Restaurants that Have Recently Closed in St. Louis, Missouri

I have worked in the restaurant industry here in St. Louis for nearly 30 years. Back when I first started you never had to worry about getting a job as a restaurant manager. The only problem with the job was that the companies were always so short of help that there was always too much work to go around. And if you were halfway worth your salt you could make a pretty decent living at it.

At that time, restaurants were opening right and left in St. Louis. Not only the fast food and chain ones but individually owned ones as well. I'm not sure if it's still true but at one point St. Louis had more restaurants per capita than any other city in the United States.

But over the past few years because of the sinking economy we've seen a lot of restaurants close throughout the area. Some of them were upstarts, (the chance of a new restaurant closing within a year are about 50/50) and some of them were established restaurants that had been around for many years.

As you drive down Grand Avenue in St. Louis towards the St. Louis University campus you will notice what looks like a concrete flying saucer hovering by the side of the road. The 1960's gas station was turned first into a Naugle's hamburger joint and then a Del Taco a number of years ago and has been petitioned to be placed on the National Registry because of its unusual shape and architectural style.

Now Del Taco is in bankruptcy and the developers that own the building want to tear down the unusual structure and replace it with what? Another fast food restaurant or a parking lot? The final fate of the structure now rests in the hands of the Board of Aldermen.

What are some of the other famous restaurants in St. Louis that have closed down? According to the STL Eats, here are a few:

If you're from St. Louis and have ever decided to motor west on Route 66 then you'll probably remember the old Diamond's restaurant right outside of Pacific. It was a cafeteria-style restaurant that served many a weary traveler. The place was huge and also contained a gift shop as well as a motel in case you ate too much and decided you wanted to sleep.

Another St. Louis restaurant institution that is no more is the Parkmoor in Clayton. A new Walgreen's sits there now. The Parkmoor was a restaurant that had served St. Louis since the 50's and it really hadn't changed much since then. Do we really need a cookie cutter Walgreen's sitting on every street corner in this city?

The Grateful Inn in Maplewood shut its doors about a year ago. It was a quirky little place with a sixties' theme. All of the waiters wore tie-dye shirts and there was a vapor bar as well as a hemp salad on the menu.

All of the 56 Wendy's Hamburgers restaurants in St. Louis closed a few years ago. Having recently been bought out by Arby's, they are making a comeback.

Smokin' Al's BBQ on Hampton recently called it quits. They had some of the best BBQ sauce that I've ever tasted.

Speaking of BBQ, Super Smokers has closed all but its Eureka location.

The list goes on and on. There must be probably at least a hundred. Some will be missed and others won't be. All I can say is that if you have a favorite restaurant patronize it often so it doesn't end up a pile of rubble like Del Taco very well might.

Source: http://stleats.com/closed/