COURTESY OF 9 MILE GARDEN
9 Mile Garden, the city's first food truck park, was open for three weeks before it temporarily shuttered because of COVID-19.
If you want a window into the abject hell COVID-19 has wreaked upon the food and beverage industry, consider 9 Mile Garden. Perhaps the highest profile — or at least most exciting — opening of the year, the food truck park opened with much fanfare on July 3rd as a vibrant, outdoor dining and entertainment venue. With its outdoor environment and commitment to sanitation and social distancing, 9 Mile Garden seemed like the perfect solution for folks desperate to eat and imbibe outside of their homes, but concerned about doing so in a public space. And yet, earlier this week, the venue announced that it would be temporarily shuttering in an effort to help the community tamp down the surge in COVID-19 cases.
This is the state of the restaurant business: Highs and lows, openings and closings, optimism and pessimism. Every day, a different restaurant (or, more likely, multiple restaurants), closes its dining room as owners and employees struggle to navigate the uncertainty. Fortunately, most of these are temporary; July only has one confirmed permanent closure. But as restaurants face a situation that is stably bad at best and worsening at worst, one has to wonder what the scene will look like by the end of this nightmarish year.
However, if the openings on this list are any indication, this industry has a lot of fight still left in it. We're rooting for you, fam.
Closings
Mike's Hot Dogs, 7293 Olive Boulevard, University City
Openings
Olive + Oak (moved), 216 W. Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves
9 Mile Garden Food Truck Park (temporarily closed), 9375 Gravois Road, Affton
The Parkmoor, 220 W. Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves
Clementine's Naughty and Nice Creamery (additional location), 20 Meadows Circle Drive, Suite 208, Lake St. Louis
Corner Pub and Grill O'Fallon (additional location), 2921 State Hwy K, O'Fallon
Vegan Deli and Butcher, 524 S. Main Street, St. Charles
The Bullock Rooftop Bar, 799 Clark Avenue, Ballpark Village
Freddie G's Chicken and Waffles, 1435 Salisbury Street
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