Crown Candy – Andy Karandzieff as Restauranteur of the Year

Crown Candy Kitchen’s Andy Karandzieff Named St. Louis Restaurateur of the Year, Honoring a 1913-Born St. Louis Icon

ST. LOUIS, MO (StLouisRestaurantReview) On Friday, January 16, 2026, one of St. Louis’ most recognizable dining institutions received a fresh reminder that longevity alone doesn’t create a legend—people do.  Andy Karandzieff, the third-generation steward of Crown Candy Kitchen, was named St. Louis Restaurateur of the Year by the St. Louis chapter of the Missouri Restaurant Association, a nod that carries weight in an industry built on long hours, tight margins, and the relentless pursuit of consistency.  Additionally, Crown Candy is one of the few restaurants fortunate enough to earn its own Wikipedia page.

For longtime St. Louisans, the honor feels almost inevitable.  Crown Candy Kitchen has always been more than a place to eat.  It’s a time capsule with a working soda fountain, a lunch counter that rarely slows down, and a candy shop that still makes the city feel like the old days are close enough to touch.  But for the restaurant community, an award like Restaurateur of the Year isn’t simply about nostalgia.  It’s about leadership—about showing up, training people, holding standards, and keeping a business alive through economic cycles that break less disciplined operators.

In a city that loves its traditions, Crown Candy Kitchen isn’t a tradition that sits on a shelf.  It’s a tradition that keeps serving.

Video published on January 16, 2026, by FOX 2 St. Louis

A Recognition That’s About More Than One Night

Industry awards often land best when they confirm what customers already know.  Crown Candy Kitchen has been a steady presence in St. Louis for more than a century, and that kind of staying power isn’t accidental.  Restaurants don’t survive by memory alone; they survive because customers trust the experience to be the same today as it was last time—and because owners keep doing the unglamorous work that makes that trust possible.

The Restaurateur of the Year title highlights that, behind the counter culture, behind the Coca-Cola collectibles and the old-school soda fountain vibe, there’s a working operation with schedules, supply orders, staffing realities, maintenance headaches, and constant decisions about which changes to accept and which to resist.

Crown Candy Kitchen’s success has always depended on balancing two things at once:

• Protecting the classic identity that makes the place special
• Operating like a modern business in a demanding environment

The award is a recognition of that balancing act—and the person doing it.

Why Crown Candy Still Matters in 2026

St. Louis is filled with “favorite spots,” but only a handful rise into the category of citywide symbols.  Crown Candy Kitchen is one of them, partly because it’s beloved, and partly because it sits at a crossroads of St. Louis identity: neighborhood pride, immigrant entrepreneurship, working-class comfort food, and a deep affection for places that don’t pretend to be something they’re not.

People don’t visit Crown Candy Kitchen only for lunch.  They visit to reconnect with a version of St. Louis that feels authentic—where the seats are close, the décor is familiar, and the menu doesn’t need to chase trends to stay relevant.  In an era of rotating concepts and social-media-first restaurant design, Crown Candy remains stubbornly itself, and that stubbornness is part of the brand.

The award arrives at a time when many independent restaurants feel pressured from every direction: higher labor costs, fluctuating food pricing, changing consumer habits, and customers who want fast service but also want an “experience.”  Crown Candy’s model—simple, iconic, and executed well—offers a lesson that many operators wish they could bottle: if you do the fundamentals better than anyone else, people will keep coming.

The Crown Candy Experience: Simple Menu, Legendary Results

Crown Candy Kitchen doesn’t try to be everything. It has built its reputation around a tight set of promises, delivered consistently:

• A classic soda-fountain dessert experience
• Old-fashioned malts and shakes that feel like a reward
• Handmade candy that turns a quick stop into a ritual
• A lunch counter menu that leans into hearty favorites
• A signature BLT that has become a national talking point

That BLT isn’t just a “popular menu item.”  It has become a piece of local folklore—a sandwich people grin about because the description sounds exaggerated until it arrives at the table.  It’s the kind of dish that turns first-timers into repeat customers and out-of-towners into ambassadors.

And then there are the malts—thick, old-school, and served in a way that makes you feel like you’re in on a secret St. Louis handshake.  For many customers, the malt is the reason they came, but it’s not the only reason they stay.

The magic is that Crown Candy Kitchen is both a destination and a neighborhood place at the same time.

A Restaurant Built by Immigrants, Sustained by Generations

To understand why the Restaurateur of the Year award resonates, you have to understand Crown Candy’s origin story—and why it’s so distinctly St. Louis.

Crown Candy Kitchen opened in 1913, founded by Harry Karandzieff and his friend Pete Jugaloff, who brought confectionery knowledge and a vision for a family-friendly shop where sweets and simple meals could anchor a community.  The early model wasn’t complicated: make good candy, serve good food, treat people right, and let word of mouth do the rest.

Over time, the business passed through generations, with the Karandzieff family maintaining the core identity while navigating whatever era arrived next.  In the early 1950s, Harry’s son George took over and helped shape Crown Candy into the place many modern customers recognize.  Today, Crown Candy’s day-to-day operations are led by George’s sons—Andy, Tommy, and Mike—with the next generation also involved.

The continuity matters. In an industry where ownership frequently changes hands, Crown Candy represents what it looks like when a family doesn’t just own a restaurant, but builds a life around it.  The business becomes a craft, and the craft becomes culture.

What “Restaurateur of the Year” Signals to the Industry

Awards can sometimes sound ceremonial, but in the restaurant world, they often function as signals: signals to peers that a person’s work is respected, and to the public that the restaurant community is rallying around leaders who represent its values.

Restaurateur of the Year, in particular, tends to recognize qualities beyond the plate:

• Consistency over time
• Community involvement
• Operational leadership
• Advocacy for the industry
• The ability to adapt without losing the mission

In Crown Candy’s case, the honor also highlights what it takes to keep a legacy restaurant relevant.  “Legacy” can be a trap—an excuse to coast. Crown Candy has avoided that trap by staying busy, staying visible, and staying committed to the experience customers expect.

It’s not easy to keep a 100+ year-old concept feeling alive rather than dusty.  But Crown Candy doesn’t feel like a museum.  It feels like a workplace, with real energy, real demand, and real responsibility.

Old North St. Louis and the Power of a True Neighborhood Anchor

Crown Candy Kitchen’s location in Old North St. Louis is part of its identity.  Neighborhood restaurants often reflect the story of the block around them, and Crown Candy has long served as an anchor—drawing visitors into the area and giving locals a point of pride that’s hard to replace.

When a restaurant lasts long enough, it becomes something rare: a shared memory across generations.  Parents bring kids.  Kids grow up and bring friends.  People return from out of town and insist on “one stop” before they go back.  Visitors come for the first time and leave feeling like they’ve discovered something uniquely St. Louis.

That kind of pull benefits more than one business.  It’s a reminder that local institutions matter—not only for what they sell, but for what they represent.  They give neighborhoods identity, and identity can be a form of economic strength.

The Lesson Crown Candy Teaches Other Restaurants

Crown Candy Kitchen’s story is a blueprint in a time when many restaurants are searching for one:

1. Do a few things extremely well.
2. Treat consistency as a competitive advantage.
3. Build a brand that doesn’t need constant reinvention.
4. Stay connected to the community you serve.
5. Let your history enhance your credibility—but don’t rely on it.

The best restaurants aren’t always the trendiest.  Often, they’re the ones that understand what customers truly want: a place that feels dependable, memorable, and worth repeating.

Crown Candy has become that place for St. Louis.

What Comes Next: A Moment to Celebrate, and a Reason to Visit

For Crown Candy Kitchen customers, the award might not change what they order—many will still default to their favorites without thinking twice.  But it does offer a timely reason to celebrate a business that has, for more than a century, done what every restaurant claims it wants to do: stay beloved.

For first-timers, the honor is also a helpful signpost.  If you’ve never been, consider this your invitation.  Go for the malt.  Go for the BLT.  Go for the candy.  Go because St. Louis has only so many places that can honestly say they’ve been making people happy since 1913—and they’re still doing it today.

And in the local restaurant scene, Andy Karandzieff’s recognition is a reminder that leadership isn’t always loud.  Sometimes, leadership looks like opening the doors again tomorrow, keeping standards high, taking care of staff, and giving a city a place it can proudly claim as its own.

Congratulations to Andy Karandzieff and the Crown Candy Kitchen team on earning the title of St. Louis Restaurateur of the Year—an award that fits the story as well as the apron.

Support Locally-Owned Restaurants!

Publisher’s Note: We will expand the information in the St. Louis Restaurant Directory after we attempt to meet with Andy Karandzieff.

Related news stories published on St. Louis Restaurant Review:

1. Crown Candy – St. Louis’ Most Historic Restaurant – June 25, 2025 – St. Louis Restaurant Review
2. Crown Candy Added to St. Louis Restaurant Directory – Aug. 14, 2021 – St. Louis Restaurant Review
3. Local Restaurants That Earned Their Place in History – June 25, 2025 – St. Louis Restaurant Review
4. St. Louis Restaurant Directory Listing

This news article is not sponsored by Crown Candy in any manner and is an independent, unbiased news article covering the restaurant industry in St. Louis, MO.

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