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Depending on one's methods of measurement, at 10,000 square feet, it was one of the largest restaurants—if not the largest one—in St. Louis (400-plus seats in three dining rooms, all with bars). And that was just on the main floor.
BlackFinn American Grille closed yesterday after an almost two-year run at the northern end of the Saint Louis Galleria. (Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina, owned by the same company, Bar Management Group, closed in the same area of the Galleria after only seven months.)
In 2012, a time when many restaurateurs were thinking “smaller is better,” larger footprint restaurants were opening left and right (Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina, J. Gilbert’s, BrickTops) with more on the way in 2013 (Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, Table, Central Table Food Hall). Perhaps it was EdgeWild Restaurant and Winery that provided an early endorsement of “yes, but big still works,” when that 13,000 SF complex opened in Chesterfield in late 2011.
BlackFinn enjoyed only marginal critical success, Ian Froeb using the descriptors “hubris” and “an imperfect harmony,” Joe Bonwich granting it 1.5/4 stars, and SLM’s Ann Lemons Pollack, in an aviation metaphor, saying that BlackFinn “appears to be encountering some “light chop.”’
A sidenote: Long before the critics weighed in and months before BlackFinn even opened, local bloggers were solicited, and offered basically "food for tweets" (or other positive mentions on social media). The bloggers were to be, in BlackFinn's eyes, "Social Ambassadors." (Evan Benn, then of the P-D, reported on the rather detailed parameters of the offer here.) Draw your own conclusions, but in our opinion, this was no way to begin a marketing campaign.
After yesterday’s announcement (right), armchair critics were quick to weigh in:
“The place was too big.”
Maybe, considering the aforementioned glut of newer, larger restaurants, but also remember that many (like the 8000 SF BRIO) appear to be minting money, and others (like EdgeWild) also appear to be thriving.
“The location was bad.”
Both California Pizza Kitchen and The Cheesecake Factory have enjoyed years of success at the Galleria.
“The food was mediocre.”
If the dining critics above speaketh the truth, perhaps.
“The rent was too high.”
A reliable source did tell Relish that “it had to be dire…they [BlackFinn] walked away from hundreds of thousands of dollars in free tenant improvements.” And while the rent may in fact have been “too high,” it also appeared to be “too much.”
There are myriad reasons the public stays away from restaurants: bad management, poor value, too many old people, too many kids...even bad odors. Speculation on restaurant closures is most often a guessing game...but the most common reason is "not enough butts in the seats."
No matter the reason, less than 24 hours after the closure, the wall of TVs on the wraparound patio was gone, workers were busy stripping the walls of artifacts, and bussers, food runners, and other tipped employees were observed picking up grats from the final night of service.
