The gigantic ice cream floats at Fitz's put the St Louis restaurant on the map.

2025 Super Bowl Commercial Spotlights St. Louis Staple

Monday February 3, 2025

By Rachel Huffman

“When that ice cream melts into that root beer, you have the elixir of life.”

Founder of Fitz’s, Michael Alter, puts it perfectly in this year’s Google Workspace with Gemini Super Bowl commercial featuring the St. Louis staple.

The classic root beer float at Fitz's in St Louis is a feast for the eyes and stomach, and it's featured in a Super Bowl commercial in 2025.
Photo by Mark Hermes

Fitz’s Root Beer was developed in St. Louis in 1947, and today, Fitz’s Bottling Co. still makes the flagship soft drink according to the original recipe. At its historic location in the Delmar Loop, as well as its second spot in South County, enthusiastic diners can watch the bottling line churn out a bottle of root beer – or more modern flavors such as Hip Hop Pop, Berry Pomegranate Soda and Kaldi’s Coffee Cola – every second!

“When my team and I revived Fitz’s in 1993, we chose to focus on Americana,” Alter explains, “and since then, we’ve served generations of families who flock to Fitz’s for juicy hamburgers and frosty mugs of root beer.”

Fitz’s welcomes guests from one to 100. There’s just one stipulation: Come hungry.

Meals often begin with fried pickles, toasted ravioli, pulled pork nachos or housemade chili, followed by stacked burgers such as the River City Burger piled with American cheese and house-smoked bacon. The Firecracker Salad tossed with Buffalo chicken tenders, bacon, red onion, tomato, blue cheese crumbles and ranch dressing is also a crowd-pleaser.

No matter what you order, wash it down with bottomless mugs of draft soda, and save room for dessert. The gigantic ice cream floats put Fitz’s on the map, and you would be remiss if you didn’t try at least one bite.

Fitz’s makes more than 20 flavors of craft soda – all of which can be turned into floats – but you can’t go wrong with Fitz’s Root Beer Float. “I can’t resist the classic,” Alter says, “and I love to see people’s faces when they get one. We hear a lot of ‘don’t touch that, it’s mine’ coming from the tables.

“I also love the Ghostbuster Float,” he continues. “Made with Fitz’s Root Beer, vanilla ice cream, Marshmallow Fluff, Hershey’s chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry, it’s a feast for your eyes and stomach!”

Bolstered by its sensational treats, the history and legacy of Fitz’s led to the restaurant’s inclusion in Google’s 2025 Super Bowl commercial, which will share 50 stories from 50 states.

“Google contacted us,” Alter explains, “and they talked to thousands of small businesses across the country before making their final decision.

“Being chosen to represent Missouri is mind-blowing,” he continues. “It reinforces my belief that food trends come and go, but what we do transcends time and space.”