Charlie Gitto’s From the Hill, the Chesterfield outpost of the long-running Hill institution, is closed indefinitely and unlikely to reopen. The restaurant’s insurance company denied a claim relating to storm damage suffered in July this year, according to restaurant owner Charlie Gitto Jr., who described the situation as “beyond devastating.”
“Unfortunately, a 10-year run in Chesterfield has come to an abrupt end, and it couldn’t come at a worse time,” Gitto Jr. said in a press release. “Two days before Christmas, we had to inform our employees, who have been anticipating a reopening in the spring of 2020, that those hopes are fading.”
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Water leaked through the roof at the Chesterfield restaurant during a fierce storm on July 22, which hit in the early hours of the morning. There were no injuries, but the building was left badly damaged.
“In roofing terms, the roof ‘deflected,’ which means the roof bent and let all the water pour in,” Gitto, Jr. said. “It was like having a pool of water on the roof that the drains could not handle. It just destroyed the restaurant.”
In the months since the storm, Charlie Gitto’s had been negotiating a claim with insurance provider Secura, of Appleton, Wisconsin. As we reported in September, Gitto, Jr. expected to be able to start renovations on the damaged Chesterfield location in November, with the hope of reopening in spring 2020.
Initially, Gitto, Jr. was hopeful for the future of the Chesterfield location and its 97 employees, many of whom have been with the restaurant since it opened. He said that over the past several months, Secura had been paying out on the claim to cover the interruption of business, including compensating employees while they waited for the restaurant to reopen.
However, on December 23, the insurance company notified Gitto’s that further claims would be denied, ending the prospect of a renovation. Gitto, Jr. told St. Louis Magazine the entire experience with the insurance company had been “a battle” from the outset. “It’s been very rough dealing with them,” he said. “They found some kind of technical exclusion, and pulled the plug on the whole thing.”
SLM has reached out to Secura for comment.
In the interim, Gitto, Jr. is consulting attorneys on possible next steps. “It’s a vexatious refusal of a claim, which is illegal. They can’t do that,” he said. “Our landlord doesn’t understand it either.” For now, the Chesterfield location will remain shuttered, with prospects of its revival looking bleak. “It’s in our lawyers hands. We’re just devastated. It’s a beautiful restaurant. Business out there had been phenomenal for us, a rocket ship. And all of a sudden we’re just not there. I just don’t even know how to put it into words,” Gitto, Jr. said.
When asked about a possible relocation, Gitto said that he’s been approached by several developers, but that he needed to “first sort through the situation at hand.”
Gitto’s Jr’s other two locations, Charlie Gitto’s On the Hill and Charlie Gitto’s at Hollywood Casino, will continue operations as normal, as will a downtown location owned by his father, Charlie, Sr.
This article has been updated with additional comments from Charlie Gitto, Jr.
