ST. LOUIS — Two well-known St. Louis brands, Hi-Pointe Drive-In and Taco Buddha have partnered together to form a new restaurant group that will help grow and expand each business.

What You Need To Know

  • Three to five new locations of Hi-Pointe Drive-In and Taco Buddha have been planned for south St. Louis County, west St. Louis County and St. Charles

  • Gastronauts Food Group is a play on words for an “out-of-this-world” approach to food and hospitality

  • The new food group will provide team members with growth and leadership opportunities in hospitality

Gastronauts Food Group will assist both St. Louis restaurant businesses in sustainable growth with streamlined operations and collaborate in marketing initiatives, according to a press release.

As of March, Hi-Pointe Drive-In and Taco Buddha have roughly 350 employees. That number is expected to double as three to five new locations of each business have been planned for south St. Louis County, west St. Louis County and St. Charles.

Kurt Eller, founder of Taco Buddha, and Mike Johnson, Hi-Pointe Drive-In chef, are partners in the new organization, but will still be involved with their respective businesses, according to the press release.

“Gastronauts is such a natural extension of Hi-Pointe. Our vision has always been to bring that old-school delicious dinner back into everyday life with a fun, non-traditional twist,” Johnson said.

“Ben and I have made huge strides growing the business over the past few years, and Gastronauts is going to help us give the people what they want, more burgers and more of the Hi Life.”

Gastronauts Food Group is a play on words for an “out-of-this-world” approach to food and hospitality, according to the press release.

The mission is to lead with a “better together” and “people-first” mindset with plans to expand not just across Missouri, but also nationally in the coming years. 

“Ben has been a sounding board for our business as a friend for quite some time. We’ve spent the last decade developing a brand and a team that we’re really proud of, but I knew that I couldn’t continue to grow it alone,” Eller said.

“This new partnership ensures that we can continue to grow to support our team. We are both aligned in how we want to grow our brands, and Hi-Pointe is a great counterbalance brand to Taco Buddha. We’re excited to collaborate and learn from one another in the future.” 

President of the new group is Ben Hillman, operating partner of the investment firm Lewis & Clark Capital.

“I have such great respect for Kurt and what he's built at Taco Buddha, in terms of quality and commitment to customers and community. Both concepts share similar values, and we’ve run our restaurants in very similar ways,” Hillman said.

“Gastronauts Food Group will allow us to have the ethos and integrity of small brands with our people-first approach, but we’ll be able to better compete with the big chains because of our scale.”

He added that the new food group will provide team members with growth and leadership opportunities in hospitality.

“We are very proud to be from St. Louis and build these brands here, and a big part of our Gastronauts Food Group strategy is to let the rest of the country know what St. Louis grown brands are all about,” Hillman said.  

For more information, visit the Gastronauts Food Group website.