Usually, the biggest restaurant news in the month comes from a spot that has opened or closed. Or one that’s just announced — say, Taco Buddha heading to Botanical Heights.
But the tornado that tore through St. Louis on May 16 changed the calculus on what’s the big news. The storms that damaged so many homes and other buildings in central and north St. Louis also hit many restaurants: the Delmar Maker District eateries Beyond Sweet Kitchen + Bar, Too Much Sauce, Ben Poremba’s Esca, Olio and Florentin, and HuSTL’s Steve’s Hot Dogs and the Fountain on Delmar.
“The damage there was a lot of broken glass,” said HuSTL CEO Danni Eickenhorst. “Our gas lines were ripped out, our HVAC units were damaged, our walk-in freezer compressor was fried out. The doors of our locations blew open. And the debris in the actual storm blew in.”
But Eickenhorst calls herself lucky because of the building’s sturdy, cinder block construction. After deep cleaning and repairs, she’s hoping that Steve’s will reopen on June 17 and the Fountain the next day.
Other restaurants in the area were less fortunate. STLPR’s Andrea Henderson spoke with Poremba, whose not-yet-opened Olio took a serious setback.
“We were constructing our new restaurant, and that building completely collapsed,” he told Henderson. “It was in the construction phase, and we did store a lot of things there, so there's going to be some loss over there. But at the end of the day, no one was harmed.”
Many restaurant owners launched crowdfunding campaigns to support their employees, including Poremba, Beyond Sweet owner Gericka Jones and Eickenhorst. The latter also took things a step further with the Build Back the Block tornado relief concert. She’ll be donating all the profits from the event, slated for June 17, to Delmar Main Street, a nonprofit that works to grow the business district along Delmar and has been helping displaced shops find new homes.
“It's specifically focused on building back that area because the Delmar Maker District had just started to really take off,” Eickenhorst said. “And in the course of 10 minutes, so much of it was wiped out.”
Openings
- Bartolino’s Osteria, the Hill
- Basso on the Plaza, Maryland Heights
- Cottle Village Farmstead + Distillery, Cottleville
- The Glendale Grind, Kirkwood
- Goshen Coffee, Glen Carbon, Illinois
- The Harp Pub, Belleville
- Sylvie Dee’s, Midtown (City Foundry)
- SweetArt Bakeshop + Cafe, Midtown
- Rush Bowls, Ellisville
- Tikka Tangy, Central West End
- Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe, Des Peres
- The Wine & Cheese Place, Creve Coeur
Closings
- John Viviano’s and Sons Grocers, the Hill
- Rated Test Kitchen, Downtown
- Small Batch Whiskey & Fare, Midtown
- Tom Jon’s Catering, the Gate DistrictWhat’s changed in St. Louis restaurants: tornado recovery, openings and closures
See one we missed? Let me know at jrogen@stlpr.org
