Alas, one of the best, under-the-radar burger joints in St. Louis has closed.
Mike Pauk, owner of F&B’s Eatery (3543 Hampton) announced on Facebook this morning that he has either hit the stop or the pause button, leaving open the possibility that some iteration of the restaurant might reopen.
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.
The post read, in part, “I have made the very difficult decision to close F&B’s Eatery 1.0. This decision did not come lightly to say the least. Working almost every day for 6 years, and a global pandemic have proved moving forward in this small space has become impossible for me.”
For those following Pauk and the restaurant, the news was a shock but not unexpected. The so called “tiny restaurant with killer food and terrible hours” was best known for its diner-style smashburgers. On nay days, F&B’s was a one or two person operation, making regular hours a rarity.
Ten days ago, Pauk posted that “due to a nagging, long term restaurant business induced injury,” he’d lost the use of my right hand making it impossible to cook. “Things are getting tough all over for F&B’s 1.0 unfortunately,” he wrote.
Today’s post ended with Pauk mentioning that today’s easing of capacity restrictions “have provided a glimmer of hope for an F&B’s Eatery 2.0” and “I am going to rest awhile, and weigh my options.”
SLM has reached out to Pauk for additional comment.
