ozzy is also the inspiration for the proud chef holding a sub sandwich that decorates the walls, windows, and merch.
As the concept for their sandwich shop came together, Marks and Colgan approached Stein about partnering with them because they knew the breads needed to be right. “Joe isn’t in this for the accolades,” Marks says. “He just loves the sandwiches because he loves bread, and he deeply cares about food.”
Petty’s involvement came about serendipitously. She mentioned to Marks, a regular client at her hair salon, that she would be happy to step into a supporting role if they ever planned a new venture. Less than a week after that conversation, Marks and Colgan came across the space for Ozzy’s Market.
“I opened my salons on my own, and that’s a pretty lonely process,” Petty says. “It’s been really fun to go into this with friends you can count on.”
Marks agrees. “Bringing in business people you can be professional with and get things done but you also sometimes get distracted because you’re having fun—there’s few things better than that.”
Kenny’s Upstairs was Marks’ and Colgan’s first independent entrepreneurial venture, and they are proud of having created a welcoming hangout for a wide range of St. Louisans. “At Ozzy’s Market, we have the same ethos as Kenny’s Upstairs,” Marks says. “It’s highbrow meets lowbrow, with quality ingredients that don’t break the bank.”
1933 Washington, Downtown West
Hours: Mon – Sat, Kitchen 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., Market 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
