In mid-town St. Louis, the area around Grand Boulevard and Washington Avenue is known as Grand Center, the main performing arts district of the city. The St. Louis Symphony performs at Powell Hall towards the north end of Grand Center, while touring musicals and music acts play at the Fox Theater. The Sheldon Concert Hall features concerts (well, duh; like Jake Shimabukuro last night). The Bistro features local and touring jazz acts. Scattered art institutes (the Pulitzer Foundation, the Contemporary Art Museum) feature paintings, sculpture, sometimes video installations.
So, for an area with some nominal nightlife that way, you would expect there to be restaurants, which is indeed the case. One particular location for restaurants is right at the intersection of Grand and Washington. However, one particular corner seems to be "cursed", if one believes in such things, namely the northwest corner. The current resident restaurant there is Dooley's Beef N Brew House, or at least it was until tonight. Today is the restaurant's last day. More (well, not really) below the flip....
The first report that Dooley's was closing came back on October 7 c/o George Mahe of St. Louis Magazine at this blog post. Mahe noted past history of the original Dooley's in downtown STL, and noted in passing a previous restaurant tenant of that corner in Grand Center:
"The original Dooley’s Ltd (at 8th and Olive) was owned by Sean’s father, Alex, and had been a popular Irish pub for 40 years, until a redevelopment project cleared the block in 2008. Dooley’s Beef N Brew House opened in 2011 at the corner of Grand at Washington, in the space formerly occupied by Wm. Shakespeare’s Gastropub."
I ate once at the location when it was the Shakespeare's Gastropub, in a minimal gesture of trying to support a neighborhood restaurant. Bu the dinner wasn't all that good and I never went back. I remember that prior to Shakespeare's Gastropub, one earlier incarnation was named Gary's, and seemed to serve a primarily Af-Am clientele. It seemed successful, but then suddenly was shuttered one day a few years back.
Likewise, I went once to the establishment when it was the new Dooley's, because I had a coupon, and had dinner with a friend pre-Symphony. From what I remember, it was OK, decent-enough pub grub. But again, I never went back, though not so much out of dissatisfaction as from the fact that I tend to pack an extra meal if I'm going straight from work to a symphony concert. So yes, I never ate there again, but I also don't generally eat out at the other restaurants in the Grand Center area. Mahe notes other establishments:
"....the Fox/Grand Center area is still a popular place for restaurants: there's Best Steak House, City Diner, The Dark Room, Triumph Grill, Vito's, Sweetie Pie's Upper Crust, and newcomers Lücha and BaiKu Sushi Lounge, plus dining at Jazz at the Bistro."
One other disadvantage of the general location is that not a lot of arts & entertainment-going types actually live near the area. Grand Center borders on Delmar Boulevard on the north side, and north of Delmar is pretty much the 'hood. Interestingly, though City Diner, right across the street from Dooley's (i.e. on the southwest corner of Grand and Washington), seems to do consistently good business. It has that sort of
Happy Days or
American Graffiti kind of sock-hop nostalgia vibe, which is a characteristic of City Diner's original location in the South Grand neighborhood, and which the owners obviously translated to the 2nd "North Grand" location.
4 years seems like a decent spell for a restaurant at that particular corner, so I had thought that maybe Dooley's could break the jinx. No such luck, obviously. The Dark Room is just up the street, a new wine-bar that isn't the most atmospheric space, but they seem to be giving it a good try. Not sure how Lücha will do, as just eyeballing it didn't seem to indicate big crowds on show nights (but then I tend to park away from that site). From what I can tell, Best Steak House and City Diner are the kings of the establishment that are in the heart of Grand Center. More on the southern edge, Vito's and Triumph Grill seem to do solidly well, but they are also closer to the Saint Louis University campus (not to mention being farther away from Delmar). Haven't tried the new BaiKu sushi place yet; maybe one of these days.
So it's unfortunate that Dooley's is shutting down and couldn't break the "curse" of that corner. Maybe the Dooley clan will try to revive the restaurant elsewhere. And who knows who will be the next to dare to try that location for a new restaurant. We shall see. With that, time for the standard SNLC protocol, namely your loser stories for the week (which I assume don't involve restaurant closures)......