When the Sybergs go to work, they’re not camped out in an office or studying spreadsheets. They’re unloading a delivery truck, greeting regulars, checking in with cooks, or pitching in to help wherever needed. It’s a philosophy that’s guided the family-owned restaurant group for five decades.
This year, the Syberg’s brand celebrates its 50th anniversary, a milestone that began with Richard Syberg supporting six children by working full-time at Pope’s Cafeteria and part-time at Schnucks before launching Syberg’s Family Style Catering in 1976. Four years later, on March 17, 1980, the family transformed the former Cavanaugh’s restaurant at 7802 Gravois into the flagship Syberg’s.
“I was 18 and I cooked,” Kirk Syberg recalls. “My brother Rick, who as 22, managed the restaurant. All six kids worked there. My two sisters waited tables. Our aunt and grandmother worked there. It was family through and through.”…