FoodWire: Ozzie, Pujols Restaurants in Legal Battle

The St. Louis Beacon has news of a juicy legal battle between Ozzie's Restaurant & Sports Bar and Pujols 5 Westport Grill, both located at Westport Plaza. The short version: Ozzie's owners resigned their lease and paid for renovations with the understanding that Pujols 5 would be a higher-end restaurant, not a sports bar.

What actually happened is quite different, say Ozzie's owners:

The lawsuit [filed by Ozzie's owners] says that the Pujols restaurant had "virtually the same menu, interior design, atmosphere, style and clientele as Ozzie's."

As a result, it said, Ozzie's lost $20,000 in revenue in the fall of 2006, and its revenue dropped $230,000 in 2007 and $220,000 in 2008.

Check out the Beacon article for more details and an involved conversation of what, exactly, constitutes a sports bar. Related: My review of Pujols 5 from November of 2006.