I don't know if this has been posted anywhere else, but Chuy's is reopening. Unfortunately, not in Dogtown. It appears as if his Chuy Arzola's son is running the restaurant. They are reopening Chuy's on Lindell in midtown. LINK:
The only downside is that it's replacing a restaurant instead of adding to the mix. I'm somewhat surprised that Joe Boccardi's couldn't make it in the Coronado.
I would venture to guess that Highway 40 being closed played some part in the decision not to reopen in Dogtown. That would have been great if they did reopen in the same spot. That entire building is sitting in the heart of the business district, going to waste. Then again, so is the condo complex across the street. NOT how I envisioned that area to look 10 years ago.
I'll give the new Chuy's a try and see if they get their old game back. I liked their location and the maragritas were great, but the food and service took a dive when big manager (Chris?) left. You can tell he was what made Chuys good by the quality job he does at Chavas in Soulard.
Did anyone notice that they're ripping up the front of the old Chuy's on Clayton? I usually try not to look at that stretch since it so sad.
The people that bought Chuey's building are the folks who own Almond's in Clayton. I understand he bought it after foreclosure. They are doing a lot of the renovation themselves. They have gutted it and put new heating and cooling in and are putting in a new facade (hence the front being removed). It will be a mexican restaurant. We are looking froward to this new business in Dogtown. Dweebe, I totally agree with you about Chris. He was a great manager and would have been a great owner of Chuey's if Chuey hadn't backed out of hte sale of the restaurant more than a year before it closed, liqour permit signs had been posted and everything. I am tired of the highway 40 story that Chuey says is the reason he closed. There was a notice in the STL Business Journal in January 2008 that might explain the money problems, we all have to pay our taxes. Things went down hilll at Chueys when Chris left and a lot of the people who worked there went to work for him at Chavas. Chuey also wouldn't renew the lease of the laundromat. I would think the revenue from the rent would of help out his bottom line.
My wife and I are super surprised at how much people talk about Chuy's. We ate their once and decided it was some of the worst Mexican food we had ever eaten. We've been to 4-5 Mexican joints in the city, and have only really liked 1 enough to go back - Garduno's.
Grover wrote:The only downside is that it's replacing a restaurant instead of adding to the mix. I'm somewhat surprised that Joe Boccardi's couldn't make it in the Coronado.
I go to Joe Boccardi's all the time, although it's been about two months. I have to say, I've never seen it crowded, other than before the occasional Fox show, and even then, it was only for an hour or two. I imagine the rent is pretty steep.
I am pretty sure that Bocardi's isn't going out of business. They already have a deli/catering operation in the Grove, and I think they are planning to move into a space close enough to have some synergy.
JuiceInDogtown wrote:My wife and I are super surprised at how much people talk about Chuy's. We ate their once and decided it was some of the worst Mexican food we had ever eaten. We've been to 4-5 Mexican joints in the city, and have only really liked 1 enough to go back - Garduno's.
When they first opened in the early 90's Chuys was one of the few TexMex places in town. There weren't all the El Magueys (and their spin-offs) that there are now, Hacienda was about 1/2 as big as it currently is and none of the "true" Mexican places that you get along Cherokee or up by St. Ann were open yet.
I think it was Chuy's success that spurred all those places to open and improve on the formula.
Grover wrote:I'm somewhat surprised that Joe Boccardi's couldn't make it in the Coronado.
It's been a couple of years, but my wife and I went one Saturday night around 9:00 for dinner. Although the kitchen was open another 2-3 hours, we were told they were only serving appetizers. After eating appetizers no more remarkable than those served at Crapplebee's with equally unimpressive service, we never went back.
That said, we've had good luck with Joe Boccardi's on Watson Road and in Columbia, Ill., so I figure it was just a bad night and/or poor management.
JuiceInDogtown wrote:My wife and I are super surprised at how much people talk about Chuy's. We ate their once and decided it was some of the worst Mexican food we had ever eaten.
I wasn't fond of it either. Hopefully the new location will be better and management will be good as well. It'd be nice to see a restaurant worthy of that space inside The Coronado, so I guess we'll see...
Joe Boccardi's was doing fine there - the Gills declined to renew their lease and gave them a month to get out. I had booked a party at the restaruant for the spring and luckily we were able to move it. They had lots of graduation parties and events booked that had to be moved.
I was not a fan of Chuey's at its old location. Losing Boccardi's is too bad.
But midtown needs more restaruants so any restaurant there is better than nothing.
By the way, the building the old Chuy's was in has been transformed - a wall of windows has replaced the older (original?) recessed/doubledoor entrances. Anyone know what's going in there?
stinky wrote:Joe Boccardi's was doing fine there - the Gills declined to renew their lease and gave them a month to get out.
Yep. The people behind Chuy's offered them a lot more money, and they didn't even give Boccardi's a chance to match it. Which seems odd, but who knows. This is from someone inside Boccardi's.
^ Seems odd. I'm guessing there's more to the story. I believe the money behind the new Chuy's is also the money behind a revamping of Agave on Manchester - another Gill property.
are you saying developers leverage their relationships?
I really hope Boccardi's finds another Midtown location, they came down here when nothing was around and deserve to see the good times now that the area is developing into a restaurant destination.
saw a new and rather large neon light up... hopefully getting close to opening. i thought there was already a mexican restaurant somewhere on SLU's campus though. the more the merrier i suppose.
what4 wrote:saw a new and rather large neon light up... hopefully getting close to opening. i thought there was already a mexican restaurant somewhere on SLU's campus though. the more the merrier i suppose.
There's one on Laclede, in between Spring and Vandeventer on the north side of the street.
Grover wrote:By the way, the building the old Chuy's was in has been transformed - a wall of windows has replaced the older (original?) recessed/doubledoor entrances. Anyone know what's going in there?
A neighbor across the street from me told me it's a restaurant...I don't remember if he said Mexican or just a grill...but he said it's going to be a restaurant. He's been in Dogtown for 20+ years and mows over 100 lawns, so I think he's kind of in the know...in this case, I at least hope he is.
