Edwardsville city officials are saying the upcoming closure of Neruda Restaurant and last year's shuttering of Fond is no indication of the restaurant business in the city.
"It's unique circumstances in each of those cases," said City Planner Scott Hanson. "It's my understanding (the closings) haven't been due to the economy."
Neruda owner Madt Mallinckrodt said he is closing the white tablecloth restaurant on Feb. 14 in order to spend more time with his family. The 58-year-old Kirkwood, Mo. resident said his wife will be retiring soon and he is no longer interested in the 45-minute commute or the time it takes to run a restaurant business.
"It's really mostly a family decision," said Mallinckrodt, who used to co-own Balaban's Restaurant in the Central West End of St. Louis. "But it's time. I've been in the restaurant business for 25 years."
Mallinckrodt said a new saloon-style restaurant tentatively named Coyote Grill is expected to open in Neruda's location on April 1.
"There will be a lot less white tablecloths, a few more TVs," Mallinckrodt said.
Hanson said at least three new restaurants opened in Edwardsville in the last few months. Cleveland-Heath American Restaurant filled the Main Street space following the closure of Fond; Sgt. Pepper's Cafe relocated from its University Point location to Main Street; and The Boulevard Wing Street opened in the Club Center Court shopping plaza on Jan. 14.
Hanson said for every restaurant that has closed, at least two more have opened. He cites the April opening of Wildey Theatre as driving more restaurant business downtown.
"We're getting a critical mass of people downtown and people planning their nights around their trip to the Wildey," Hanson said. "And restaurants are proud of being part of that resurgence."
Additionally, Hanson said two more restaurants are set to open in Edwardsville. Dewey's Pizza, which is based in Cincinnati and has locations in St. Louis, is taking over the Kriege Hardware building on East Vandalia, and Cyrano's Cafe, a fine dining restaurant in Webster Groves, plans to open a location in the Park Plaza shopping center on East Vandalia and Buchanan.
Contact reporter Ramona C. Sanders at 618-344-0264, ext. 136
