Just about every significant player on the local restaurant scene has kicked the tires, but it appears the Gabriele family just bought the car. When the building best known as Busch’s Grove changes hands next week, the Gabriele’s will be the majority owner.
Today Frank Gabriele (Il Bel Lago) confirmed his family’s plans to convert almost 9000 SF of the former space into an as-yet-unnamed family-oriented Italian restaurant. Gabriele said that part of the building (the 4600 SF facing Clayton Rd) will be occupied by Clarkson Jewelers.
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Gabriele looks forward to “making the space one restaurant again,” referring to Lester Miller’s $10+ million, muliti-faceted reincarnation of the legendary space. Miller’s new and “improved” Busch’s Grove ultimately begat two versions of The Market at Busch’s Grove, whose doors ultimately closed in early January of this year.
The front of the space will be a casual, welcoming area, according to Gabriele, with one unique feature: a coal-burning pizza oven, the first in St. Louis. As Relish understands it, menu prices will be mid-range–more expensive than say, Sugo’s and not as high as Il Bel Lago. The Gabriele’s are envisioning a less-formal, broad-based approach that will “span the Italian peninsula.”
Frank and his brother Carmelo know the business well and what it takes to succeed in it, with Frank noting that “one of us will always be here and one of us will always be there [Il Bel Lago].”
Having that much real estate also allows for the inclusion of several private dining areas. From the legendary wooden, screened-in cabanas to the “snugs” named after former Busch’s employees, that address has long embraced secluded areas for dining. Gabriele’s restaurant will have seven such rooms.
Bill Cockrum Liquidators plans to auction off the extraneous display cases and restaurant equipment in two weeks time and construction will commence soon after that. A November opening is projected.
