July brought legal action to the St. Louis restaurant scene — and a publication, not an eatery, was at the center of it all.
Halfway through the month, Sauce Magazine announced that it had been acquired by STL Bucket List, an Instagram influencer turned marketing agency, and would be expanding. Founded in 1999 by Allyson Mace and Catherine Neville, the food magazine was purchased by former Riverfront Times owner Chris Keating in late 2023 and saw layoffs last September. The acquisition looked to be positive, with the new owners saying that they would expand operations.
Then the old owner came knocking on Keating’s door. Mace filed a lawsuit against Keating on July 28, alleging that he’d never finished paying for the publication and still owed her $168,333 plus interest. Mace is asking the court for that plus attorney’s fees.
In actual restaurant news, El Burro Loco quietly closed its doors in the Central West End with at least one lawsuit filed against its owner. Bootleggin’ Tavern shuttered in Forest Park Southeast with plans to reopen in the Metro East, and Pho Long closed on South Grand in order to move down the street into the space that formerly was home to Filipino restaurant and cafe Manileño.
Other openings include Fordo’s Killer Pizza within Urban Chestnut in the Grove; multiconcept (restaurant, butchery, bar, bakery, you name it) Pierce Creek in the former Kohn’s Kosher Deli in Creve Coeur, and food hall, cafe and cocktail spot Bel Air Social in the Central West End.
Openings
- Africana, Skinker DeBaliviere
- Bel Air Social, Central West End
- Bevo Caffe Lounge, Bevo Mill
- Days Bar & Restaurant, Gravois Park
- Fordo’s Killer Pizza, the Grove (Urban Chestnut)
- Good News Brewing, Alton
- Kentzo Koffee Cafe, Maplewood
- Mangia Bella, Washington
- Pho Long, Tower Grove South
- Pierce Creek, Creve Coeur
- Taste, Ferguson
- Taqueria del Sureste, Midtown (City Foundry)
- The Quarter Butcher, Dardenne Prairie
- What’s in the Box, Maryland Heights
Closings
- Bootleggin’ Tavern, Forest Park Southeast (will relocate)
- El Burro Loco, Central West End
- El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery, Manchester
- Manileño, Tower Grove South
- Momo, Rock Hill
- Pho Long, Shaw (relocated)
- Sonny’s Pizza Den, Maryland Heights
See one we missed? Let me know at jrogen@stlpr.org
