1764 Public House closed for business following dinner service on Sunday, January 12. Gamlin Restaurant Group, the operator of the Central West End venue, confirmed the news this morning.
Proprietor Derek Gamlin said in a release, “It is with great sadness that we announce the closing of 1764 Public House effective immediately.”
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
Named after the year of St. Louis’ founding, the restaurant and bar opened in October 2017. At that time, SLM dining editor George Mahe described 1764 as “an amalgamation of local and New Orleans staples…a paean to St. Louis’ French history, flavors, and founding year.”
Gamlin Restaurant Group also operates two other venues in the Central West End, Gamlin Whiskey House and Sub Zero Vodka Bar. Business will continue as normal at those two venues, and any customers holding unused gift cards can redeem them at Sub Zero or Gamlin Whiskey House.
The closure announcement alluded to the challenges that restaurant groups face when expanding to multiple venues and concepts. “At our core, we are a family business focused on hospitality,” Gamlin said in the statement. “With three establishments, all of our resources were simply spread too thin.”
In a phone call on Monday morning, Gamlin told St. Louis Magazine that construction in the neighborhood had been a destabilizing factor for 1764 Public House. “The real challenge is we’re stuck in a part of the Central West End that’s a recalibration zone right now,” he said. “There’s a lot of construction around us. I’m fully confident in the Central West End, but we just don’t have the finances to outlast the growth.”
Construction on a 36-story high-rise on West Pine has run longer than the forecast timeframe, for example. “Once that’s open, it’s all good, but it’s not open yet,” Gamlin said. “But we can’t wait any longer. We really need to concentrate on our other businesses.”
Gamlin said the group will expand its portfolio again in the future, but possibly with a different approach. “I think one issue right now with the climate of restaurants in general is that they’re really hard to staff, so having three very large restaurants has been difficult,” he said. “For us, a smaller concept may be next.”
Gamlin said that 1764 employees will be given priority for current job openings, and that there are sufficient openings at the other two restaurants to absorb all team members who wish to stay on with the company.
The original article was updated with comments from Derek Gamlin.
