A popular St. Louis restaurant brand is on the move. Mayo Ketchup will close the doors to its Lafayette Square location, at 2001 Park, on March 1. Fans of the restaurant need not despair, though. It will reopen March 10 at 3135 Olive, in the Midtown space that currently houses Salsa Rosada, owners Mandy Estrella and Bradley Payne’s sister concept.
According to Estrella, the move represents a consolidation of efforts that better reflects the state of dining post-pandemic and will help her and Payne streamline their operations in order to take on more projects this year.
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“After [the pandemic], we just don’t fill seats the way we used to,” says Estrella. “It just doesn’t make sense to have these two enormous dining rooms. It’s sad that we have to go, but to survive these days, we have to make these hard decisions.”
The Background
Estrella first established her popular Plantain Girl brand through catering, pop-ups and a two-year long arrangement at Alpha Brewing Company. The brand became known for the traditional Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban food that Estrella has been perfecting for years.
In August 2019, Estrella and Payne opened Mayo Ketchup, which quickly became a popular destination for Lafayette Square residents, as well as Central and South American and Caribbean professional baseball players who enjoyed Estrella’s food as a taste of home during the busy season. Her endearment to this group turned into an arrangement to become the official caterer for visiting teams to Busch Stadium. Almost immediately, Estrella realized that her Lafayette Square kitchen was not built for that kind of catering capacity.
Once Mayo Ketchup was asked to open a food stall inside Energizer Park (formerly CITYPARK), her need for a larger kitchen became urgent. She set out to find a commissary space and instead found a building that had both commissary and restaurant capacity. That restaurant space became Salsa Rosada.
“We opened Salsa Rosada because we needed the kitchen,” says Estrella. “I actually named it that—Salsa Rosada means Mayo Ketchup—because I had a feeling that them being so close to one another would make one unnecessary. The Salsa Rosada space has a patio, large kitchen, a place for events, and it’s right by the soccer stadium. It just makes sense that this is the one we keep.”
The Future
Rather than simply close Mayo Ketchup, Estrella and Payne decided to rename Salsa Rosada because the former was a more established brand. Although the Salsa Rosada name will go away, the food will not. As Estrella explains, the two concepts’ menus will be combined, resulting in a consolidated restaurant that will marry Mayo Ketchup’s specialties with Salsa Rosada’s Venezuelan and Colombian fare.
Estrella is excited for the possibilities that come with a single location, where she and her team can fully focus on. She hopes to expand dinner entrées and the cocktail program, in addition to offering full service in the bar area to encourage people to dine in. (Guests currently order at the counter and wait for food to be delivered to their tables.) She also hopes to expand the restaurant’s hours to seven days a week and looks forward to hosting more events, such as trivia and salsa nights.
Estrella says closing the Lafayette Square location is bittersweet. Although she knows it’s the right business decision, she has fond memories of her time in the neighborhood and feels a special connection with the residents. In that sense, she doesn’t rule out coming back under the right circumstances.
“Making this decision was difficult; my kids grew up in this restaurant,” says Estrella. “However, the space is just too big for the way people eat now. Maybe if we found a different place that was much smaller, we would come back. But right now, that sort of space just isn’t here. It’s been so great being a part of this neighborhood.”
