St. Louis Restaurant Openings and Closings: December 2023

The year ended strong for the food scene

Jan 3, 2024 at 11:54 am

Rick Giordano in front of the new bar in Headless Bat. Jessica Rogen

[
          {
            "name": "GPT - Leaderboard - Inline - Content",
            "component": "41932919",
            "insertPoint": "5th",
            "startingPoint": "3",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "3",
            "maxInsertions": 100
          }
          
        ]

The last month of the year was a good one for restaurants. Seriously, check out the astronomically long list below.

But December wasn't just about quantity. It was also giving the people what they want. How else to explain the excitement around the opening of metal pizza joint the Headless Bat in Tower Grove South? Or the excited response to the announcement that Palestinian food was coming to City Foundry in the form of Mazaj Mediterranean? Or the plethora of hot bars — Clements, Hidden Gems, Kenny's Upstairs, None of the Above — that opened to eager crowds of St. Louis' best drinkers?

The closings side of things was blissfully slow, but it was undeniably a blow for the Botanical Heights neighborhood when Ben Poremba's Olio, Nixta and Elaia signed off at the end of the year. We're looking forward to them returning throughout this year, only this time in a new neighborhood to the northwest.

Openings
Beyond Sweet Kitchen + Bar, Academy
Big Belly Deli, Greater Ville
CC’s 2 Seriously Good, Hazelwood
Carretas Mexican Restaurant, Ballwin
Century Coffee Company, City Foundry STL
Chicken N Pickle, St. Charles
Clements Bar, Gravois Park
Crema Coffeehouse, DeBaliviere Place
The Headless Bat, Tower Grove South
Hidden Gem, Midtown
Honey Bee Tea, Oakville
Jinzen, Clayton
Kenny's Upstairs, Tower Grove South
Massa's, Town and Country
Mazaj Mediterranean, City Foundry STL
None of the Above, City Foundry STL
Osteria Forto, O'Fallon
Sacred Grounds Cafe, Downtown West
Shake Shack, Des Peres
Soda Fountain Express, Maryland Heights
STL Stake & Cake, Tower Grove South
Terminal 3 Bar & Grill, Bridgeton
Vanilla Sugar Bake Shoppe, Webster Groves

Closings
Elaia, Botanical Heights
Hungry Joe's, Kirkwood
Nixta, Botanical Heights
Olio, Botanical Heights
Wasabi Sushi Bar, Central West End

See one we missed? Let us know in the comments.