urbanSTL

Looks like Beso is DONE.

Saw moving vans outside today (Sunday) and they were taking EVERYTHING out. Kitchen equipment, bar furniture and pretty much everything else.



Unless they are going through a major makeover (doubt it), it looks like the problems with ownership have finally caught up with the business.



Or maybe selling horrible Mexican food at way too high of a price didn't pan out to be good for business.



Great location though. It will be sad to see another empty space on Washington.

See, this is what I am saying. If you dont have a good product, poor management, or what ever else, I dont feel bad for it closing. That is why I voice all my opinions to the local businesses I visit. I am honestly so happy this place is gone. Hopefully an ethical business owner will take over and provide great value with good food.



Currently my favorite business downtown is Gelateria on 14th and Washington. Amazing product, amazing service, and great value. If something like this went under, i would truly be upset. For Beso, EH.

zink wrote:
Currently my favorite business downtown is Gelateria on 14th and Washington. Amazing product, amazing service, and great value. If something like this went under, i would truly be upset. For Beso, EH.

Really? Amazing service? I love the Gelateria's food, but service often stinks. Half the time, and this is usually a group of 6 getting gelato, not a single "Thank you" is uttered by the gelista (??). One time, I asked if there was any more lemon gelato (the tub was basically empty). The clerk shook her head no, and I got something else. As I sat down to eat it, she put in another tub of lemon.

bprop wrote:

zink wrote:
Currently my favorite business downtown is Gelateria on 14th and Washington. Amazing product, amazing service, and great value. If something like this went under, i would truly be upset. For Beso, EH.

Really? Amazing service? I love the Gelateria's food, but service often stinks. Half the time, and this is usually a group of 6 getting gelato, not a single "Thank you" is uttered by the gelista (??). One time, I asked if there was any more lemon gelato (the tub was basically empty). The clerk shook her head no, and I got something else. As I sat down to eat it, she put in another tub of lemon.

I have had the exact same experience.

^ Perhaps the gelatorista misunderstood you. It would seem odd that someone would go out of their way to deprive a man from lemon gelato. That would be entirely too cruel. And I don't really recall being told "thank you" at food service locations very often at all. Just my two cents.

innov8ion wrote:And I don't really recall being told "thank you" at food service locations very often at all. Just my two cents.

Unfortunately, that is often very true no matter where you are at. I always made it a point to say "thank you, have a good night." However, I often do not get that when I am getting food.

innov8ion wrote:^ Perhaps the gelatorista misunderstood you. It would seem odd that someone would go out of their way to deprive a man from lemon gelato. That would be entirely too cruel. And I don't really recall being told "thank you" at food service locations very often at all. Just my two cents.

Me neither. But it is exceedingly rare that I would call ANY service amazing, much less the kind you get at Burger King or the Gelateria.

^ The gelateria is kind of a cozy, romantic place with good product. And people can tend to look at objects a bit more fondly when on cloud nine -- like when they've recently become engaged. But just don't mess with their bubble tea!

I heard that Beso has been sold to new ownership and that it will reopen as a sports bar.

Yeah but this is STL, they will probably just have four or five 27" TV's with Charter cable connected and still call it a "Sports Bar."



What we need is a place to actually compete with Flannery's; you need to offer drink specials!!! If they can offer any type of quality food, drink specials and enough TV's with NFL ticket etc, they would be able to take ALOT of business from Flannery's, or at least force them to complete with drink specials of their own.



Just a thought

What is this? Four or five sports bars in a three to four block radius? I'd be happy with an authentic mexican joint run by reputable management.

^

There's SkyBox a little further east.

Actually the last 3-4 times I have been to Skybox on Sat or Sun, they have had $10 buckets which is a pretty good deal. I believe they usually have a good deal on domestic pitchers too. I was also there for the De La Hoya fight a couple weeks ago, and $10 to get in isn't bad at all considering bars typically get screwed on showing pay per view (they are charged per capacity of the bar). I believe beer was $4 at the bar and they had a beer cart girl selling 16 oz Bud products for $4 near the front door. Their food may not be great but it gets the job done. And their TV setup is pretty hard to beat. The location just isn't ideal for walking. It would be great to have a Skybox type bar on Washington to compete with Flannery's but I won't be holding my breathe.



As far as El Buracho goes; I ate there yesterday and it was pretty good. The place looks great and so different than Nectar. Most of the items are "ala carte" but they had many sides to add. The prices are very competitive and they will get a lot of my future business. The service was great, but they had a lot of staff on hand. I highly recommend trying it out.

dweebe wrote:

innov8ion wrote:What is this? Four or five sports bars in a three to four block radius? I'd be happy with an authentic mexican joint run by reputable management.

What other places are you thinking about?

You have good points. I would include the bar at Kitchen K as "sports bar light." Perhaps Dubliner and even Tigin, for the european football folks.



El Burracho is great from what I hear, but is not in the WashAve district. I believe Mexican is lacking in the heart of downtown. I never really considered Beso to be Mexican food. If you aim to sell "premium" Mexican food and charge premium prices, you best be able to deliver.

^ what about Downtown Cantina now at 9th and Pine? As much as I pass it, I've not been there, at leat not at the current location.

^ Ahh, that slipped my mind. Haven't been there yet and I should. I do remember enjoying Zuzu's when it was in Clayton and was sad to see it close here.

^ I thought that Zuzu's was still open, at least it looked like people were inside eating last week.

Anyone know who currently owns this space and a contact number or E-mail?



Thanks