The previous Monarch Restaurant, at 7401 Manchester Road, which the city approved in January to be a bar and grill with golf simulators, is back on the market. Mark Zvibleman, with Sperry Van Ness Infinity Commercial Group, said the deal didn’t go through.
“It is very available,” he said. “We would love to have anybody from Maplewood or St. Louis come look at leasing or buying that restaurant.”
The space is over 10,000 square feet, with dining areas, bistro, bar, wine cellar, banquet room and two kitchens. The basement is not included. Sperry Van Ness’ phone is (314) 878-0303.
On the opposite corner of Manchester and Sutton, Michael True is trying to open True Sites, a restaurant featuring an Alaska theme, but he is now seeking public funding for an extra $40,000.
Maybe we should try to locate Bobby Suberi. He was the Bobby of “Bobby’s Creole” or was it Cajun ? Either way it was very successful at the Sutton and Manchester location for many years. It drew “carriage trade” patronage from all over the St. Louis area.
10,000 square feet for a restaurant is simply too big, especially if you only rent the property and don’t own it. With restaurant profit margins so razor thin, you would have to be very upscale to drive your average dinner ticket up, sell a lot of alcohol, or have some sort of hook to bring people in. (such as the golf simulators recently proposed)
The problem is, very upscale simply will not work in Maplewood in a space that big. The number of patrons you would need to come every night just won’t happen. Further, a business with a previously mentioned hook-theme usually turns out to be a fad that either passes quickly, or is improved upon elsewhere. Maybe you get a short run of good business, but after that, if you don’t have the financial ability to re-invent yourself every couple years, you are out of business.
Considering the inability of restaurants to stay open on the corner of Sutton and Manchester, maybe the owners should consider marketing their properties to a different type of business. Seems to me that the “restaurant pie” has been sliced very thin in Maplewood.
I didn’t love the idea of the golf simulator restaurant, but an empty space is no good as well. I’ve never been inside of Monarch, so I can’t speak to its layout, but something similar to The Malthouse Cellar seems like it could be a good fit for the space and our community.
As to opening a 3rd Kim Cheese in Maplewood, I would be all for it! I vote for Kim Cheese going into the old QT.
WISH: 3rd Kim Cheese location in Maplewood.
An idea that will utilize the space efficiently is the best bet. Something like Tee’s Golf Grill that failed in Chesterfield would most likely not fair better in the Maplewood area. A great BBQ place would do well in the area, but this particular space is too large & upscale for it. Monarch had an older crowd with a certain amount of money. Turning the space into a restaurant that attracts young professionals that think they have a certain amount of money is a possible thought. It could also attract the same older crowd wanting to feel hip. The only issue with being the new “hot spot” is the RFT, STL Mag & Feast Mag do not keep mentioning the restaurant after a year or two. So the hot spot title dies quickly.
In the end, the restaurant has to be right for Maplewood, not just a renter of the location hoping their business plan will play.
Good. We didn’t need two sports/sports themed restaurants 100 feet away from each other.
I’d still like to see a BBQ restaurant go in the Monarch space. Either something from the Pappy’s/Bogarts group or Sugarfire.
Why would a person say “good” to a non-chain business failing at trying to open? It doesn’t make sense to wish failure over having a building continually go unused. Also, there are plenty of great spots around St Louis that have two sports themed restaurants near each other. In fact, some may actually prefer going to multiple spots during an evening and having them conveniently located near each other.
I want to see something in there as soon as possible. I’m tired of the space being underutilized and now sitting empty. But I also don’t want to see something open a few months and then fail. It just didn’t seem like a concept that fit Maplewood.
Besides the Busch Stadium area, where else in St. Louis are two sports bars literally 100 feet apart?
If there are really two kitchens in that space: maybe it needs to be split up? Or someone needs to come in that can have one owner operating two sister restaurants next door to each other? I’m not sure.
I don’t think either of those ideas was a good fit for the neighborhood.