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The news hit the Twitters about an hour ago: Crushed Red Urban Bake & Chop Shop would not be opening its third location as planned for the former Pasta House Co. location at 309 N. Euclid.
According to this post in long-time CWE resident Nicki Dwyer's blog, the stumbling block in the past--securing neighborhood approval in order to grant a new liquor license--was not an issue this time. The necessary signatures had been gathered. Apparently, there were other issues.
Yesterday Chris LaRocca, partner and creator of Crushed Red, issued this statement:
"Crushed Red Urban Bake & Chop Shop announces that it is no longer expanding to a third location in the Central West End at 309-313 North Euclid Avenue. The restaurant will continue to operate its current locations at 8007 Maryland Avenue in Clayton and 140 South Kirkwood Road in Kirkwood. Crushed Red had been interested in the Central West End location, formerly home to The Pasta House Co., for some time, but the inability to acquire a liquor license within the restaurant's planned timeline forced a halt to the expansion in the CWE."
Dwyer stated in her post that "rumor has it that the whole permitting process was just taking too long and Kalish [attorney for Crushed Red] decided not to proceed" with a liquor license hearing scheduled for tomorrow. So we are to assume that it was administrative delays and foot-dragging that crushed Crushed Red's hopes of opening up Shop on one of the busiest restaurant boulevards in the city. Go figure...
Now I'm not a believer in "cursed" locations but I will say there seems to be some bad juju at this address. The Pasta House Co. occupied the space until Graffiti Global Bar & Grill (under took over in March 2004. Then Pasta House took the space over again less than a year later only to close again in October of 2010. A multi-unit outfit called Brothers Bar & Grill failed in an attempt to open there in August 2011 and the space had been quiet until the group from crazy-successful Crushed Red showed interest.
And now that's kaput.
And it's unfortunate, because as LaRocca indicated in this space back in January: "Crushed Red's minimal-alcohol format and early hours 'will be far more acceptable' than the other concepts preceding it, adding 'you know, I can't think of a better use for that space."'
Can't say that we disagree.
Photo credit Kevin A. Roberts
