Anyone know what the future of the old M.P. O'Reilley's site holds?

Wish I knew, used to live 2 blocks away and that place was great. You could go with the women to dance and when you got tired of that the guys could go to the other side and play pool or sit and have a beer and talk. That space is so cool... if I had the $ I'd open something there. Don't even get me started on how much the new M.P. O's sucks.

You don't like the new glorified trailer on Manchester?

I actually am involved with a group that inquired about the space. I think it will be vacant for awhile. The landlord is asking an astronomical amount (even by CWE standards) and wants a 10 year lease with no allowance for improvements. I think they have something specific in mind for the space (our thought was along the lines of a high end steak house).

^

That's too bad - that's a really good concept for that space and the CWE in general.



Hope you find a good location elsewhere.

I should have been a little more clear. The high end steak house concept wasn't ours...that's what we think the landlord wants in the MPO space...along the lines of a Ruth's Chris.

Oops - actually, you were clear, but my reading comprehension skills are apparently not working this morning!

Hmm, what a shame. I really liked the space too. Thanks for the info.



And sweet God, the new M.P.O's is awful.

The old MPO's looks to become a "Bar Louie". Those who frequent Chicago may recognize the name as it is a very popular local chain with multiple locations (I believe St. Louis is the first store to open outside of Chicago). The concept is casual. Food is bar food, but it is very good bar food. Think Culpeppers (without the wings). At least the name makes sense for the market.

Another, more upscale lounge is also planned in the Koplar development just west of the MPO's space as well. I'm sword to secrecy on that one, but look for an opening in June for both establishments.

That's disappointing. Well, I guess it's some consolation that it won't be vacant anymore. Thanks for the info.

steve wrote:That's disappointing. Well, I guess it's some consolation that it won't be vacant anymore. Thanks for the info.

Disappointing? Two new places to eat and drink (and another vote of confidence in St. Louis' appeal from Chicago) by this summer and you're disappointed? I'm guessing you're a hard person to please.

Why is it disappointing? I find it good news.

Well, yes, I am disappointed. Only a little though.



1.) (At least) one of the new restaurants is a chain. For better or worse, I'm generally against chain anything. If that--honestly--is all we can get, great. I would just prefer an independantly owned place.



2.) Two more restaurants. I've mentioned this before, but I'm growing uneasy with all of the new retail spaces opening up in the city being overwhelmingly restaurants/bars. I would just like to see more variety (ahem, shopping, ahem).



As I said, I'm glad that the storefronts will no longer be vacant. I had only for hoped something a bit more unique.

Sounds like mostly good news to me, though I also wish it wasn't a chain. I talked to a friend of mine from Chicago, and he really liked the Bar Louies back there, but it doesn't sound all that upscale, any more than MPO's was. I'm with Steve in hoping that restaurants and bars don't comprise all of our new development. I'm not sure what kind of shops I'd want there though. Both restauants and shops seem like kind o high rate-of-failure enterprises, I wonder if anyone has any figures on that.

Back to the topic at hand though, I moved to the CWE shortly before MPO's left, and though I never got a chance to go, it is a great location, and I know it was tremendously popular. Good to see something else going in in it's place. In addition to its own business, the new restaurant will have the advantage of drawing people further down Maryland, uniting the Euclid/Maryland intersection with the new development.

Bar Louie is under construction in the CWE. It's in the location of an older bar...MP O'Reilly's (SP) maybe?

From Martin Van Der Werf's column today...



Midtown shopping center will get a new look

By Martin Van Der Werf

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

03/07/2006



...BEER NUTS: After going vacant for 18 months, the former home of M.P. O'Reilly's bar and restaurant on Maryland Avenue in the Central West End is getting a new tenant. Bar Louie, a Chicago-based chain, has leased the space, and hopes to open it in June. Bar Louie also is planning a location in downtown Kirkwood..."



article here

They are ripping up the old floor right now. Walked by today and they had a guy in there with a jackhammer having at it.

I was in the CWE today and poked my head into the new Bar Louie. The place looked great. Very different from MPO's, they knocked out some walls, so it is no longer two separate rooms. Anyway, they said it should be open by next weekend.

They must really be moving along, it was just drywall last weekend. Should be a great addition to the street, and be very good for Koplar's development, just because more people will be walking down that way.

Xing wrote:Not to ruin everyone's fun, but I have been to Bar Louie plenty of times, and it's nothing impressive.

Chains generally aren't.

Xing wrote:Not to ruin everyone's fun, but I have been to Bar Louie plenty of times, and it's nothing impressive.

I view it as another business opening in a great neighborhood. I probably won't go there, just not my kind of place. I'd rather have a drink at Luna, where their drinks are so stiff they're hard to drink.

Xing wrote:Not to ruin everyone's fun, but I have been to Bar Louie plenty of times, and it's nothing impressive.

I've never been there, and I have no idea what it's like, but a Chicago-based chain with a hokey name doesn't sound all that appealing to me.



Is it one of those things, like the Cheesecake Factory or P.F. Chang's, that gets clueless suburbanites gushing about how St. Louis has finally "arrived"?



Whether or not that is the case, I'll still pass on checking it out, especially when there are so many interesting new places in the city that I have yet to visit.