urbanSTL

Apparently Chicken Seven on S. Grand is having a tough time staying afloat because they can't satisfy an antiquated liquor license rule that requires approval by a certain number of neighborhood residents via postcard. Obviously, this is difficult to do because nobody uses postcards anymore.

I'm considering trying to do something to change this rule. Would the only route be to just message my alderperson? 

Curious to see how many of the posters on UrbanSTL have favorite North City spots for food? 

I don't have many, but Piekutowski Sausage in Hyde Park is excellent (though not a restaurant). Bing Lau in Jeff-Vander-Lou serves pretty good St. Louis-style fried rice and St. Paul sandwiches. 

I visited Jerk Soul in Hyde Park several times before they relocated to the Cherokee Street area. 

RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑

Feb 24, 2022

I visited Jerk Soul in Hyde Park several times before they relocated to the Cherokee Street area. 

Based on what I have read on their Instagram Jerk Soul is closing this June as they relocate to Ghana

Suds wrote: ↑

Feb 24, 2022

Apparently Chicken Seven on S. Grand is having a tough time staying afloat because they can't satisfy an antiquated liquor license rule that requires approval by a certain number of neighborhood residents via postcard. Obviously, this is difficult to do because nobody uses postcards anymore.

I'm considering trying to do something to change this rule. Would the only route be to just message my alderperson? 

Post card? Why don’t they just go door to door and get 50% +1

That's really too bad hearing that about Jerk Soul. 

I thought they had a really cool restaurant concept and Ian Froebe of the Post-Dispatch had them in his Top 100 Restaurants of St. Louis lists several different years. 

Best of luck to them in Ghana. 

RockChalkSTL wrote:

moorlander wrote:Crushed Red has good chopped salads.

I know a lot of people like that place. I've never been, so I can't say; but my wife has been, and she tells me it is no Chopt.

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I love Chopt, Sweetgreen and also Cava and I wish they would open in the STL area. Crushed Red is terrible. It’s Rada trying to be Prada. A bad knock off.


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^^db, the story seems to say that the neighborhood is mostly multifamily and it is hard to access individual units so going door to door wouldn't get them to the 50%+1 required.

Black02AltimaSE wrote: ↑

Feb 24, 2022

^^db, the story seems to say that the neighborhood is mostly multifamily and it is hard to access individual units so going door to door wouldn't get them to the 50%+1 required.

I don’t see that as an issue, most of those are rentals, they just need to call the property owner. I assume they aren’t working with a professional like most applicants do. The process is pretty straightforward and easy to do

RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑

Feb 24, 2022

Suds wrote: ↑

Feb 24, 2022

Apparently Chicken Seven on S. Grand is having a tough time staying afloat because they can't satisfy an antiquated liquor license rule that requires approval by a certain number of neighborhood residents via postcard. Obviously, this is difficult to do because nobody uses postcards anymore.

I'm considering trying to do something to change this rule. Would the only route be to just message my alderperson? 

I've heard really good things about Chicken Seven. The liquor license rule sounds ridiculous and I hope there's something that can be done for them. 

In the meantime, I will try to visit the restaurant soon. 

Okay, I've walked past this a half dozen times or more and not thought a thing about it because I figured it was just another dive bar. I'm IN the neighborhood, but I had no idea they were having trouble getting a liquor license. (Okay, I'm a few blocks away, but I very much suspect I'm close enough to sign and have it count.) Further, my wife and I have driven out to flipping Manchester and Ballwin chasing Korean food without knowing there was a joint an easy walk from our front porch. I'll look into walking over for lunch tomorrow and making a regular habit about it. And I'll tell the neighbors they need a license and they need postcards mailed. We will make this happen. I'll make sure Lamm knows and he'll go order chicken in Korean. (And beer, once the license clears.) They're in the right place. We just need better word of mouth. With luck I may have a new favorite bar/chicken joint. Korean street food? AND beer!? Sign me up!

The Real Reason the Pandemic Killed Small Restaurants: The Applebee’s in your town is fine. The local bistro is not. Here’s why. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is another trade association that lobbies on behalf of an industry and provides education and legal support to its members. It has bent federal, state, and local governments to the will of the corporate behemoths, claiming to represent the nation’s 500,000 food service establishments, even though less than 10% are members. “They are conflicted—representing full independents but also representing the chains. It’s kind of hard to do.” https://slate.com/business/2022/02/pandemic-restaurant-closures-national-association.html

Mango Space will now be a kitchen/bar by the couple that open Buenos Aires Cafe at the Foundry.  It will be named after the wife, Farinas Kitchen and Bar

Washington Ave should rebrand as international food district of STL

Mizu
Sen Thai
Havanas
Farinas
El Burro
Pi Pizzeria
Medina

Doesn't that title still belong to South Grand?

Either way, I'm happy to see downtown with a diverse culinary scene. I hope that gets better and better in the coming years.

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RockChalkSTL wrote:Doesn't that title still belong to South Grand?

Either way, I'm happy to see downtown with a diverse culinary scene. I hope that gets better and better in the coming years.

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Standing up for The Loop here, but does South Grand have more diverse food offerings than The Loop?

Anyway, probably good that we’re discussing how several neighborhoods now have multicultural business districts


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Downtown restaurants are mostly frequented by out of town guests, many who won’t venture to loop or s grand (mostly biz people, tourists will) so this branding would mostly be for them

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Feb 24, 2022

Suds wrote: ↑

Feb 24, 2022

Apparently Chicken Seven on S. Grand is having a tough time staying afloat because they can't satisfy an antiquated liquor license rule that requires approval by a certain number of neighborhood residents via postcard. Obviously, this is difficult to do because nobody uses postcards anymore.

I'm considering trying to do something to change this rule. Would the only route be to just message my alderperson? 

Post card?  Why don’t they just go door to door and get 50% +1

First, I went in and the food is tasty fusion food. The chicken is quite good indeed. And there's some really interesting oddities, like pot stickers covered in cheese and a thing that I'd describe as a cross between a rice cake dish and a slinger. They also have some most tasty takoyaki. It might be a bit pricey for the neighborhood, but it's surprisingly unpretentious. Very casual and quite comfortable. I'll be back.

Second, I think I begin to see why the process is such a challenge. The postcards don't really seem to be the canvassing implement. They're just there to let everyone inside a certain radius know about the license application. It seems the canvas itself is carried out with a petition and tally sheets: i. e. knocking doors as DB describes. You go out and get 51% approval from two groups inside a 350' circle of your front door. The first is property owners, the second is a composite of occupants and tenants where occupants are businesses and tenants are registered voters. Therein lies the problem. If you've ever knocked doors for a politician you know that voter rolls are pretty darn hit and miss. And they're doubly so with rental properties. People just don't stay long. Further, people often don't answer doors for a large variety of reasons. And within '350 of their door is a whole stack of very transient rental property. And very, very little else. There are maybe thirteen single family houses, a duplex . . .  and five apartment buildings, several of which have twice as many units or more as all the single family houses. (With the largest being a sort of halfway house literally right next door.) That's the kind of place where it's nearly impossible to get that many signatures. And I can definitely see why someone would be a mite pissed. Darn thing's been a bar for decades, for crying out loud. But there wasn't a halfway house there then and the neighborhood was different.

dweebe wrote: ↑

Feb 28, 2022

Is the downtown Park Avenue Coffee already done for? Tried twice on recent mornings and both times they were closed. They show hours.
https://parkavenuecoffee.com/pages/downtown-st-louis

Are you talking about the new location at 6th and Olive where Starbucks was?   It’s open daily til 2 (including today) or the original location on 10th?

I don't think the new one (former Starbucks) is open daily, is it?

They have a big sign out front that says "daily" but their hours, whatever they were when I walked past and looked at the front door, definitely showed them not being open on weekends, at least that was the case a few weeks ago.

Hope they don't fall into the standard downtown biz trap of continually reducing hours to like 15 per week.