Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Moughton
Hi Jason, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Where do I start? Owning a restaurant has always been a dream of mine. It persisted through trying to become a firefighter, realizing that that and paramedicine were not for me, trying to get into accounting, not enjoying that at all, and trying to make QuikTrip my career. I worked there for 12 years and learned a lot from them. I was there when they went from being a gas station with food to having a fully functioning kitchen. I was one of the first in STL to learn the new equipment and was responsible for teaching many employees the new policies and procedures for this new avenue QuikTrip was headed down. Even through all of that, opening a restaurant was my dream.
I got into Dungeons and Dragons in 2019. I love story telling, I love playing games, and I love spending time with friends. This would hit all those interests perfectly. I got the full starter set as a gift for my 30th birthday. I told my wife, Ruth Camburn, that I was interested in learning the game and she spent the next couple weeks teaching herself how to play so that she could run my first game for me. It started off as her, me, a friend and my sister, but before we knew it, we had a group that would range from 6-8 players on a regular basis. Our games persisted through COVID, though not without some complications, but I loved the game.
It wasn’t long before we realized that my dream of opening a restaurant and my love for Dungeons and Dragons were a match made in heaven. Similar concepts showed remarkable success. We were huge fans of Pieces in Soulard (and still visit there occasionally) and they as well as several other gaming bar/restaurants around the country were packed full on a nightly basis.
Ruth took to writing the business plan that would land us funding in the form of an SBA loan. We founded the business in 2022, spent the next year looking for the perfect spot, signed our lease in May of 2023 and opened our doors on May 4, 2024 (May the Fourth be with you).
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Getting the place open was a struggle in and of itself. My wife, Ruth Camburn, wrote the business plan at the end of 2021 and into 2022. We started looking for a place in the first few months of 2022 and had a couple of places picked out. Due to a delay in funding, we were not prepared to sign a lease until September 2022. By that time, the places that we had looked at at the beginning of the year were no longer available. The market had shrunk and we spent several months looking at location after location. Some were too run down and would require tons of renovation. Some were too new and were not interested in renting to a start-up. A couple we had issues with some of the terms of the lease that were very friendly to the landlord and hazardous to the wellbeing of the business. We finally found a perfect spot that was not only in an advantageous location, had an appropriate amount of space and didn’t require a full remodel, but the landlords were a perfect fit for us. We finally signed our lease May 1st, 2023.
But then came the permitting. The government works at it’s own pace, and for a small business with very little money, it was at a snail’s pace. We applied for all the permits in June and July of 2023. We wouldn’t hear anything for weeks at a time and have to go back and ask for updates. We would ask the Heath Department over and over for the status of our permits, only for them to request even more information from us that they hadn’t asked before. This would go on until October of 2023 before we could even start building.
When the building finally started, things seemed to be moving forward pretty quickly. The space went from an old HotShots that had been sitting empty for years to a space with a fresh look in just a couple of months. All of our equipment finally showed up in February and we thought we were so close to opening. The Health Department had other plans. In March, they threw in another project that needed to be completed prior to opening that was not on the original plans. They would require a ceiling above the bar as it was considered a food prep area. After expediting that, we finally opened in May of 2024.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I graduated high school in 2007. My first job was at the first stand alone Chick-fil-A in the St. Louis area in Chesterfield off Chesterfield Airport Road. I worked there for 2 years before trying to go back to school to be a paramedic. At the time, I thought I wanted to be a firefighter/paramedic, but shortly thereafter, I learned that that was not my field of choice.
I left Chick-fil-A after almost exactly 2 years in August of 2009 to begin my career at QuikTrip. I started at the store on Lilac and 270. QuikTrip was a good job for someone just starting out. I started out part-time, was promoted after 2 years to entry-level management and spent most of my career in that position.
At first I was happy where I was. I was a bachelor living with a friend who owned his house so he didn’t charge me rent. I had no responsibilities, so I was coasting on the salary I was making in that position. I got married to my beautiful wife, Ruth Camburn in 2015 and she quickly encouraged me to do pursue a promotion. After some time, I got promoted to Second Assistant and spent the rest of my career in that position.
During my time at QT, I watched and learned as they transitioned from being just a gas station with some food offerings to having a fully functioning kitchen. I had to quickly adapt to and learn all the new and constantly changing procedures.
In 2022, when we made the decision to actually open Dirty 20, I left QT to find a job in an actual restaurant to gain some much needed experience. I got a serving job at Bristol Seafood Grill in Creve Coeur as they were trying to hire back up to full staff after the pandemic. Learning how to serve came so naturally to me and I was quickly offered a position as a bartender. I did that full time for about a year and a half before Dirty 20 Bar opened in May of 2024.
How do you think about happiness?
People. I love being around people and spending quality time with them. I love sharing stories and playing games at tables full of wonderful people.
Contact Info:
- Website: Dirty20Bar@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirty20barstl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dirty20Bar
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dirty20NerdBar
