Mike Shannon’s Downtown Restaurant To Close, Owner Comments

Mike Shannon’s Steaks & Seafood (620 Market Street) just announced it would be closing its doors on January 30, according to a press release. The release also stated that both Mike Shannon’s Grill locations, in Edwardsville, Ill and at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (below), will remain open.

The landmark steakhouse opened in downtown St. Louis in 1986 and moved to a prime corner perch just north of Busch Stadium (at Market and Seventh) in 2006.

The reason for the closure, according to the release, was to “allow for focused opportunities with the Mike Shannon’s Grill expansion,” which co-owner Pat Shannon confirmed with SLM late this afternoon. “My dad [former baseball Cardinal, current broadcaster, and co-owner Mike Shannon] is a realist,” his daughter admitted. “And it’s been a struggle here lately,” she said, referring to the 17,000 square foot restaurant and the adjoining 10,000 square foot covered outdoor space known as Mike Shannon’s Outfield.

She elaborated that “the other Grill locations are doing well” and that the family “had not been able to respond to other potentially lucrative opportunities. And now we can.” Shannon said that her son, Justin VanMatre, who manages the Edwardsville location, would be leading the charge “to allow for the expansion of that brand.”  

Shannon admitted that in 2016, a more family-friendly, casual concept–like the Grill–made more sense than selling $50 steaks. Then there was the fallout from  Ballpark Village, the multi-venue entertainment complex which clearly eroded the viability of Mike Shannon’s Outfield, a pre- and post-game destination.

“It was a great run and we’re ready to celebrate the end of an era,” the ever-ebullient Shannon admitted, referring to the “13-days of celebratory sendoff” that will end Saturday, January 30. “There’s a lot of memorabilia in that restaurant,” she said. “And we’re excited about finding some great new places to put it all.”