Steward Stiles III was exploring the restaurants inside City Foundry STL when one menu stopped him: Chez Ali had oxtails.
He ordered a plate and found them rich, tender and packed with flavor. More than 20 visits later, the oxtails, served with rice and peas, cabbage and extra gravy, remain his favorite.
“I’ve tried other oxtails in town after that,” Stiles said. “I would argue that they have some of the best oxtails in St. Louis.”
Stiles is among the regulars at Chez Ali, one of the few Afro-Caribbean restaurants in the St. Louis area. Owner Alioun “Ali” Thiam took an unconventional route to the restaurant business.
Born to Senegalese parents and raised in Ivory Coast, Thiam came to the United States and settled first in New York, where he worked in music and entertainment, selling cassette tapes, CDs and mixtapes.
He eventually moved to St. Louis and operated Kulture Vybes, a music and video store. He also sold merchandise during reggae nights at Club Viva in the Central West End.
When an opportunity came to serve food at the club, Thiam decided to give it a try. He knew the flavors he remembered from home, but when he needed help recreating a dish, he called his older sister, Astou Seck Kone.
“She would tell me, ‘This is what you need,’ and give me the ingredients,” Thiam recalled. “In the beginning, it’s not going to be perfect the first time or the second. But the more I tried, the closer I got.”
Nikia Paulette, now a manager at Chez Ali, has known him since his Kulture Vybes days. She remembers when Thiam handled everything himself, waking as early as 5 a.m. to shop, prepare ingredients and cook.
“That’s how folks got hooked on his food,” Paulette said. “It’s not only filling up your belly, but filling up the soul as well.”
Thiam went on to operate restaurants at Union Station and on Kingshighway before applying for a space inside City Foundry’s food hall. Chez Ali opened there in 2021 with a menu that brings together Senegalese dishes and Caribbean favorites.
The restaurant’s name translates loosely from French to “Ali’s home.”
Popular offerings include jerk chicken, curry chicken, oxtail and yassa, a Senegalese dish featuring chicken covered in a savory onion-and-mustard sauce. First-time visitors can sample several flavors on one plate with the restaurant’s chicken combination.
Stiles said eating at Chez Ali led him to explore more African and Caribbean food.
“I became fully immersed in the flavor when I started eating there,” he said. “Chez Ali adds that international flavor that’s all its own, and it’s right here in St. Louis.”
“I put my own thing in it,” Thiam said. “That’s what makes the difference.”