City Diner in St. Louis Has Closed

A "Restaurant Space for Lease" sign hangs in the front window of what for 30 years has been the City Diner on South Grand.

Sources tell the RFT that the diner closed last week with no warning.

The sign represents the end of a staunch mainstay on the street. Since 1992, the City Diner has served American fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A notice in an October 1992 issue of the Post-Dispatch announced the opening of the restaurant which at the time offered a blue plate special of baked ham and pineapple sausage.

Rachel Witt, executive director for the South Grand Improvement District, confirmed the diner has closed.

"It's a great space. It's move in ready. We'd love to have another diner on South Grand," she says. "It's the perfect business to have in our neighborhood."

Witt noted that in addition to the usual turnover of restaurants, there have been a number of businesses on South Grand that have been open for many decades and it is inevitable some portion of those owners will close up shop when they retire.

In 2010, City Diner opened a sister location a few miles north on Grand in midtown, by the Fox Theater. It closed in 2016.

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