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PostDec 13, 2024#6176

Is there any reason for the lack of fast food chains in downtown? I wish there was a Panda Express & Bojangles & Zaxbys but that’s asking for too much 😊 Either way a food hall on Wash Ave sounds great.


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PostDec 13, 2024#6177

PlatinumBlues wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
Is there any reason for the lack of fast food chains in downtown?  I wish there was a Panda Express & Bojangles & Zaxbys but that’s asking for too much 😊 Either way a food hall on Wash Ave sounds great.  


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we have a subway, McDonalds, kfc, Starbucks, Papa Johns 

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PostDec 13, 2024#6178

dbInSouthCity wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
PlatinumBlues wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
Is there any reason for the lack of fast food chains in downtown?  I wish there was a Panda Express & Bojangles & Zaxbys but that’s asking for too much 😊 Either way a food hall on Wash Ave sounds great.  


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we have a subway, McDonalds, kfc, Starbucks, Papa Johns 
Snarf's, Jimmy Johns, Pickles Deli, Kimchi Guys, Gyro Express

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PostDec 13, 2024#6179

dbInSouthCity wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
PlatinumBlues wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
Is there any reason for the lack of fast food chains in downtown?  I wish there was a Panda Express & Bojangles & Zaxbys but that’s asking for too much 😊 Either way a food hall on Wash Ave sounds great.  


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we have a subway, McDonalds, kfc, Starbucks, Papa Johns 
Yea, add Chipotle as a thing it is crazy we don’t have downtown. No chinese cuisine is another huge missing hole, especially since we have rather unique chinese cuisine. Oh yea and that restaurant formerly named for the the city that is a textbook cafe for a downtown area!!!

Noodles & Co, Culver’s, Chick fil a, Chipotle, the Halal Guys, Freddys (in Busch now), Dunkin (mind boggling how there isn’t one) are national chains off the top of my head that I think you could try to entice with success.

There’s Jimmy John’s, Planet Sub and Auntie Anne’s downtown also. Lots of the local/regional places could be considered fast food too.

That McDonalds is a drive through interstate Mcdonalds, not really what we are looking for downtown. Taco Bell and White Castle also kind of downtown but same drive through problem.

It’d be cool to have a Lions Choice downtown. Which points to an idea that I think downtown could explore - go get those local favorite regional places that locals love and tourists would find interest in trying, those places synonymous with the city and figure out how to make one of these nonactivity retail facing streets and create a “taste of St. Louis area” or just pitch them downtown spots - make the numbers work for Ted Drewes, get Goias back or another Hill deli, a StL style Chinese place, another StL style pizza place, St. Louis Kolache, Gooey Louie, Steve’s Hot Dogs - sure others can think of more. Maybe this food hall will be able to accomplish this.

We had some more of that popular regional fare but lost several places around Covid (Charlie Gittos the biggest one and I hope we save that building in Railway redevelopment and they come back). We still have regional fare IMOs, Sugarfire, and Salt n Smoke and can build on that. Solid regional mainstays like Snarfs, Sybergs, Hi Pointe, Kimchi Guys, Sauce own the Side, Sushi Ai, Pharaohs, Katie’s, Park Avenue. It isn’t hopeless

I do like to see Perrennial trying a brewery along Grants Trail. I hope the Brickline Greenway brings those type concepts along its trail - I hope they are incorporating this into their plan as they build it out.

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PostDec 13, 2024#6180

We have Chinese. Red Door on 7th. Been there for a long time

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PostDec 13, 2024#6181

delmar2debaliviere2downtown wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
dbInSouthCity wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
PlatinumBlues wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
Is there any reason for the lack of fast food chains in downtown?  I wish there was a Panda Express & Bojangles & Zaxbys but that’s asking for too much 😊 Either way a food hall on Wash Ave sounds great.  


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we have a subway, McDonalds, kfc, Starbucks, Papa Johns 
...No chinese cuisine is another huge missing hole...
Red Door Chinese is in the heart of downtown and there is a selection of Asian cuisine such as Sushi AI, Mizu, Sen Thai, and Aubergine

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PostDec 13, 2024#6182

dbInSouthCity wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
We have Chinese. Red Door on 7th. Been there for a long time
Ah yes, to be honest thought it closed because everything else in the parking garage block at 7th and Pine is gone and looks pretty bad. I will do Red Door this weekend

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PostDec 13, 2024#6183

delmar2debaliviere2downtown wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
Word of another law firm exodus to Clayton on the horizon. Not a huge one but all these little dents make a pretty dinged up car. Our industries have spread out so much from downtown, it’s hard to keep the employers all together. Wish we had a downtown that employers feel like it is a big deal to leave but the attitude I often hear is hands up, well everyone else has left.
Law firm offices are ghost towns anyway now, even the fancy new ones in Clayton.

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PostDec 13, 2024#6184

dbInSouthCity wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
PlatinumBlues wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
Is there any reason for the lack of fast food chains in downtown?  I wish there was a Panda Express & Bojangles & Zaxbys but that’s asking for too much [emoji unicode-emoji="1f60a"]1f60a[/emoji] Either way a food hall on Wash Ave sounds great.  


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we have a subway, McDonalds, kfc, Starbucks, Papa Johns 
Denis, come on, that MCDs may technically be in "downtown" but no one walks from like 7th and Market to that MCDs on N. Tucker.  LOL.   strike it from your list! 

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PostDec 13, 2024#6185

soulardx wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
dbInSouthCity wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
PlatinumBlues wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
Is there any reason for the lack of fast food chains in downtown?  I wish there was a Panda Express & Bojangles & Zaxbys but that’s asking for too much 😊 Either way a food hall on Wash Ave sounds great.  


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
we have a subway, McDonalds, kfc, Starbucks, Papa Johns 
Denis, come on, that MCDs may technically be in "downtown" but no one walks from like 7th and Market to that MCDs on N. Tucker.  LOL.   strike it from your list! 
It's not even technically in downtown (west) as it's north of Carr St

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PostDec 13, 2024#6186

Restaurants I'd like to see come downtown: Chick fil A, Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera, Five Guys. For local chains, I think Lion's Choice, Joey B's, and 4 Hands would be good Downtown. Hopefully this food hall will add one or two of these missing chains.

I think BPV just added Auntie Anne's.

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PostDec 13, 2024#6187

There was a Lion's Choice downtown for a while, it closed.  Along with Panera.  I don't see them coming back.  We lost the Hardee's as well.  Perhaps after we can restore life to 901 Chestnut and other prominent buildings some of these pipe dreams will come to fruition.

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PostDec 14, 2024#6188

STLCityMike wrote:
Dec 13, 2024
There was a Lion's Choice downtown for a while, it closed.  Along with Panera.  I don't see them coming back.  We lost the Hardee's as well.  Perhaps after we can restore life to 901 Chestnut and other prominent buildings some of these pipe dreams will come to fruition.
Also the Pizza Hut/KFC combo (recognizing KFC is back elsewhere), two McDonalds (one in StL Center and the other dumpster fire on 7th), and if you want to go far back, both McDonalds AND Burger King riverboats. And I guess if we count StL Center, the food court there also had a Chinese place, a Japanese place (but not sushi), Sbarro, and a couple others.

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PostDec 14, 2024#6189

^And there was the food court at Union Station with a bunch of similar stuff. Yeah, yeah. We've lost a lot. But a lot has opened too, since little to none of the stuff on Washington was there then. Restaurants come and go, sadly. (Very sadly when your favorites are going.)

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PostDec 14, 2024#6190

symphonicpoet wrote:
Dec 14, 2024
^And there was the food court at Union Station with a bunch of similar stuff. Yeah, yeah. We've lost a lot. But a lot has opened too, since little to none of the stuff on Washington was there then. Restaurants come and go, sadly. (Very sadly when your favorites are going.)
Hungry Buddha was on Washington then and I'll never forget :)

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PostDec 15, 2024#6191

^Oh, I don't mean to say there was nothing. Just fewer restaurants, I think. The Black Rep had a scene shop on Washington in the 90s. Or maybe it was on Olive. I'm not quite 100% sure anymore. In that general area. There was the Velvet whatsit. Several goth dance club/bar sorts of operations. Amatin's Books was there then. (I'll probably always mourn bookstores more than restaurants. Personal priorities.)

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PostDec 15, 2024#6192

symphonicpoet wrote:
Dec 15, 2024
^Oh, I don't mean to say there was nothing. Just fewer restaurants, I think. The Black Rep had a scene shop on Washington in the 90s. Or maybe it was on Olive. I'm not quite 100% sure anymore. In that general area. There was the Velvet whatsit. Several goth dance club/bar sorts of operations. Amatin's Books was there then. (I'll probably always mourn bookstores more than restaurants. Personal priorities.)
Speaking of, the Black Rep would be a great tenant for the Orpheum Theatre. I wonder if Pulitzer Arts Foundation or something similar would purchase and make a local group like Black Rep the show there. Would be an awesome use in a beautiful vacant building that isn’t being talked about in the current discourse that includes ATT, Millenium, Railway, etc.

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PostDec 15, 2024#6193

^I'd be a bit worried the Orpheum would be too big. It's not necessarily the ideal space for any modern play company. It'd be a great space for them to put on a show every now and then as a tenant, but it's a pretty big hall (the original capacity was about two thousand) that's likely got a rather modest stage. Long sight lines. Probably less than ideal accoustics for spoken word. It'd be great for broadway, or even certain rock concerts. (Which is what it was last doing: concerts.) I'd guess the Black Rep probably wants a hall about half that size and with much tighter sightlines.

That said, it would be an improvement on the Edison Theatre, but I think your average parking garage would be an improvement on the Edison Theatre. I do seriously want to see something in there. And if the Black Rep can fill it and make it work . . . hey . . . I'd love to be proved wrong. That's a gorgeous venue.

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PostDec 15, 2024#6194

symphonicpoet wrote:
Dec 15, 2024
^I'd be a bit worried the Orpheum would be too big. It's not necessarily the ideal space for any modern play company. It'd be a great space for them to put on a show every now and then as a tenant, but it's a pretty big hall (the original capacity was about two thousand) that's likely got a rather modest stage. Long sight lines. Probably less than ideal accoustics for spoken word. It'd be great for broadway, or even certain rock concerts. (Which is what it was last doing: concerts.) I'd guess the Black Rep probably wants a hall about half that size and with much tighter sightlines.

That said, it would be an improvement on the Edison Theatre, but I think your average parking garage would be an improvement on the Edison Theatre. I do seriously want to see something in there. And if the Black Rep can fill it and make it work . . . hey . . . I'd love to be proved wrong. That's a gorgeous venue.
Didn’t realize it was that large. I would just love the Black Rep to have a beautiful space, preferably downtown.

Concerts obviously would be great there. I always love concerts at old grand movie theatres.

Just a place I’d really love to see activated. Downtown needs every entertainment space we can create and Orpheum is already right there for us. Renovation, a nice neon sign and some shows at that theatre would make me very happy.

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PostDec 15, 2024#6195

Amatin's! What a trippy place. I lost myself there several afternoons.  

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PostDec 15, 2024#6196

Cummel's - Food was pretty good - Service and hours were hit and miss - 2007 seemed to be the peak of the last wave of development/retail/restaurants downtown, things were pretty good for quick lunches and fine dining - But St. Louis was never really about downtown - my grandfather grew up in Shaw in the 20's/30's and told me the family never went downtown - they did not need to, everything needed from shopping to entertainment was in the neighborhood or on Grand. St Louis was (and still is) far more neighborhood orientated then most other cities. 

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PostDec 16, 2024#6197

delmar2debaliviere2downtown wrote:
Dec 15, 2024
Didn’t realize it was that large. I would just love the Black Rep to have a beautiful space, preferably downtown.

Concerts obviously would be great there. I always love concerts at old grand movie theatres.

Just a place I’d really love to see activated. Downtown needs every entertainment space we can create and Orpheum is already right there for us. Renovation, a nice neon sign and some shows at that theatre would make me very happy.
It's a bit of a beast. It's not as big as Powell or Kiel, of course, but it's a good sized old hall. It was originally built as a playhouse, if I recall correctly, albeit at a time when plays were more often melodramas than the strangely music-less things we think of today. (Many or maybe most plays had at least incidental music up until the advent of the motion picture. Which is doubtless why motion  pictures have music.) Anyway, yeah, I'd love to see the Black Rep in a more flexible and attractive hall. And I really, really want to see that hall back in use. Might be the oldest surviving theatre in town. (Certainly one of.) And it's about the last fragment of our first theatre district. Wish I had some grand idea for how to make it happen.

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PostDec 16, 2024#6198

You would think the theater would fall under the Mayor’s blight/neglect effort and could start take over efforts. Didn’t a piece fall off not too long ago?

Theater could be a massive asset for downtown.

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PostDec 16, 2024#6199

Big announcement at enterprise today, 2026 US Figure Staking Championship will here Jan 3-11 2026.  HUGE win for the sports commission 

PostDec 16, 2024#6200

March 2025 has some major events at the Convention Center/Downtown: 105,000 attendees across a dozen or so events from ACHA hockey (not the same as NCAA frozen 4 thats in april), World of Asphalt Show, capitol sports volleyball, 5000 person sorority regional meeting and a few educators conferences 

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