When SLM broke the news in March 2015 that a ranch dressing-themed restaurant would open in Soulard, people weighed in with comments ranging from "I give it six months" to "that's the best idea EVER."

Score one for the dressing-bottle-half-full crowd.

Not only is the restaurant still open, this month owners Jim Hayden and Chad Allen began selling five of their most popular ranch dressings nationwide—and more are on the way. Hayden tells SLM that Walmart and Kroger have picked up the line, along with smaller regional grocers like Albertson's, Safeway, and yes, Schnucks. Some stores will carry all five varieties, others likely won't, Hayden says. Expect to pay $3.29 to $3.99 for a 13-ounce, shelf-stable, plastic squeeze bottle.

Hayden and Allen partnered with food conglomerate Kraft Heinz to produce and distribute the dressings, a process that started over a year ago. "We got a random email from Kraft Heinz," Hayden said, "asking if we'd be interested in discussing a line of ranch dressings. I immediately thought it was a hoax." It wasn't.

He and Allen flew up to Wisconsin, the first of many meetings...and ultimately, tastings. Taking a refrigerated product and converting it to a shelf-stable one concerned the duo, as flavor and texture often change in the process. Hayden admits it took a lot of batches to perfect each variety, hence the made-up batch numbers that became part of the packaging. "Chad and I were involved all through the process," Hayden said in praise of his mega-corporation partners. "We all agreed to start with five varieties and see what happens."

But counter to today's long, loud horn blowing on social media, there were no "coming soon" announcements or pre-launch media blitzes, just a matter-of-fact announcement a week ago on Twisted Ranch's Facebook of "the first sighting of our ranches in stores!" (which happened to be in Maine, photo at right), followed by a request to "please share pictures when you find in your city!"

Hayden reports that shipping began a few weeks ago and that the product will slowly appear as stores reset their shelves. (Psst! We hear that some Walmarts have placed the product on end caps, near the chips.)

And just like when the wild and wacky Twisted Ranch concept went viral in 2017 following a slick BuzzFeed video (currently at 37.5 million views!), the Facebook floodgates opened. Postings from cities across the country followed. With each mention came scores of "I need it. I want it. I have to have it" comments and the obligatory gifs of "Count me in!"

For the last week, Twisted Ranch has been feeding the frenzy by putting up “Ranch this Country” posts almost daily, tallying up the number of states where the dressings have already been spotted (today's count: 11).

The first St. Louis sighting was confirmed yesterday...at the South City Schnucks at 3430 S. Grand.

× Expand A blackboard listing 31 of 33 ranch dressing options

Twisted Ranch currently offers 33 varieties of ranch at the restaurant (the latest, Truffle Shuffle, is a blend of Portabella mushrooms, roasted garlic, truffle oil, and Parmesan). Five of the most popular were selected for the initial retail rollout, their names changed for marketing purposes.

Cheesy Bacon is now Cheesy Smoked Bacon, Ruffalo became Garlic Smashed Buffalo, look for Parmesan Peppercorn as Black Peppered Parmesan, Kemowasabi as Honey Dipped Wasabi, and It Makes 2 To Mango as Mango Spiked Habanero.

A year ago this month, Hayden and Allen moved their restaurant a block away (1731 S. Seventh, the former Soulard's Restaurant & Bar), a space triple the size of the original. At the time, Hayden hinted at expanding which he updated this month to simply soon. "Rolling out the dressings took us down a different path for the last year," he said. "Now the focus will be on opening a unit with a different demographic, to further test the waters," before exploring the franchise route.

In 2015, national food publication Eater called the opening of Twisted Ranch "the most St. Louis move ever." That sideways opinion aside, ranch dressing is undeniably the most popular salad dressing in America. We're just happy that two savvy locals have been able to capitalize on that and will continue to do so.

Editor's note: This story has been updated, adding the association with Kraft Heinz, which was not disseminated at the time of publication.