Katies pizza was super busy for valentine's day last night. I can only imagine how busy it will be once Cardinals season starts and weather starts to warm up...dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑Feb 15, 2024Not going to blame GSL just yet for lack of promotion because they are rolling out something this spring but you are starting to see in news how Sugar Fire does $5-6M and its their highest grossing location, same for Salt and Smoke, same for Katies Pizza, Ukraft etc.Debaliviere91 wrote: ↑Feb 15, 2024Then I have to wonder why restaurateurs aren’t making that connection, with all the vacancy on Wash Ave.dbInSouthCity wrote: I’m sure there are, point is a restaurant has a better chance to succeed when it has 30,000,000+ potential annual customers.
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I would say bigger and more experienced operators have a better opportunity to make a go downtown. Business is so inconsistent it's got to be hard to staff properly when you can't move people to other locations when you are dead/pull from them during peak times to fully capitalize on those crowds.
These more established groups can also afford to legal assistance needed to get their LL in the first place, and won't likely face personal financial ruin if the process doesn't work out. I felt terrible for Farina's, it took them way too long to get approved and it put them in a very precarious financial position. Now the hype has passed them by and they don't even have the resources to fix their awning which looks terrible. Hoping they can figure it out but I have doubts.
Side note, I heard Amsterdam Tavern was having a hard time getting their LL approved, and now I see no mention of it on their social media. Is this dead? If so that is a very unfortunate missed opportunity for the stadium area
These more established groups can also afford to legal assistance needed to get their LL in the first place, and won't likely face personal financial ruin if the process doesn't work out. I felt terrible for Farina's, it took them way too long to get approved and it put them in a very precarious financial position. Now the hype has passed them by and they don't even have the resources to fix their awning which looks terrible. Hoping they can figure it out but I have doubts.
Side note, I heard Amsterdam Tavern was having a hard time getting their LL approved, and now I see no mention of it on their social media. Is this dead? If so that is a very unfortunate missed opportunity for the stadium area
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^ I don’t think they even applied for one. I think they jumped the gun on the announcement and had second thoughts
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I (with friends) opened a bar in the Grove and getting the LL was indeed a pain. A percentage of owners and a percentage of residents. The issues I had was finding the owner when many properties were LLC's, and many residents NOT registered voters in StL. Thankfully, we only had to have a % of those who were registered - but some on the list had already moved on. A neighbor shared with me the community is very transient due to the proximity to the universities. The process also was not explained well. Once we got through all of the signatures, the rest of the process went much smoother. We opened in Jan 2022 and I think we started the process in Aug or Sep 2021.
We had to build into our lease a clause to cease the lease if there were any issues with the LL.
We had to build into our lease a clause to cease the lease if there were any issues with the LL.
From the latest email from Taqueria Morita (owned by the Vicia people):
"We would love to tell you our opening date... but right now we are at the mercy of City Hall and the powers that govern new restaurants in St. Louis. "
"We would love to tell you our opening date... but right now we are at the mercy of City Hall and the powers that govern new restaurants in St. Louis. "
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Soon to be announced downtown restaurant has been pushed back into late March due to issue with scheduling health inspection….originally it was going to open yesterday
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Are they still open? They've got French Fry Factory decals on their windows/door, so I wasn't sure what was going on there. Farina's food is great and I'd like to go again, but I got tired of walking over there just to find out that they're closed.GoHarvOrGoHome wrote: ↑Feb 15, 2024These more established groups can also afford to legal assistance needed to get their LL in the first place, and won't likely face personal financial ruin if the process doesn't work out. I felt terrible for Farina's, it took them way too long to get approved and it put them in a very precarious financial position. Now the hype has passed them by and they don't even have the resources to fix their awning which looks terrible. Hoping they can figure it out but I have doubts.
Sundays Best closed. Sounds like they might find another location. Citypark location will continue
https://www.facebook.com/share/EqmRFB36 ... tid=WC7FNe
https://www.facebook.com/share/EqmRFB36 ... tid=WC7FNe
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Not sure if we are headed towards same thing in STL but check this out. On April 1, California "fast food" minimum wage increases to $20 but Panera will be exempted! There was a carve out in the bill signed by governor Gavin Newsom for restaurants that produce "standalone bread". Turns out that Newsom and largest Panera franchisee in Cali used to go to school together and they are buddies!
https://reason.com/2024/02/28/why-is-pa ... -wage-law/
https://reason.com/2024/02/28/why-is-pa ... -wage-law/
StlMag - Esca opening in the Delmar Maker District
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/esca-open ... -district/
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/esca-open ... -district/
.Another White Castle burgers?? Haha
Maybe a downtown shake shack?
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Nice! That's a great fit for that space.
RFT - BLK MKT Eats Closes Vandeventer Location
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/food-dr ... n-42178953
Ugh
StlMag - BLK MKT Eats now open in Maplewood
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/food-dr ... n-42178953
Ugh
StlMag - BLK MKT Eats now open in Maplewood
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/blk-mkt-e ... maplewood/The decision to close the flagship location was largely influenced by a lack of parking. “Our followers on social media had repeatedly asked for better parking, which was especially bad on Fridays and Saturdays,” Turigliatto says. “We looked long and hard at signing a new lease there, trying to rationalize it, but especially with the new place opening, we had to pass.”
In CORTEX at 4239 Duncan
StlMag - Taqueria Morita opens in the Central West End
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/taqueria-morita
StlMag - Taqueria Morita opens in the Central West End
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/taqueria-morita
Stella blues bar had a fire. Closed indefinitely
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/food-dr ... y-42262758
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/food-dr ... y-42262758
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Heard yesterday that Stella Blues may temporarily move into the currently vacant kitchen space at SC Lounge, two doors down from Amsterdam Tavern.
Looks like long-time U City institution, Frank and Helen's, will soon be closing.
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/frank-and ... -or-close/
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/frank-and ... -or-close/
Sounds like a pretty big lack of foresight and planning from the new owners. They admit that they don't really know what they're doing, which doesn't bode well for the future of the business, but I do wish them all the luck. Hopefully they can figure out how to make it work.framer wrote: ↑Apr 18, 2024Looks like long-time U City institution, Frank and Helen's, will soon be closing.
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/frank-and ... -or-close/
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Windows knocked out and empty cash registers stolen at Hot Pizza Cold Beer.
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/crime ... 2274ca9f26
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/crime ... 2274ca9f26
Great response by the owner, need more people with his attitude downtown.