ST. CHARLES, MO - September 22, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) A locally operated franchise group is preparing to introduce Atlanta-born Flying Biscuit Café (FBC) to the St. Louis metropolitan area, beginning with a restaurant in St. Charles and potentially laying the groundwork for a much larger regional expansion.


FBC has signed a lease for its first Missouri restaurant at 1016 S. Fifth St. in St. Charles, less than a mile from Interstate 70 and near Lindenwood University. The breakfast and brunch concept is targeting a fourth-quarter 2026 opening, although an exact date has not been announced.


The St. Charles restaurant will be operated by franchise partners Latrell Hayes, Kennon “Kip” Barber and Randy Barnes, according to Flying Biscuit. The company announced that the group entered into a multi-store development agreement covering an initial three Flying Biscuit cafés in the St. Louis market.


The ambitions extend beyond those first three restaurants.


Flying Biscuit says the franchise partners have a longer-term goal of developing as many as 10 locations across the St. Louis metropolitan area.


That makes the St. Charles restaurant potentially much more significant than another national restaurant franchise entering the market. If the development plans move forward as envisioned, Flying Biscuit could eventually establish a sizable new breakfast and brunch presence throughout the St. Louis metro area.

Flying Biscuit will be locally operated


Flying Biscuit itself is not a St. Louis company. The concept originated in Atlanta in 1993, and Flying Biscuit Franchising Inc. is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia.


The St. Charles restaurant, however, is being developed by franchisees with existing ties to the St. Louis region.


Flying Biscuit identifies Hayes, Barber and Barnes as the franchise partners behind the St. Louis expansion. The company says Hayes and Barber already have multi-unit restaurant operating experience through Jersey Mike’s.


That regional connection can also be independently documented. A 2025 Jersey Mike’s franchise disclosure document lists Latrell Hayes in connection with Progressive Ventures LLC at a St. Ann, Missouri, business address and Kennon Barber in connection with GEASS LLC at a St. Charles, Missouri, business address.


Flying Biscuit describes Hayes and Barber as owners and operators of three Jersey Mike’s restaurants.


Because Flying Biscuit's description of their operating performance comes from the franchisor, St. Louis Restaurant Review is not independently characterizing those restaurants' financial performance.


What is clear is that Flying Biscuit is entering Missouri through franchise partners who already have restaurant operating experience in the St. Louis region.

First restaurant coming to St. Charles


The group selected 1016 S. Fifth St. for its first Flying Biscuit.


The location puts the restaurant near a primary Interstate 70 entrance into St. Charles, as well as Lindenwood University and the city's established residential and commercial areas.


Hayes said familiarity with the area played a role in selecting the location.


“This is a part of town we already know well, and it just fit,” Hayes said in Flying Biscuit's lease announcement.


He cited the restaurant's location near I-70 and Lindenwood University and said the franchise group hopes Flying Biscuit becomes part of customers' regular morning routines in St. Charles.


The lease was announced publicly in August.


Flying Biscuit's official St. Charles webpage now lists the restaurant at 1016 S. Fifth St. and identifies it as “Opening Q4 2026.” Operating hours remain listed as “TBA.”


Consequently, customers should not interpret the fourth-quarter target as a confirmed grand-opening date. Construction, permitting, equipment installation, hiring and other pre-opening work can affect restaurant opening schedules.

St. Charles is first of at least three planned cafés


The more important development for the broader St. Louis restaurant market is the franchise group's multi-unit agreement.


According to Flying Biscuit, Hayes, Barber and Barnes entered into the agreement in November 2025, committing to develop three cafés initially.


The St. Charles lease represents the first publicly identified location under that agreement.


Locations for the second and third restaurants have not been publicly announced by Flying Biscuit.


The franchisor says the partners' longer-range objective is to expand to as many as 10 Flying Biscuit cafés across the St. Louis metropolitan area over time.


A goal of 10 restaurants should not be confused with a commitment to build all 10. At this stage, the company describes three cafés as covered by the development agreement and 10 as the group's longer-term expansion goal.


Nevertheless, the agreement demonstrates that Flying Biscuit's Missouri entry was designed as a multi-unit expansion rather than a test involving only one restaurant.

Missouri marks a geographic milestone


The St. Charles opening will also represent an important geographic step for the Flying Biscuit brand.


Flying Biscuit describes the Missouri restaurant as its first café outside its core Southern footprint.


When the company originally announced the St. Louis development agreement, it called it its first agreement north of the Mason-Dixon line.


Flying Biscuit reported in its August announcement that it had 43 cafés open and 11 additional restaurants in development, with operations or development activity across several Southern states.


The St. Louis market therefore represents an effort to take a concept built largely in the Southeast and establish it in a Midwestern metropolitan market.


The performance of the St. Charles restaurant and the subsequent St. Louis-area locations could provide an early indication of how well the Southern-inspired breakfast concept translates into markets outside the company's traditional territory.

What is Flying Biscuit Café?


Flying Biscuit traces its history to 1993, when it opened its first café in Atlanta's Candler Park neighborhood.


Breakfast remains central to the concept.


Flying Biscuit promotes an all-day breakfast menu featuring Southern-inspired comfort food, along with lunch selections.


Its signature offerings include biscuits served with cranberry apple butter, shrimp and grits, stuffed French toast, omelets, and other breakfast dishes. The menu also includes vegan scrambles, burgers, wraps and other selections.


Many existing Flying Biscuit restaurants also offer brunch-oriented alcoholic beverages, including mimosas and Bloody Marys.


Flying Biscuit says its restaurants bake thousands of biscuits every week, underscoring the product that has remained central to the brand since its beginning more than three decades ago.


The company generally focuses on the breakfast and lunch dayparts rather than remaining open through dinner, an operating model it actively promotes to prospective franchisees.

Flying Biscuit reports $2 million-plus average sales


Flying Biscuit's expansion strategy is built largely around franchising, and the company publishes financial information intended for prospective franchise operators.


According to Flying Biscuit's current franchise-development materials, the initial franchise fee is $50,000, while the estimated total investment ranges from approximately $468,000 to $1.17 million.


The franchisor lists a minimum liquid-capital requirement of $200,000.


Flying Biscuit also reports average annual unit volume of $2,036,644 among 30 stabilized restaurants that had been open and operating for at least 24 months.


That figure represents gross sales and comes from Item 19 of Flying Biscuit's franchise disclosure document dated May 7, 2026.


The number should not be interpreted as a projection for the future St. Charles restaurant. Flying Biscuit specifically cautions prospective franchisees that individual results vary and that no assurance exists that another restaurant will achieve the reported average.


No revenue projections or expected sales figures have been publicly announced for the St. Charles restaurant.

Experienced franchise operators enter breakfast market


The involvement of experienced franchise operators is noteworthy because breakfast and brunch have developed into a competitive restaurant segment across metropolitan St. Louis.


The Flying Biscuit franchisees will enter a market with independent breakfast restaurants, locally based concepts, and national chains.


Their experience with Jersey Mike's gives at least two group members familiarity with multi-unit restaurant operations, staffing, food service, and franchise systems.


Flying Biscuit emphasized that experience when announcing its agreement with the partners.


The St. Louis development therefore represents an expansion into a different restaurant category for operators with experience in a national franchise system.

Why St. Charles makes sense as the starting point


St. Charles gives the franchise group a combination of highway access, residential population, employment, tourism, and university traffic.


The South Fifth Street corridor connects directly with Interstate 70 and serves as an important gateway between the interstate and historic St. Charles.


Lindenwood University is nearby, while the greater St. Charles area provides a sizable residential customer base.


Flying Biscuit has specifically pointed to I-70 access, Lindenwood University and the franchise group's familiarity with the neighborhood when discussing the site selection.


Those characteristics are particularly relevant for a concept focused on breakfast and lunch, when convenience, visibility, and morning traffic matter.


The restaurant's actual performance, however, will ultimately determine whether those site characteristics translate into customer traffic.

A new competitor in St. Louis breakfast and brunch


Flying Biscuit will enter a St. Louis restaurant market where breakfast and brunch have become important dining occasions.


The company will have to introduce a brand that is well established in portions of the Southeast but remains largely unfamiliar to Missouri diners.


That presents both an opportunity and a challenge.


The menu's Southern identity gives Flying Biscuit a recognizable point of differentiation. Biscuits, grits, shrimp and grits, stuffed French toast, and other comfort-food dishes are central to the company's marketing.


At the same time, St. Louis diners already have numerous independent breakfast and brunch choices.


Flying Biscuit's locally based franchise operators will therefore be responsible for translating an established Southern franchise concept into a new Midwestern market.

Expansion could reach across metro St. Louis


Perhaps the biggest unanswered question is where Flying Biscuit will go next.


The company has confirmed the initial three-café development agreement, but it has not publicly announced addresses for restaurants two and three.


It also has not identified the communities it could eventually consider if the franchise group pursues its longer-term goal of as many as 10 restaurants.


For now, the only confirmed St. Louis-area site is St. Charles.


That distinction is important. The three-store agreement establishes a multi-unit development plan, while the possible 10-location footprint remains a longer-term objective rather than 10 announced restaurants.


Additional site announcements will clarify whether the franchisees intend to concentrate initially in St. Charles County or spread development more broadly across the Missouri and Illinois sides of metropolitan St. Louis.

Opening planned for late 2026


Flying Biscuit's official website continues to identify the St. Charles restaurant as opening during the fourth quarter of 2026.


The restaurant will be located at:


Flying Biscuit Café


1016 South Fifth Street


St. Charles, MO 63301


The company has not announced the restaurant's final operating hours or a specific opening day.


When it does open, St. Charles will become Flying Biscuit's first Missouri market and the starting point for what its local franchise partners hope will become a much larger St. Louis-area operation.


For St. Louis diners, that means the first Flying Biscuit is coming to St. Charles.


For the local restaurant industry, the bigger story may be what happens after restaurant No. 1 opens its doors.

Read St. Louis Restaurant News and Reviews at St. Louis Restaurant Review https://stlouisrestaurantreview.com/flying-biscuit-st-louis-expansion/

BRENTWOOD, MO - Sept. 22, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) Maize & Wheat Colombian Café, a family-run restaurant that grew from a St. Louis-area festival stand into a permanent showcase for Colombian cuisine, is preparing to close its Brentwood restaurant next month unless its owner and landlord can agree on a new lease.


Owner Claudia Marcella Niswonger told St. Louis Magazine that Maize & Wheat is scheduled to close Oct. 17, when its current lease expires.


The reason is particularly significant for the St. Louis restaurant community.


Niswonger says business remains steady. The problem, according to her, is that sales aren't strong enough to support the rent increase proposed for a new lease.


“The numbers are pretty far apart,” Niswonger told St. Louis Magazine about the negotiations.


Unless they can close that gap, nearly five years of operating Maize & Wheat at 1912 S. Brentwood Blvd. could end Oct. 17.


The situation illustrates one of the difficult realities confronting independent restaurants: A restaurant does not necessarily have to lose its customers to lose its location.


Rent, labor, food, insurance, utilities, maintenance, and other operating expenses must all fit within a restaurant's economics. When one major fixed expense changes substantially, even an established operation with regular customers can be forced to reconsider whether remaining in the same location makes financial sense.


In Maize & Wheat's case, however, one important number remains unknown.


Neither Niswonger's current rent nor the landlord's proposed new rent has been publicly disclosed. The percentage increase also has not been made public.


For that reason, St. Louis Restaurant Review is not characterizing the proposed increase as excessive or determining whether the landlord's proposed terms are above or below the prevailing commercial market.


What is documented is Niswonger's position: Business remains steady, but the restaurant cannot support the proposed increase under the terms currently being discussed.

Maize & Wheat remains open for now


The restaurant has not closed.


Maize & Wheat remains open at 1912 S. Brentwood Blvd., and Oct. 17 is the planned closing date if the lease negotiations are unsuccessful.


That distinction matters because the restaurant and landlord could still reach an agreement.


Maize & Wheat's current hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.


The restaurant also continues to promote online ordering and catering on its website.


Niswonger told St. Louis Magazine that the restaurant maintains a brisk catering business and recently catered for the Chicago White Sox while the team was in St. Louis.


The continuation of that catering business adds another dimension to the situation.


This is not simply an announcement from a restaurant that says it has run out of customers or ceased doing business. Instead, the future of the physical Brentwood restaurant depends on whether the economics of a new lease work for the independently owned operation.

A restaurant that began at St. Louis festivals


The potential closing would end a Brentwood location with roots that extend well beyond its December 2021 opening.


Maize & Wheat traces its beginnings to 2017.


Before there was a permanent restaurant, Niswonger and her family operated El Fogón Colombian, serving traditional Colombian dishes at Hispanic, international, and other festivals around the St. Louis region.


Maize & Wheat's own company history confirms that the family began offering Colombian food through St. Louis-area festivals in 2017.


The idea had deeply personal roots.


Niswonger, a native of Colombia, had moved to St. Louis and found herself missing the traditional foods she knew from home.


When St. Louis Magazine interviewed her while she was preparing the restaurant in 2021, Niswonger recalled asking her husband where she could get an empanada in St. Louis.


The limited options inspired an idea.


She began developing traditional Colombian recipes, even though she had never worked as a professional cook.


What started as a family festival operation eventually attracted a following.


Customers repeatedly asked where they could find the restaurant behind the food stand.


There wasn't one.


Eventually, Niswonger decided there should be.

Family tragedy became part of the story


The path from festival vendor to restaurant owner was not straightforward.


Niswonger developed El Fogón with members of her family, including her daughter, son, and son-in-law.


Then her son died unexpectedly in 2019.


Niswonger later described the loss as she discussed her decision to continue pursuing the restaurant.


She faced a choice between abandoning the food business the family had built together or continuing it.


She continued.


When plans for Maize & Wheat emerged in 2021, Niswonger described the restaurant not simply as a business venture but as something connected to her family, her son and the city she had come to consider home.


The restaurant ultimately opened in Brentwood in December 2021.


For Niswonger, opening a permanent restaurant marked the shift from a festival operation to a place where customers could enjoy a broader selection of Colombian cooking year-round.

Maize and wheat explain the restaurant's name


Even the restaurant's name reflects the food it was created to showcase.


“Maize” represents the corn at the heart of Colombian arepas.


“Wheat” represents the restaurant's empanadas.


Those two foods became central to the concept, but the menu eventually expanded into a broader introduction to Colombian cuisine.


Maize & Wheat serves arepas with numerous fillings, along with empanadas, soups, meats, plantains, and traditional Colombian entrées.


The menu includes dishes such as bandeja paisa, churrasco, sancocho, and picada Colombiana.


Bandeja paisa is one of Colombia's best-known dishes and typically combines several components into a substantial meal.


Sancocho represents another side of Colombian cooking: a hearty soup with numerous regional variations.


Picada Colombiana similarly emphasizes the shared, abundant nature of traditional Colombian dining, combining multiple meats and accompaniments.


The restaurant has also served fried plantains, yuca, Colombian-style soups, coconut lemonade, tres leches and arroz con leche.


That breadth has helped Maize & Wheat function as more than a place to buy arepas and empanadas.


It has provided St. Louis-area diners with exposure to a cuisine that remains considerably less common locally than Mexican, Italian, Chinese, or other widely represented restaurant categories.

Colombian cuisine varies considerably by region


Niswonger has also acknowledged one of the challenges of representing an entire country's cuisine.


Colombian food is highly regional.


The country's geography and history have produced significant differences in ingredients, cooking techniques, and familiar dishes from one region to another.


Maize & Wheat's own description of Colombian cuisine points to Indigenous, European and Afro-Caribbean influences and the country's distinct culinary regions.


That means two customers who both grew up in Colombia may have very different expectations about how a particular Colombian dish should taste.


Niswonger told St. Louis Magazine that most customers like the restaurant's cooking but acknowledged that Colombian diners sometimes remember versions of dishes that differ from what Maize & Wheat prepares.


For a restaurant presenting a cuisine with relatively limited representation in St. Louis, those expectations can be particularly challenging.


At the same time, they underscore why restaurants such as Maize & Wheat matter to a metropolitan dining community.


They add culinary diversity while creating opportunities for customers unfamiliar with Colombian cooking to experience it locally.

Maize & Wheat found a permanent home in 2021


Maize & Wheat opened at 1912 S. Brentwood Blvd. in December 2021.


The standalone building already had a history as a restaurant location.


Previous occupants included Applegate's Deli, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Dickey's Barbecue Pit, and the Funnel Cake Factory.


When Niswonger took over the property, she converted it into the permanent home for the Colombian concept she had been building through festivals for several years.


Contemporary reporting described the restaurant as having approximately 48 table seats plus additional seating along a wall.


The permanent kitchen also allowed Niswonger to prepare dishes that were difficult to offer from a temporary festival booth.


That was an important step in the business's evolution.


A festival menu has obvious limitations. Food must be transported, prepared, and served efficiently to large numbers of people from a temporary setup.


A permanent restaurant allowed Maize & Wheat to broaden the menu and provide customers with a more complete representation of the food Niswonger wanted to share.

The business is locally established


City of Brentwood records further confirm Maize & Wheat's local operation.


Current city business records list MAIZE & WHEAT COLOMBIAN CAFE LLC at 1910-1912 S. Brentwood Blvd.


The restaurant's official website lists the dining location at 1912 S. Brentwood Blvd. and identifies the business as a family operation that began with St. Louis-area festivals.


The restaurant has therefore progressed through several distinct stages during roughly nine years of local operation: beginning as El Fogón in 2017, building recognition through festivals, developing catering, opening the Brentwood restaurant in 2021, and operating there for nearly five years.


Now its next stage may depend on a commercial lease.

Rent can determine whether a restaurant survives at a location


The Maize & Wheat situation highlights a basic but sometimes overlooked aspect of the restaurant business.


A busy dining room does not automatically mean a restaurant is profitable.


Restaurants operate on revenue remaining after a long list of expenses.


Food costs fluctuate.


Employees must be paid.


Insurance, utilities, maintenance, equipment, credit-card processing fees, taxes, and other expenses continue regardless of whether a particular week is strong or weak.


Then there is occupancy.


For a restaurant that does not own its building, rent is one expense that can determine whether the entire business model works.


A lease negotiated several years earlier may no longer reflect what a property owner believes the space should command when renewal time arrives.


At the same time, a restaurant cannot automatically raise menu prices enough to offset every increase in operating expenses.


Customers have limits on what they are willing or able to spend.


That creates a difficult equation.


A landlord has an interest in receiving an acceptable return from commercial property. A restaurant operator has to determine whether enough money will remain after occupancy costs and other expenses to justify continuing the business.


When those numbers no longer align, even a restaurant with customers can lose its location.


That appears to be the issue facing Maize & Wheat based on Niswonger's public account.

What remains unknown about the proposed rent


There are limits to what we can responsibly conclude from the information currently available.


The landlord has not publicly disclosed the proposed rental rate.


Neither has Maize & Wheat's existing rent.


Without those figures, it is impossible to calculate the percentage increase independently.


It is also not publicly established whether other components of the proposed lease—such as common-area expenses, property-related charges, lease duration, maintenance responsibilities, or other provisions—are contributing to the disagreement.


The landlord's perspective on the negotiations has not been publicly detailed in the reporting reviewed by St. Louis Restaurant Review.


Those missing facts matter.


It would be unfair to conclude solely from a rent increase that the property owner is demanding an unreasonable amount.


It would likewise be inaccurate to suggest that Maize & Wheat is closing because its underlying restaurant business has failed when its owner specifically says business remains steady.


The most accurate description is narrower:


Maize & Wheat says it cannot make the proposed new rent work with its current level of business, negotiations remain unresolved, and the restaurant expects to close when its lease expires Oct. 17 unless it reaches new terms.

A different kind of restaurant closing


St. Louis has experienced a continuing cycle of restaurant openings and closings.


The reasons vary enormously.


Some restaurants close because sales fall.


Others lose key employees or chefs.


Owners retire.


Partnerships dissolve.


Buildings are sold or redeveloped.


Concepts fail to attract enough customers.


Food and labor expenses become too high.


Owners sometimes simply decide that years of demanding restaurant work have taken their toll.


Based on the information currently available, Maize & Wheat's situation does not fit neatly into many of those categories.


Niswonger isn't saying customers disappeared.


She isn't announcing her retirement.


No one has publicly announced that the restaurant failed because diners rejected Colombian food.


Instead, the dispute centers on the economics of remaining in the building after the existing lease expires.


That makes the story relevant beyond one restaurant.


Independent restaurants are particularly sensitive to changes in fixed expenses because they generally lack the purchasing power, capital resources, and geographic diversification available to large national restaurant groups.


A national chain can absorb weakness at one location within a much larger system.


A single-location family restaurant cannot.

Catering provides another part of the business


Maize & Wheat's catering operation could become especially important if the Brentwood restaurant closes.


The business currently promotes catering through its official website.


St. Louis Magazine reported that catering remains active and that Maize & Wheat recently provided food for the Chicago White Sox during the team's time in St. Louis.


No announcement has established that Maize & Wheat will cease all operations if the Brentwood dining room closes.


Likewise, no verified announcement has identified a replacement location.


Those distinctions are important.


An Oct. 17 closure of the Brentwood restaurant would not necessarily mean the end of Maize & Wheat as a business or the end of Niswonger's Colombian food operation.


The company began without a restaurant building.


Its history already demonstrates that the concept can operate through festivals and catering.


Whether those channels could provide a path forward if the Brentwood lease negotiations fail remains unknown.

Restaurant's mission extended beyond food


From the beginning, Niswonger described Maize & Wheat as having a cultural purpose in addition to its commercial one.


When preparing to open the restaurant in 2021, she said she wanted to broaden St. Louis diners' perceptions of Colombia by introducing them to the country's food.


The restaurant reinforced that identity not only through its menu but also through music and atmosphere.


That mission matters because restaurants often serve as informal cultural institutions within a city.


For immigrant entrepreneurs in particular, a restaurant can become a place where food, language, music and family traditions are introduced to people who might otherwise have limited exposure to them.


Maize & Wheat grew from Niswonger's desire to find Colombian food in her adopted hometown into a business designed to offer that experience to others.


Nearly a decade after El Fogón began appearing at festivals, that original mission remains visible in the restaurant.

Customers could have only weeks remaining


For now, Maize & Wheat continues operating normally.


The restaurant's current website remains active with menus, online ordering, and catering information.


Customers therefore still have an opportunity to visit the Brentwood restaurant before Oct. 17.


And because negotiations have not necessarily reached an irreversible conclusion, Maize & Wheat could still stay.


But the clock is running against the existing lease.


If no agreement is reached, Oct. 17 would mark the end of nearly five years for Maize & Wheat at its Brentwood location and another transition for a family food business that has repeatedly adapted since its festival beginnings in 2017.


The circumstances surrounding the potential closing also offer an important reminder to St. Louis diners.


Restaurant survival depends on more than whether customers enjoy the food.


A restaurant can build a following, maintain steady business, develop catering customers, and become part of the local dining community while still confronting financial pressures that make a particular location impossible to sustain.


For Maize & Wheat, the immediate question isn't whether St. Louis wants Colombian food.


It's whether the restaurant and its landlord can find lease terms that work for both sides.


Unless they do, the Brentwood restaurant that Niswonger built from a family festival stand is expected to serve its final customers Oct. 17.


For a business created partly as a tribute to her family and partly to share Colombia with St. Louis, that would bring a significant chapter to a close.


Whether it would be the final chapter for Maize & Wheat remains to be seen.

Read St. Louis Restaurant News and Reviews at St. Louis Restaurant Review https://stlouisrestaurantreview.com/maize-wheat-faces-closure-rent/

ST. LOUIS, MO - September 21, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) SOHA Bar and Grill, a longtime South City gastropub on Hampton Avenue, will permanently close Sept. 30 after approximately 14 years in business.


The restaurant at 2605 Hampton Avenue in St. Louis' Clifton Heights neighborhood opened in 2012 and changed ownership in 2024. The current ownership group made operational changes and invested in rooftop patio improvements, but rising costs and customers pulling back ultimately led to the decision to close, according to First Alert 4.


The closing ends a restaurant that spent more than a decade building its identity around food, drinks, sports, and neighborhood gatherings in South St. Louis.


It also comes just two years after local restaurateur and chef Bob Brazell and business partner Rick DeStefane purchased SOHA along with Nick's Pub, another established St. Louis bar.

SOHA opened on Hampton Avenue in 2012


SOHA Bar and Grill opened on Hampton Avenue in 2012.


The restaurant's name is derived from "South Hampton," according to SOHA's own description of the business.


SOHA grew into a neighborhood gastropub offering American pub food, a substantial draft-beer selection, and cocktails in a casual setting.


Its current menu includes burgers, sandwiches, appetizers, and St. Louis staples including toasted ravioli. The restaurant has also offered brunch and positioned itself as a destination for watching sporting events.


Televisions throughout the restaurant, outdoor seating, and a fireplace helped establish the atmosphere SOHA promoted as part neighborhood restaurant and part sports-oriented gathering place.


The restaurant also developed recurring programming including trivia, music bingo, karaoke and live music.


For private gatherings, SOHA has offered a game room for smaller groups and a lower patio for larger parties.


But after more than a decade under its previous ownership, SOHA underwent a major transition in 2024.

Brazell and DeStefane acquired SOHA in 2024


Chef and restaurateur Bob Brazell and business partner Rick DeStefane purchased SOHA Bar and Grill and Nick's Pub in 2024.


Sauce Magazine reported the transaction at the time and identified John McDonald as the previous owner of both establishments.


Brazell told Sauce that McDonald's decision to retire created an opportunity to acquire two existing St. Louis businesses.


"This has been in the works for two years, and we're planning on doing something similar to what we did with the Tenderloin Room," Brazell said at the time.


He also explained the philosophy behind the acquisition.


"We just have this belief in keeping cool things in St. Louis going," Brazell said.


Brazell was already involved with several St. Louis restaurant and bar operations, including Tamm Avenue Bar and the Tenderloin Room, as well as the former Byrd & Barrel.


The 2024 purchase gave his group control of two more established neighborhood businesses.


Contemporary reporting indicates employees at both SOHA and Nick's Pub initially stayed on after the ownership transition.


The new owners also outlined plans for changes at both restaurants.


At SOHA, those plans included menu additions and improvements and the introduction of weekend brunch.

City records document ownership transition


City of St. Louis records independently document the transition between the previous and current SOHA operating entities.


A 2022 city liquor-license record identifies SOHA LLC, doing business as South Hampton Bar & Grill at 2605 Hampton Ave., and lists John McDonald as manager.


The city record identifies the establishment as being in the Clifton Heights neighborhood.


Following the 2024 acquisition, the operating entity appearing in city licensing records changed.


A March 2025 City of St. Louis liquor-license hearing identifies SOHA Investors LLC, doing business as SOHA Bar and Grill, at the same 2605 Hampton Ave. address.


That record lists Robert Brazell as managing officer.


SOHA Investors LLC sought full-drink and Sunday liquor licenses as well as a summer-garden license. City records show the application was approved for issuance.


Together with the contemporaneous reporting on the sale, the records establish the transition from McDonald's operation to the Brazell-led operating company.

New owners introduced changes at SOHA


The new ownership group did not simply acquire SOHA and leave the operation untouched.


When the acquisition was announced in 2024, Brazell said customers could expect menu improvements and additions.


Brazell also planned a new weekend brunch program.


SOHA's current website reflects several changes and initiatives at the restaurant.


The business promoted brunch, NFL Sunday Ticket and MLS programming along with themed events and other entertainment.


SOHA also described physical improvements to parts of the restaurant.


The business said it added lounge furniture to one patio and upgraded tables in the former game room. It also referenced additional plans involving the rooftop patio.


First Alert 4 reported that, in connection with the closing announcement, investments were made in the rooftop patio following the 2024 ownership change.


Despite those efforts, the owners have now decided not to continue operating the restaurant.

Rising costs and customer pullback cited in closure


The owners' reported explanation for the closing centers on two issues: increasing costs and customers pulling back.


First Alert 4 reported Sunday that despite the ownership change and rooftop-patio investment, costs kept rising while customers pulled back, leading ownership to decide to close.


No detailed financial statements have been released publicly in connection with the announcement.


Therefore, no verified public information establishes SOHA's recent revenue, profitability, food costs, labor expenses, rent, or other individual operating expenses.


The sources reviewed for this report also did not disclose the purchase price paid for SOHA in the 2024 transaction.


Similarly, no verified dollar figure has been released showing how much the ownership group subsequently invested in SOHA.


For those reasons, St. Louis Restaurant Review is not attributing the closing to any individual expense, operational change, or financial event beyond what ownership reported.

Ownership change should not be confused with cause


The timing of the closing is notable because it comes approximately two years after the restaurant changed hands.


However, no verified evidence establishes that the ownership change itself caused SOHA's closure.


The available record shows that Brazell and DeStefane purchased the restaurant in 2024, introduced changes and planned improvements, while Brazell publicly described the acquisition as part of an effort to preserve established St. Louis establishments.


The restaurant continued operating under the new ownership before the decision was made to close in September 2026.


Customer opinions posted online about SOHA and changes at the restaurant vary, but individual social-media comments do not establish the financial reasons for the business's closure.


The confirmed explanation remains the one reported Sunday: rising costs and customers pulling back.

Nick's Pub was acquired in the same transaction


SOHA was not the only St. Louis establishment included in the 2024 purchase.


Brazell and DeStefane simultaneously acquired Nick's Pub at 6001 Manchester Ave.


At the time, Brazell discussed separate plans for the two businesses.


While SOHA prepared menu improvements and brunch, Nick's Pub served as a vehicle to bring back some foods associated with Brazell's former Byrd & Barrel restaurant.


Sauce reported in 2024 that a Sunday Byrd & Barrel menu was planned for Nick's, including several dishes associated with the former concept.


The SOHA closing announcement should not be interpreted as Nick's Pub also closing.


The verified closure report concerns SOHA Bar and Grill.

SOHA continues operating through Sept. 30


SOHA remains open ahead of its final day.


The restaurant's website still advertises dine-in service, along with delivery and carryout.


It also continues to list recurring activities including music bingo on Mondays, karaoke on the last Monday of the month, and trivia on Wednesdays.


Its website lists happy hour Monday through Friday and promotes live music and other events.


The current menu continues to feature the casual pub food around which SOHA built much of its identity.


Among the offerings are burgers, sandwiches, toasted ravioli, fried goat cheese, nachos, chicken strips, fried pickles and SOHA's house-made potato, smoked Gouda and bacon tots.


Those offerings will disappear from Hampton Avenue when the restaurant closes after service Sept. 30.

End of a 14-year South City restaurant run


SOHA's closing is significant in part because of its longevity.


Restaurants frequently change concepts and ownership, but SOHA maintained the same basic identity and Hampton Avenue address for approximately 14 years.


The restaurant survived changes in dining habits, the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually an ownership transition.


When Brazell and DeStefane acquired SOHA in 2024, the public plan was not to eliminate the established restaurant and replace it with another concept.


Instead, Brazell said they wanted to keep recognizable St. Louis establishments alive while making improvements and adding programming.


That effort continued for approximately two years.


The new owners introduced brunch and other programming, made changes to the restaurant and invested in its rooftop patio.


Ultimately, however, the owners decided not to continue the business.


First Alert 4's Sept. 21 report identifies rising costs and customers pulling back as the factors behind that decision.


SOHA Bar and Grill will serve customers through Sept. 30 before permanently closing its doors at 2605 Hampton Ave.


No verified announcement has identified a replacement restaurant or future tenant for the Hampton Avenue space.


For customers who have visited SOHA since its 2012 opening, the remaining days represent the final opportunity to visit a neighborhood gastropub that spent roughly 14 years as part of the South City restaurant scene.

Read St. Louis Restaurant News and Reviews at St. Louis Restaurant Review https://stlouisrestaurantreview.com/soha-bar-grill-close-after-14-years/

ST. LOUIS, MO - September 21, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) One of St. Louis' longstanding family-run tea businesses is expanding again, less than a year after a new generation brought The London Tea Room back to life near Forest Park.


The London Tea Room, located at 255 Union Blvd. in St. Louis' DeBaliviere Place neighborhood, has launched an online bakery that lets customers order some of the British-inspired foods associated with the tea room without sitting down for its traditional full tea service.


The new operation includes sweet scones with cream and jam, rotating macaron flavors, blueberry lemon cake, full-size English sausage rolls, shepherd's pie and freshly brewed ready-to-drink teas, according to information released Sunday.


The expansion represents more than the addition of online ordering. For owners Josh and Nathan Richardson, it brings an element of the family's earlier café business back to a concept that has increasingly focused on the afternoon and high tea experience.


"We haven't really done a la carte stuff in quite a while, so this was a way to bring some of that back to offer," Nathan Richardson told St. Louis Magazine.


The bakery is the latest chapter in a St. Louis restaurant story that stretches back nearly two decades and across several generations of the same British-American family.

A British family builds a St. Louis tea business


The London Tea Room traces its beginnings to Pat and Alan Richardson, British expatriates who moved to the United States with their family.


The family's St. Louis business history initially centered not on restaurants but on British and European furnishings.


Pat and Alan established a furniture business called Old English Pine Company in 1995. Their daughters Anna Myers and Jackie James later joined the operation. The business eventually became English Living and moved to Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis.


Tea became part of the operation for a straightforward reason.


The Richardsons said they struggled to find the kind of properly prepared tea they knew from Britain.


In 2007, the family opened what became The London Tea Room alongside its furniture business at 1520 Washington Ave. The tea concept ultimately proved more durable than the furniture operation, which closed in 2012.


The tea room survived.


And it grew.


In 2014, the family relocated The London Tea Room to Morgan Ford Road in Tower Grove South. Jackie James took on more responsibility for the operation, eventually becoming its owner after her parents retired.


The Morgan Ford location developed a loyal following but presented a different problem: space.


By 2022, the approximately 3,000-square-foot location could fit only about 35 to 40 customers and was frequently packed on weekends, according to the family at the time. That led to another expansion, this time into a significantly larger property at 1900 Locust St. in Downtown West.

Downtown chapter ends in 2024


The ambitious Downtown West location ultimately did not become The London Tea Room's permanent home.


The business announced in 2024 that it would close the Locust Street operation after Sept. 8.


In its announcement, The London Tea Room said it had been involved in litigation with the property's landlord for more than a year and that a court had granted its request to be released from the lease. The business also said it would pay disputed arrears to the landlord.


James also cited a deeply personal reason for stepping away from operating the restaurant: she wanted more time to care for her daughter, who has a progressive disease, and to work with a nonprofit supporting research related to her condition.


The closure did not end the family's tea business.


James continued operating The London Tea Merchant, the retail and wholesale side of the operation that sells loose-leaf teas and related products. That business subsequently established its warehouse operation in Belleville, Illinois.


For a time, however, it appeared the physical London Tea Room itself might have reached the end of its run.


Then the next generation stepped in.

Josh and Nathan Richardson revive the tea room


In 2025, Josh and Nathan Richardson — grandsons of founders Pat and Alan Richardson and nephews of Jackie James — announced plans to resurrect the family restaurant.


The brothers leased space at 255 Union Blvd. in the historic property now known as The Era Collective, near Forest Park.


Josh brought an information technology background to the business, while Nathan brought restaurant-industry experience.


The family connection remained central.


When the project was announced, Josh Richardson said the brothers wanted to keep the business going for at least another 17 years. James publicly welcomed their decision, saying it was meaningful to see The London Tea Room remain in the family.


The reborn tea room opened in late 2025 and was operating from its new home by early 2026.


The new generation retained much of what had made the previous tea room distinctive.


Afternoon Tea and High Tea returned. So did the emphasis on loose-leaf tea, freshly prepared scones, British-inspired savory items and desserts.


Nathan Richardson serves as general manager and oversees the kitchen, while James remains connected through The London Tea Merchant, which supplies teas to the restaurant. James is a certified tea sommelier.


Today, the tea room describes itself as an authentically British tea experience in St. Louis.


Its current Afternoon Tea includes a pot of loose-leaf tea, savory items, a sweet scone, and desserts. High Tea is more savory-focused. The business also offers a children's Wee Tea, private events, themed teas, classes, and a retail shop.


The Union Boulevard location is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the business's current website.

Online bakery brings back a la carte offerings


The newly launched bakery gives the Richardson brothers another way to expand without abandoning the full-service tea model they revived.


Under the current restaurant format, guests generally come for a complete tea experience rather than stopping in simply for an individual scone or pastry.


The business's own frequently asked questions make the distinction clear: customers cannot ordinarily dine in for only tea and a scone because those items are incorporated into the complete tea service.


The bakery changes that equation for take-home customers.


The initial menu includes some of the foods already closely associated with the restaurant, but in formats designed to be ordered and enjoyed elsewhere.


Scones are available with cream and jam. The bakery also offers macarons, blueberry lemon cake, and savory selections.


The English sausage rolls are full-size versions rather than the smaller portions served during tea service.


Customers can also order 9-inch shepherd's pies designed to be baked at home, while freshly brewed tea is available in portable containers.


"We're hoping that people can take home some of the London Tea Room with them, whether that be for an event, something they're celebrating, or just a snack," Nathan Richardson told St. Louis Magazine.

Bakery could become another growth channel


For now, The London Tea Room is taking a measured approach to the bakery.


Orders are available for pickup Wednesday through Sunday, and customers can generally place orders up to 14 days ahead. Same-day pickup may be available with advance notice, while whole cakes require at least one day's notice.


Delivery is not currently offered.


But the Richardson brothers are already considering where the concept could go next.


Nathan told St. Louis Magazine that the business hopes to expand the selection with additional pastries and desserts, potentially introduce more individual-serving items, and possibly move into catering.


"We're interested to see where this takes us," he said. "We definitely hope to expand."


That makes the bakery particularly interesting from a restaurant-business perspective.


A traditional tea room depends heavily on seats, reservations, operating hours, and how long customers spend at a table. The bakery gives The London Tea Room a way to sell some of its signature products independently of those constraints.


It can also serve customers who appreciate the food but do not necessarily want the full 90-minute tea experience each time.


The restaurant itself acknowledges that many visits are tied to celebrations and special occasions. Its private-event operation includes birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers and other gatherings.


Take-home cakes, scones, savory foods and tea could extend that special-occasion business beyond the dining room.

Nearly two decades of adaptation


Perhaps the most notable part of The London Tea Room story is how frequently the business has changed while retaining its central identity.


It began alongside a British furniture store.


It survived the closure of that original business.


It moved from Washington Avenue to Morgan Ford Road, grew beyond the Morgan Ford café's capacity, shifted increasingly toward full afternoon tea service, expanded into Downtown West, and then closed that operation amid a landlord dispute and a change in family priorities.


The retail tea operation continued.


Then a younger generation brought the restaurant back.


Now the family is reintroducing an element of the old café model through an online bakery.


Throughout those changes, tea has remained at the center.


The London Tea Room's history says the business began with Pat and Alan Richardson's desire for a "proper cuppa" after coming to St. Louis. Nearly two decades later, their grandsons continue that concept while finding new ways to sell the food and tea around it.


For St. Louis diners who remember the more casual Morgan Ford café, the bakery may feel familiar.


For customers who discovered the business through its more formal afternoon tea experience, it provides a new way to take part of that experience home.


And for a family business that has already survived multiple moves, a pandemic-era change in restaurant habits, a legal dispute over a former location, a temporary closure and a generational ownership transition, the online bakery represents something else as well:


Another adaptation.


This time, instead of moving The London Tea Room again, the Richardson family is finding another way to bring the tea room to its customers.

Read St. Louis Restaurant News and Reviews at St. Louis Restaurant Review

 https://stlouisrestaurantreview.com/london-tea-room-new-online-bakery/

ST. LOUIS, MO - September 21, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) Coffeestamp, the locally owned specialty coffee company founded by brothers Patrick and Spencer Clapp, is expanding its St. Louis footprint with a third café on Washington Avenue, bringing a business that began as a small roastery and farmers market operation into the heart of downtown.


The company has leased space at 1228 Washington Avenue, inside the historic Rudman on the Park building and in the former Wasabi restaurant space. The St. Louis Business Journal reported Sept. 18 that Coffeestamp signed a five-year lease for the downtown location.


The expansion represents another milestone for a St. Louis coffee business with roots stretching from Honduras to Fox Park and Washington University.


It also brings another locally owned food-and-beverage operation to Washington Avenue as property owners and businesses continue efforts to rebuild commercial activity along one of downtown St. Louis' best-known corridors.


For the Clapp brothers, the decision means more than opening another café.


“We took the challenge, and we want to be part of that neighborhood and do our part to make it better,” Patrick Clapp told Sauce Magazine when discussing the Washington Avenue expansion earlier this year.

Coffeestamp Started With a Connection to Honduras


Coffeestamp's story begins well before the opening of its first St. Louis café.


Patrick and Spencer Clapp grew up near La Tigra National Park in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where coffee was a familiar part of everyday life.


According to Coffeestamp's own account, the brothers grew up drinking coffee made from hand-picked beans from a neighboring farm in Marcala.


The brothers moved to the United States in 2012. Their experience with coffee in Honduras ultimately helped inspire the business they would create in St. Louis.


After arriving in 2016, Patrick worked as a carpenter, including construction work in St. Louis.


The brothers also maintained connections with Honduras. Childhood friends Miguel and Hernan Giron became involved in coffee production at Finca La Alondra near Tegucigalpa, providing the Clapps with a direct connection to producers in their home country.


That relationship helped inspire what eventually became Coffeestamp.


The brothers spent years studying specialty coffee, roasting, and the business side of the industry before launching Coffeestamp as a micro-roastery in 2018.


They initially sold coffee through farmers' markets and online rather than starting with an expensive retail café.


That gradual approach let Coffeestamp build its customer base before making the jump to a permanent storefront.

Fox Park Became Coffeestamp's First Home


Coffeestamp eventually established its flagship café and roasting operation at 2511 S. Jefferson Ave. in Fox Park.


The building was more than a century old and had previously been used for automotive work.


Patrick and Spencer's construction experience became central to the project. The brothers performed much of the renovation work themselves as they converted the property into a coffee shop and roasting facility.


In the process, they preserved some of the building's industrial history.


They restored and repurposed an old conveyor system once used to move tires between floors to transport green coffee beans to the roasting operation upstairs.


The result was a café that reflected both Coffeestamp's emerging identity and the history of the building it occupied.


Opening the brick-and-mortar café in 2020 presented another challenge: it happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Despite those circumstances, Coffeestamp built a following for specialty coffee, house-made food, and an approach shaped by the brothers' Honduran upbringing.

Coffeestamp Reports Significant Sales Growth


The company's growth can also be measured financially, although publicly available figures come from Coffeestamp itself rather than audited financial statements.


In a 2024 case study published by payment technology company Square, Patrick Clapp said Coffeestamp generated less than $30,000 in sales during its first year.


After opening the permanent café, he said sales rose to nearly $200,000, then surpassed $400,000, and eventually reached about $600,000 annually.


The business provided those figures as part of a Square promotional case study and they should be understood in that context, but they illustrate the scale of Coffeestamp's growth from its early market-based operation.


The company has also invested in additional roasting capacity. The Business Journal reported that Coffeestamp upgraded its roasting operation about two years ago.


That investment is significant as the company moves beyond operating a single neighborhood café.

Washington University Became Location No. 2


Coffeestamp opened its second location at Hillman Hall at Washington University in St. Louis in 2022.


The university held a grand-opening celebration that September.


The expansion resulted partly from Washington University's supplier-diversity efforts and introduced Coffeestamp to a very different customer base from the company's Fox Park neighborhood café.


Washington University described the café as serving specialty coffee and made-from-scratch foods with a menu honoring the brothers' Honduran background.


Patrick Clapp credited customers who supported the business throughout its development, from its early Soulard Farmers Market operation to Fox Park and ultimately Washington University.


The WashU location demonstrated that Coffeestamp could operate outside its original neighborhood environment.


Now the Washington Avenue project takes the business into another distinct market: downtown St. Louis.

Washington Avenue Location Adds Downtown Presence


The new café is at 1228 Washington Avenue, placing Coffeestamp along a corridor containing apartments, hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, and businesses.


The Washington Avenue district currently identifies the Coffeestamp location on its business directory and lists it among businesses and projects along the corridor.


Other nearby development and commercial activity promoted by the district includes the Wash Ave Food Hall, The Moniker, Six Cord, Ozzy's Market, 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis and other residential and commercial projects.


The district says more than 85 restaurants and bars are located within walking distance of Washington Avenue.


Coffeestamp adds something somewhat different to that mix.


Coffee shops can function as neighborhood businesses as much as destinations.


Downtown residents can become repeat morning customers. Office employees can stop before work or during the day. Convention visitors and hotel guests create another potential customer base, while tourists and people attending events downtown add additional traffic.


That mix could give Coffeestamp several customer groups rather than relying on a single source of business.

Developers Approached Coffeestamp About Downtown


Another noteworthy aspect of the expansion is how it originated.


According to Sauce Magazine, Patrick and Spencer Clapp had been considering another location when developers involved with Washington Avenue approached them about bringing Coffeestamp downtown.


The brothers ultimately accepted.


Their decision to sign a reported five-year lease gives the expansion more significance than a temporary pop-up or short-term downtown experiment.


It represents a multiyear commitment by an established locally owned food-and-beverage company to the Washington Avenue corridor.


That is notable at a time when downtown St. Louis continues working through well-documented challenges involving vacant commercial space, office occupancy, public safety, and the need to generate consistent street-level activity.


Restaurants, cafés and retailers alone cannot resolve those larger issues.


However, occupied storefronts and businesses that generate recurring foot traffic are components of an active residential and commercial district.


Coffeestamp's investment therefore represents one piece of the larger effort to strengthen Washington Avenue.

Coffee Remains Connected to the Company's Roots


Despite its expansion, coffee sourcing remains central to Coffeestamp's identity.


The company says it sources beans from around the world while maintaining a particular connection to Honduras.


That connection includes the Clapp brothers' relationship with childhood friends involved in coffee production there.


Industry publication Daily Coffee News previously reported that Miguel and Hernan Giron operate Finca La Alondra near Tegucigalpa. Miguel Giron has an agronomy background and has worked with different fermentation and coffee-processing methods.


Coffeestamp has served coffees connected to the farm alongside beans from other regions.


Patrick Clapp has said the objective is to represent Honduras without restricting the company to coffee from a single country.


Coffeestamp's own current description similarly emphasizes carefully sourced beans and the relationship between growing, harvesting and roasting quality coffee.

Food Is Also Part of Coffeestamp's Identity


Coffeestamp has developed into more than a traditional coffee counter.


Its offerings have included empanadas, pastries, sandwiches and other breakfast and café foods, alongside espresso drinks, brewed coffee and specialty beverages.


The company's Honduran and broader Latin American influences are evident in parts of its menu.


Sauce reported that Coffeestamp has also been working on food specifically for Washington Avenue, including a breakfast sandwich intended for the downtown location.


That food component could become particularly important downtown, where Coffeestamp will be competing not only with other coffee businesses but also with restaurants and quick-service establishments serving downtown residents, workers and visitors.


The combination of specialty coffee and a more substantial food menu may help the café attract customers beyond the traditional morning coffee period.

A Locally Grown Company Takes Its Next Step


The Washington Avenue expansion is ultimately significant because of the path Coffeestamp took to get there.


Patrick and Spencer Clapp did not begin with multiple locations or a large outside expansion plan.


They started by roasting coffee.


They sold at markets.


They built a customer base.


They renovated an old building.


They opened their first café during a pandemic.


They expanded into Washington University.


They increased roasting capacity.


And now Coffeestamp is establishing a presence in downtown St. Louis under a multiyear lease.


That progression makes the Washington Avenue café more than another restaurant-opening announcement.


It reflects the continued growth of a St. Louis small business whose identity remains closely tied to the founders' upbringing in Honduras and their decision to build the company in St. Louis.

Downtown Opening Timing Still Developing


Earlier reports projected a late-summer 2026 opening for the Washington Avenue café, while current Washington Avenue materials already list Coffeestamp at 1228 Washington Ave.


However, publicly available information reviewed by St. Louis Restaurant Review does not provide a sufficiently clear, direct confirmation from Coffeestamp of a formal grand-opening date.


For that reason, customers should verify current operating status and hours directly with Coffeestamp before making a special trip to the Washington Avenue location.


What is confirmed is the larger development: Coffeestamp has committed to downtown St. Louis, secured the Washington Avenue location, and signed a reported five-year lease for its third café.


For a company that began as a micro-roastery in 2018, the move represents another significant stage of growth.


It also gives Washington Avenue what downtown revitalization efforts continually need: a locally owned business willing to make a long-term investment in the neighborhood.


For Patrick and Spencer Clapp, it is another chapter in a journey that began with the coffee they grew up drinking in Honduras and has developed into a distinctly St. Louis restaurant and coffee story.

Read St. Louis Restaurant News and Reviews at St. Louis Restaurant Review https://stlouisrestaurantreview.com/coffeestamp-expands-st-louis-cafe/

ST. LOUIS, MO - September 18, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) Chao Baan, the Prapaisilp family's regional Thai restaurant in The Grove, will permanently close after dinner service Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, bringing an end to a seven-year run that introduced many St. Louis diners to Thai cooking extending well beyond familiar pad thai and curry dishes.


The closing represents the end of a distinctive chapter for one of St. Louis' most established locally owned restaurant families. But based on owner Shayn Prapaisilp's explanation, this is not a story of a family abandoning the local food business.


Instead, it appears to be a business transition.


Prapaisilp said his attention has increasingly shifted toward his family's international grocery operations, Global Foods Market in Kirkwood and United Provisions in the Delmar Loop, as well as changing responsibilities at home. The family's other restaurants — King & I in Richmond Heights, Oishi Sushi in Creve Coeur and Oishi Sushi & Steakhouse in Chesterfield — will remain open.


That distinction matters.


No verified evidence currently shows that Chao Baan's closing resulted from financial failure. Rather than speculate about the restaurant's finances, the facts point toward the Prapaisilp family consolidating Shayn's time and attention around other parts of a St. Louis food business that has evolved for decades.

Chao Baan brought regional Thai cuisine to St. Louis


Chao Baan opened in June 2019 at 4087 Chouteau Ave. on the ground floor of the Chroma development in The Grove.


The restaurant was deliberately different from many American Thai restaurants.


Chao Baan means "of the people" in Thai, and its menu combined dishes and cooking traditions from two regions closely connected to the Prapaisilp family.


Shayn's mother, Sue, is from Loei province in northeastern Thailand, while his father, Suchin, grew up in Yala province in southern Thailand. Chao Baan therefore concentrated on the cuisines of northeastern Thailand, known as Esaan, and southern Thailand, or Pak Tai.


The restaurant's official description explains that many Thai restaurants in the United States emphasize central Thai cuisine, leaving American customers more familiar with dishes such as pad thai and curries.


Chao Baan was designed to broaden that understanding.


"The idea of Chao Baan is to bring those two regional cuisines together under one, harmonious concept," Prapaisilp explains on the restaurant's website.


That philosophy influenced everything from the recipes to the menu size.


When Chao Baan opened, Prapaisilp told St. Louis Magazine that keeping the menu relatively small was intentional. Too many choices, he believed, encouraged customers to fall back on dishes they already recognized.


Instead, Chao Baan encouraged diners to explore.


Its signature offerings have included khao tod nam sod, a crispy rice salad incorporating fermented pork sausage, ginger, herbs, lime and fish sauce; beef nam tok; mieng kham; and gaeng som, a spicy southern Thai soup.


Prapaisilp also made clear from the beginning that the restaurant wasn't going to substantially dilute its regional flavors for an American audience.


"The flavors are full-fledged, there's no holding back," he told St. Louis Magazine when Chao Baan opened.

A restaurant built around family memories


The story behind Chao Baan goes deeper than creating another restaurant concept.


Many of its dishes came from Prapaisilp's childhood.


His grandmother lived with the family while he was growing up and prepared the elaborate Thai dishes that became some of his strongest memories of food and family. Years later, those memories helped inspire Chao Baan.


In the closing announcement, Prapaisilp described the decision as "bittersweet" and recalled the connection between his grandmother and the food served at the restaurant.


"I wanted to give those dishes a place and share a part of Thai food that St. Louis had not experienced," Prapaisilp said in the closing announcement.


In that sense, Chao Baan became more than a conventional restaurant expansion.


It was a way to preserve family recipes while introducing another generation of St. Louis diners to regional Thai food.

Prapaisilp family has decades of St. Louis history


Chao Baan is only one chapter in a much larger local restaurant story.


Suchin and Sue Prapaisilp helped introduce Thai restaurant cuisine to St. Louis decades ago. Historical profiles of the family trace their restaurant operations to King & I, which became one of the city's longstanding Thai restaurants. The family's business interests eventually expanded well beyond a single restaurant.


Today, those businesses include restaurants and international grocery stores.


Global Foods Market in Kirkwood says it is family-owned and operated and offers foods from more than 50 countries. The current market opened in 1999, while the family's involvement in St. Louis international-food retail stretches back even further.


United Provisions followed in the Delmar Loop in 2014.


Shayn Prapaisilp had initially pursued a different career. After studying political science at George Washington University and earning a master's degree in public service management from DePaul University, he worked in public policy and nonprofit-related positions.


His parents eventually asked him to help develop United Provisions after they were approached about an international grocery concept near Washington University.


The project changed his career.


When United Provisions opened in 2014, Prapaisilp returned to St. Louis and committed himself full time to the family business.


Five years later, Chao Baan opened.

A second-generation restaurant experiment


Chao Baan also represented the evolution that frequently occurs when a second generation assumes a larger role in a family business.


Prapaisilp has described differences between his approach and his parents'.


His parents spent decades learning what St. Louis diners expected from Thai restaurants and built successful businesses around those expectations. Shayn wanted to preserve that history while taking greater culinary risks.


Chao Baan became one of the clearest expressions of that philosophy.


"I wanted to prove we could do something new," he told St. Louis Magazine in 2020. "I'm a different generation with a different viewpoint, so I need to honor them but continue the evolution of the business."


The result was a restaurant deeply connected to the family's past while intentionally introducing diners to something different.

Chao Baan survived an extraordinary restaurant period


The restaurant's seven-year run is particularly noteworthy because of when it opened.


Chao Baan welcomed its first customers in June 2019.


Less than a year later, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted restaurants throughout St. Louis and across the country.


Like other independent restaurants, Chao Baan had to adapt rapidly to a dramatically changed operating environment. Takeout became an important component of its business during the pandemic, allowing customers to experience dishes based on the Prapaisilp family's recipes at home.


Chao Baan ultimately survived the pandemic and continued operating for years afterward.


Its closing in 2026 therefore should not erase what the restaurant accomplished during one of the most difficult periods the modern restaurant industry has faced.

The Grove loses another established restaurant


Chao Baan's departure also comes during another period of change for The Grove.


Grace Meat + Three recently closed its Grove restaurant after nine years, consolidating its restaurant, catering and food-truck operations at Grace Chicken + Fish in Crestwood. Grace attributed that move to its lease expiration and its decision to consolidate operations.


At the same time, new restaurant concepts continue to open or plan locations in and around the neighborhood.


That makes it important not to oversimplify what is happening.


Two established restaurants leaving The Grove does not by itself demonstrate that the neighborhood's restaurant economy is collapsing. Each closing has its own circumstances, while new operators continue investing in the area.


Still, losing established independent restaurants changes a neighborhood.


Restaurants such as Chao Baan contribute more than meals. They give commercial districts identity, employ local workers, attract visitors, and give residents across the metropolitan area reasons to visit a neighborhood.

What happens to Chao Baan's space?


No successor for Chao Baan's restaurant space has been announced.


Prapaisilp has expressed hope that another operator will eventually take it over and create something new there.


"We look forward to a great operator coming in and reimagining the space for the next chapter of a great restaurant in the Grove," Prapaisilp said.


That space will be worth watching.


A new independent operator taking over an established restaurant location could add another chapter to The Grove's continuing evolution.

The next chapter may be in grocery retail


Perhaps the most interesting part of Chao Baan's closing announcement is what Prapaisilp intends to concentrate on next.


He has increasingly been drawn to the grocery side of the family business.


Global Foods Market and United Provisions occupy an unusual niche in the St. Louis food economy. Rather than simply selling mainstream groceries, the stores connect immigrant communities with ingredients from their home countries while exposing other St. Louis shoppers to cuisines and products from around the world.


Global Foods says it carries foods representing more than 50 countries.


Prapaisilp has described the stores as places where food becomes a bridge between cultures. A previous profile described Global Foods as a place where customers can hear numerous languages and encounter shoppers from multiple continents discussing unfamiliar ingredients and how to prepare them.


Now, Prapaisilp says he is thinking more and more about how those grocery businesses can evolve and serve more of the region.


"I've found myself drawn more and more to the grocery side of our business," he said in announcing Chao Baan's closing.


No specific expansion, additional store, or other project has been publicly announced, so it would be premature to conclude that a major grocery expansion is coming.


But his comments make the family's grocery operations worth watching.

The final weekend for Chao Baan


For customers who have followed Chao Baan since 2019, the remaining opportunity to visit is short.


The restaurant's final service is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 20.


After that meal, one restaurant will disappear from The Grove, but the family behind it will remain deeply involved in St. Louis' restaurant and international-food community.


King & I, Oishi Sushi, Oishi Sushi & Steakhouse, Global Foods Market, and United Provisions will continue to operate.


Chao Baan's seven-year run nevertheless deserves recognition on its own.


It brought recipes rooted in Loei and Yala provinces to a dining room in The Grove. It encouraged St. Louis diners to look beyond the Thai dishes they already knew. It preserved foods connected to the Prapaisilp family's history. It also showed how a second generation of a longtime St. Louis restaurant family could honor what came before while experimenting with something distinctly its own.


When Chao Baan serves its final customers Sunday, St. Louis will lose one of its more distinctive expressions of regional Thai cuisine.


The Prapaisilp family's story, however, is far from over.

Read St. Louis Restaurant News and Reviews at St. Louis Restaurant Review https://stlouisrestaurantreview.com/chao-baan-close-the-grove/

ST. LOUIS, MO - September 18, 2026 (StLouisRestaurantReview) When a locally owned restaurant closes, customers often show up in its final weeks, stand in long lines, and talk about how much they'll miss a place they assumed would always be there.


The planned closing of O'Connell's Pub should remind St. Louis diners not to wait until the closing announcement.


If residents want locally owned restaurants to remain part of their communities, those businesses need customers—not simply good memories, positive reviews, and expressions of support after they announce they are closing.


That doesn't mean consumers should spend money they don't have. Household budgets are under pressure, too.


But as finances allow, consumers may increasingly have to decide which locally owned restaurants matter most to them and intentionally support those establishments.


Otherwise, communities may wake up one morning and discover another longtime restaurant is gone.


O'Connell's Pub is an especially powerful example because there is little reason to believe customers simply stopped liking the restaurant.


The historic pub has maintained a strong public reputation after decades in business. Current review aggregations, including Google reviews, place O'Connell's at about 4.5 stars with well over 1,500 reviews, and customers repeatedly praise its hamburgers, roast beef, atmosphere, and service. Review counts fluctuate by platform and retrieval date, but the overall picture is unmistakable: this is a widely reviewed and highly regarded restaurant.


Yet O'Connell's is still preparing to close.


That should concern anyone who values St. Louis' locally owned restaurant community.

O'Connell's Hopes to Make It to St. Patrick's Day


Owner John Parker announced this week that O'Connell's plans to close, with the restaurant hoping to remain open through March 17, 2027.


It may not make it that long.


Parker said the actual closing date will depend upon how long the restaurant can continue paying its bills.


He has directly asked the community for support, encouraging customers to visit and asking people holding gift cards to use them.


Parker told St. Louis Magazine that expenses have exceeded revenue for approximately six years. He described the summer as "absolutely brutal" and said Labor Day week was the restaurant's worst week in three years.


He also cited higher costs and declining customer traffic as significant problems.


O'Connell's had been working toward a sale expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, potentially preserving the restaurant under new ownership. That transaction is no longer expected to proceed as originally contemplated.


None of that establishes that O'Connell's did something wrong.


St. Louis Restaurant Review has not reviewed O'Connell's private financial records, and it would be inappropriate to diagnose the specific causes of its financial difficulties without that information.


Instead, O'Connell's illustrates something considerably broader.


Being popular doesn't necessarily guarantee that a restaurant can remain financially viable.

Restaurants Across America Are Facing Pressure


The pressures Parker describes aren't unique to one St. Louis pub.


The National Restaurant Association's 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report describes an industry dealing with persistent cost pressures, uneven customer traffic, and consumers becoming increasingly cautious about discretionary spending.


The association still projects approximately $1.55 trillion in restaurant and foodservice sales during 2026.


So this isn't a simple story of Americans suddenly abandoning restaurants.


The reality is more complicated.


Consumers continue to value dining out, takeout, and delivery, but household budgets—particularly among lower- and middle-income consumers—remain strained, while restaurant operators continue to confront elevated expenses.


The latest traffic figures are particularly revealing.


In July, 49% of restaurant operators surveyed by the National Restaurant Association reported lower customer traffic than a year earlier, compared with 40% reporting an increase.


July represented the 17th month out of the previous 18 in which restaurant operators collectively reported a net decline in customer traffic.


At the same time, total restaurant sales increased again in August.


Eating and drinking establishments generated a seasonally adjusted $105.1 billion in sales during the month, according to preliminary U.S. Census Bureau figures the association reported.


That apparent contradiction helps explain the industry's current situation.


Americans are still spending enormous amounts of money at restaurants.


But that spending isn't necessarily reaching every restaurant equally, and rising menu prices and operating costs mean increasing nominal sales don't automatically translate into increasing customer traffic or stronger profitability.

Consumers Are Becoming More Selective


The National Restaurant Association reported this week that inflation has made consumers increasingly value-conscious and selective about discretionary spending.


Restaurants remain a high priority for many consumers, according to its third-quarter survey, but the financial divide among households is becoming increasingly pronounced.


Some consumers remain financially comfortable.


Others are cutting discretionary spending because they have little choice.


Restaurant owners understand that.


Nobody should suggest that a family struggling to pay its mortgage, rent, insurance, groceries, or utilities has an obligation to spend money eating out.


But consumers with discretionary dining dollars should recognize that where they spend those dollars matters.


Every restaurant purchase is effectively a choice about which businesses a community supports.

Decide Which Local Restaurants Matter to You


That may be the most important lesson from O'Connell's.


Most people cannot financially support every independently owned restaurant in St. Louis.


They don't need to.


Instead, perhaps consumers should think about the restaurants they would genuinely miss if they disappeared.


Maybe it is the neighborhood pizza restaurant where the owner knows the family.


Maybe it is the Italian restaurant used for anniversaries.


Maybe it is the diner where someone has eaten breakfast every Saturday for 20 years.


Maybe it is a neighborhood Mexican restaurant, barbecue restaurant, steakhouse, or pub.


Maybe it is O'Connell's.


Pick the places that matter to you.


Then, as your budget permits, patronize them.


A community doesn't keep a restaurant alive simply by loving it.


Restaurants need transactions.


They need people sitting at tables, ordering meals, buying drinks, picking up carryout, and returning again.


Positive reviews help.


Social-media recommendations help.


Word of mouth helps.


But eventually those things have to translate into customers.

Don't Wait for the Closing Announcement


A recurring and painful phenomenon happens in the restaurant business.


A restaurant struggles.


Traffic declines.


The owner eventually announces that the restaurant is closing.


Suddenly the restaurant is packed.


Customers wait for tables.


Former regulars return after years away.


Social media fills with stories about first dates, birthdays, anniversaries, and favorite meals.


People say they cannot believe the restaurant is disappearing.


The owner gets several tremendous weeks of business.


And then the doors close anyway.


By that point, the support may have arrived too late.


That's why customers shouldn't assume a restaurant will remain open simply because it has been there for decades.

O'Connell's Has Survived for More Than Six Decades


Few St. Louis restaurants illustrate that assumption better than O'Connell's.


The pub's history stretches back approximately 65 years.


Historical accounts place its opening in Gaslight Square in 1961, while O'Connell's own history has cited 1962.


Jack Parker acquired the restaurant in 1965.


When Gaslight Square declined, Parker didn't allow O'Connell's to disappear with it.


He moved it.


In 1972, O'Connell's relocated to its present home at 4652 Shaw Ave., near South Kingshighway.


And Parker brought much of the original pub with him.


The wooden bar and other fixtures were transported from Gaslight Square into the Shaw Avenue building.


Among the restaurant's most remarkable historical pieces are two chandeliers that O'Connell's and historical reporting identify as originating with the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.


The building itself dates to 1905 and, according to O'Connell's history, was constructed by Anheuser-Busch.


O'Connell's therefore represents several chapters of St. Louis history inside one restaurant: the World's Fair era, the city's brewery and tavern heritage, Gaslight Square and more than half a century of Parker family stewardship.

You Cannot Replace That With a Chain


National restaurant brands have an important place in the dining industry.


They employ enormous numbers of people, occupy commercial properties, pay taxes and provide familiar products consumers enjoy.


But a national chain cannot replace what disappears when a restaurant like O'Connell's closes.


Another company could eventually occupy the building.


Someone could open another pub.


Someone could serve another hamburger.


But they cannot manufacture 65 years of history.


They cannot recreate generations of customer relationships.


They cannot create an authentic connection to Gaslight Square by putting old photographs on a wall.


That history has to be accumulated.


And once it disappears, it is extraordinarily difficult to bring back.

Even National Chains Are Feeling the Pressure


The challenges aren't confined to independent restaurants.


The U.S. restaurant industry has experienced significant restructuring among national brands in recent years, including location closures, bankruptcies, franchisee financial problems, and efforts by major chains to eliminate weaker-performing restaurants.


That broader pattern also suggests that today's restaurant economics can be difficult even for companies with nationally recognized brands, purchasing power, and sophisticated corporate infrastructure.


For an independent operator, no nationwide corporate system stands behind the restaurant.


There may be a family.


There may be a handful of investors.


There may simply be an owner who has reached the limit of what he or she can personally continue contributing.


Parker described reaching that point essentially at O'Connell's, telling St. Louis Magazine that he had exhausted the resources available to keep trying to save the restaurant.

Restaurant Owners Still Have Responsibilities


Community support doesn't eliminate restaurant owners' responsibilities.


Operators have to provide good food, good service, and value.


They have to control costs.


They have to monitor food costs and labor expenses.


They need to know their margins.


They need to respond when supplier prices change.


They need to adapt to consumer preferences without unnecessarily destroying the identity that made customers love the restaurant in the first place.


Not every restaurant can or should be saved.


Businesses sometimes close because customers no longer want what they offer.


Others close because concepts don't work.


Some are poorly managed.


Some have unsustainable leases.


Others simply reach the end of their natural life.


But O'Connell's strong reputation makes its situation especially sobering.


This isn't an unknown restaurant struggling to convince people that it is worth trying.


It is an established St. Louis institution with decades of history and thousands of customer reviews expressing substantial satisfaction.


And it is still struggling.

Supporting Local Doesn't Mean Supporting Everything


There is also an important distinction between supporting local businesses and blindly supporting every local business.


Consumers should be selective.


Support restaurants that provide good experiences.


Support owners who treat customers well.


Support establishments that provide value.


Support restaurants whose presence makes a neighborhood or community better.


And if a restaurant consistently disappoints you, spend your money somewhere else.


That's how markets are supposed to work.


The point isn't that every locally owned restaurant deserves to survive indefinitely.


The point is that the locally owned restaurants people genuinely value require ongoing patronage if consumers expect them to remain available.

Imagine St. Louis Without Its Independent Restaurants


Consider what St. Louis would become without its independent restaurant community.


The region's neighborhoods would still have places to eat.


National chains would remain.


Fast-food restaurants would remain.


Large restaurant groups would remain.


But something important would disappear.


Restaurants help give neighborhoods identities.


They become gathering places.


They introduce people to cuisines.


They employ neighbors.


They buy from other local businesses.


They host first dates, family dinners, birthdays, business meetings, and celebrations.


Eventually, some become part of the community's cultural history.


O'Connell's reached that level a long time ago.

If You Love It, Visit It


O'Connell's hopes to remain open until St. Patrick's Day.


Parker has made clear that community support will help determine whether that happens.


Customers who love O'Connell's therefore have a decision to make.


Go visit it.


Not because anyone owes a restaurant their money.


Not because dining out is more important than paying household bills.


And not because customers are responsible for solving every financial problem confronting the restaurant industry.


Go because, if you can afford to and the restaurant matters to you, patronizing it is the only meaningful way to help keep it operating.


The same applies to every independent restaurant in St. Louis.


Think about the five or 10 locally owned restaurants you would genuinely hate to lose.


Visit them.


Recommend them.


Take family members.


Order carryout.


Celebrate birthdays there.


Leave legitimate reviews after good experiences.


Tell friends about them.


And understand that menu prices may occasionally increase because restaurant owners face many of the same inflationary pressures as their customers.


Nobody can support every restaurant.


But collectively, communities determine which restaurants survive.


O'Connell's has already survived the death of Gaslight Square, neighborhood changes, recessions, shifting generations of customers, a pandemic, and more than six decades of transformation in the restaurant industry.


Now its owner says the economics no longer work.


St. Louis should pay attention.


Because the next closing announcement may involve the restaurant you assumed would always be there.

Read Restaurant News and Reviews at St. Louis Restaurant Review

 https://stlouisrestaurantreview.com/oconnells-closing-warning-for-st-louis/