Suburban Journals reader Minuen Hale sent me an email a few weeks ago asking for some help in remembering the name of a restaurant that was in University City in the 1950s.

Ironically and coincidentally, that particular eatery was the same place where I had my first real job: I worked there as a busboy when I was 14, but only after it had changed hands and identities. Since I couldn't come up with the earlier name (although we have a contender), we're hoping that one of you can provide a definitive answer.

The restaurant in question was on the north side of Olive Street Road, a few hundred yards west of Hanley. The location can also be described as being east of North & South, but that sounds weird, even though it's accurate.

It was a two-story brick building set back from the street with a parking lot in front, across from an old cemetery. The past tense of that verb is somewhat misleading, because the building is still standing, although it's probably changed quite a bit since Minuen and her friends hung out there. The place also had a fire several years ago, and I think the upper level had to be replaced.

When I worked there, the restaurant was known as "The Count's," which was the owner's nickname. His real name was Bill and I seriously doubt if he had any genuine noble lineage, but if John Wayne can be the Duke and Elvis can be the King, what's the harm in another faux title?

The place did a decent amount of business for both lunch and dinner as well as entertaining a regular bar crowd, and it offered a nice compromise of class and sleaze. On one hand, the menu included lobster tails and several nice steaks, and we busboys wore starched, high-collared uniforms. But then that upscale ambiance was sort of offset by a more boisterous lounge-lizard crowd of drinkers and hotsy-totsy cocktail waitresses who intrigued the bejeebers out of a teenage boy with a vivid imagination. I could tell you some great stories along those lines, but that's not the point of this episode.

Minuen's experiences at that location came before the Count had planted his flag, but she can't remember what the place was called in those earlier times. After getting her request, I actually had a bit of a fuzzy flashback to my busboy days: I seemed to recall that my parents had referred to the Count's as the old "Stymie's" restaurant, but when I asked my Mom about it recently, she drew a blank.

I also talked to my next-door neighbor about the mystery; she grew up in U. City in the '50s and has a phenomenal memory for stuff like this. Unfortunately, she couldn't come up with the name, either, but did agree that Stymie's sounded like it might have been right.

If you were ever familiar with that part of the county, you may remember some of the other local landmarks. Adjacent to the restaurant property was a wonderfully funky upstairs bowling alley called Arcade Lanes. Once upon a time, Arcade was a mecca for the best bowlers around, and its walls held old photos and fading scorecards with instantly recognizable names such as Weber, Carter and Bluth.

It was an unassuming, no-frills joint that you entered by climbing a narrow flight of wooden stairs from the sidewalk on Olive. Sadly, the whole building went up in flames in the summer of 2003, which was a painful sight for many of us. Even though I hadn't been there for years, I can still see the classic red-and-white bowling-pin-shaped sign that stood on the roof.

Across the street from there is a formerly impressive building designed in the late Art Deco "Streamline Moderne" architectural style, originally built to be a supermarket in the 1940s. By the time I came around, it was the Plaid Stamp redemption store. Remember those? Famous-Barr and National groceries gave out Eagle Stamps, but I think A&P had the Plaid plan. Did Kroger offer S&H green stamps?

Wow, too many hazy memories — or not enough in the case of the restaurant with the forgotten name. There must be somebody who can provide an answer, so if that person is you, please drop me a note to enlighten us. Or better yet, if you've got a time machine and feel like bowling a few frames at the Arcade Lanes, the first game's on me. Afterwards, we can walk next door and grab a bite at Whatchamacallits.

Steve Unger has been professionally writing for 30-plus years to help companies sell stuff. His Journal columns are a labor of love to salute the people, places and charm of St. Louis. If you'd like to share a memory of bygone St. Louis or just want to drop him a line, he can be reached at stevethewordguy@aol.com.