urbanSTL

DeBaliviere wrote:Checked out the Hoots last night - the front windows of the restaurant are basically big garage doors which were completely open last night. Nice to see someone finally incorporate that idea as many people on this forum have been advocating that kind of design for restaurants/bars downtown for quite a while now.



The waitresses were nice to look at as well.

That is a great feature. Although, I have to question having them open last night. It was hotter than hell!

It seemed to work out okay - they were blasting the cold air, so it was pretty comfortable.

Rolling garage doors? Those are great for adding to street life. The Flying Saucer in Memphis has them. Anyone want to go in on a franchise with me?

DeBaliviere wrote:The waitresses were nice to look at as well.

any pics

Talk about a great way to connect the streetscape. I like the idea of having big open doors or even being able to open a whole wall. Downtown could use more restaurants/retail like this. Another place that seems to employ this method is around back at Mike Shannon's. I think it's called 'The Outfield' or something.

SoulardD wrote:Talk about a great way to connect the streetscape. I like the idea of having big open doors or even being able to open a whole wall. Downtown could use more restaurants/retail like this. Another place that seems to employ this method is around back at Mike Shannon's. I think it's called 'The Outfield' or something.

Totally - they made great use of the old underground garage space at Shannon's.

I finally got to go today for lunch. We were smart to get there at 11 because there was a line out the door when we left. I was glad to see that they will be until late at night every night.



I'd suggest going in the next week or two because there is twice the staff there due to training. Needless to say I was mesmerized. It was nice to see that they retained the waitresses from the Union Station store.



Oh and the food wasn't bad either.

That's great to see them adding more activity to the "immediate" downtown that visitors see with this re-location.



But on the other hand, I must say that my first thought was whether this could be the final straw for Union Station. They just really alienated people from that place with the outrageous parking fees and just overall poor management. It would be a real heartbreaker to see it go; such a unique space.



You have to think not having regular Blues games at the Savvis Center really drained that place heavily last season too.

^They DID have regular Blues games at Savis last year. The strike was the year before. But it is true, the Blues sucked last year, and attendance was well below normal.

I have a feeling I may be a semi-regular once I move down there.

Went last night...there were a few hot ones, and a few "butter faces"...the food was good and the overall experience was great. There was a good crowd there for dinner, and then it good slammed after the rams game...There were tons of people who walked over from the dome. Downtown over all was pretty lively last night. It was encouraging.

bpe235 wrote:Went last night...there were a few hot ones, and a few "butter faces"...the food was good and the overall experience was great. There was a good crowd there for dinner, and then it good slammed after the rams game...There were tons of people who walked over from the dome. Downtown over all was pretty lively last night. It was encouraging.

That's good to hear. Now if we can just get downtown lively on non-sports event nights.



I was looking at the Rams and Cardinals schedules. On Sunday October 1st the Cards have their season finale at 1:15 vs the Brewers at Busch. Then at 3:05 the Rams host Mike Martz and the Lions at the dome. Could be a very interesting day.

bpe235 wrote:Went last night...there were a few hot ones, and a few "butter faces"...

Well, since the tone has already been set...



They...have faces???

^

I just posted on what I had. Couldn’t really spin this one any like I sometimes do for other projects. People on Reddit seem more open to this than people on Twitter and Facebook.

I think this would be fine as long as the first floor is addressed a bit.

I'm fine with a project there, but a bog-standard five over one seems a poor use of the space. The site really calls for a much more signature development than that. This is a big piece of furniture smack in them middle of the entry hall, not a foldout cot in a closet off a guest bedroom.

Is that stucco? 

Undoubtedly it'll be covered with those ubiquitous fiber-cement panels.

A building like this would look great in parts of Downtown West, or maybe even closer to Wheelhouse. But it's going to stick out like a sore thumb in that space. The Gateway Mall deserves better.

Agree with others that this is not the right spot for this one. Would I rather have it than what's currently there? Yep. But that's a pretty low bar to clear. Nice to see talk of some additional residential, though. Let's see how this plays out.