It’s been a rocky few weeks on the St. Louis restaurant scene, thanks to a series of closures in the last week of 2024 and the first week of 2025. In addition to last weekend’s final service at Taqueria Morita, six other area restaurants have served their last customers or announced their closure. Here’s the latest.
Daylight Donuts
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The Chesterfield outpost of the Daylight Donut Flour Company franchise announced in a Facebook post on December 29 that it had been sold to the owners of O’Fallon-based K&J Donuts. It will be the second location of K&J and carry on the location’s doughnut tradition.
The Reserve Restaurant & Lounge
The Creve Coeur restaurant, which opened early last year in the former Granite City Food & Brewery in Creve Coeur, served its last guests on December 31. Calls to the restaurant were not picked up, and both the restaurant’s website and social media are inaccessible. SLM has reached out to one of the owners and will update this story as more information becomes available.
In Da Loop
The Delmar Loop pizzeria, which operated in the former Randolfi’s storefront, served its last guests on January 1. Operated by military veterans Demadison Fife and Darren Newman, In Da Loop was known for wood-fired pizzas (which used the former Good Pie and Randolfi’s oven), as well as wings, pizza rolls, burgers, salads, and other casual fare. In a video posted to Instagram announcing the closure, Fife thanked guests for supporting the restaurant, saying, “I tried to do my best to make this succeed, but we came to the end of the road.”
Dado’s Cafe
The Greek restaurant in St. Louis Hills, which opened in 2015, has announced that its final service will be January 12. Known for its delectable take on traditional Greek and Mediterranean classics (the dolmades were legendary), Dado’s was lauded for its hybrid menu, which also included well-executed American diner fare, such as wings and burgers. Those hoping for one last taste of Dado’s favorites have through this weekend to visit.
U. City Grill
The beloved Loop institution known for its diner fare and Korean specialities appears to have closed. Calls to the restaurant have gone unanswered, and the business’ Google entry now notes “permanently closed.” Reddit sleuths have posted numerous reports that the beloved diner is no longer in business, and visits to the restaurants by a U. City Grill regular and friend of SLM revealed that the newspaper clipping about the restaurant that had hung on the walls for years was no longer there. More as we learn it.
Peacock Loop Diner
The most recent closure news came earlier this week, when Joe Edwards announced on the Peacock Loop Diner website that his 10-year-old restaurant would not be renewing its 10-year lease. The 24-hour diner opened to great fanfare (and some fancy neon plumage) in 2014, suffered periodic lapses in food and service, endured a pandemic, but never regained the momentum necessary to remain viable. Edwards’ goal was “to create a diner unlike any other in the U.S,” and he largely succeeded. The vibrant interior included four U-shaped counters—each built slightly higher than its neighbor, so passersby could see the entirety of the space—and no shortage of peacock and diner memorabilia. An eight-person circular booth (dubbed the “Peacock Carousel of Love”) would rotate 180 degrees to reveal a curtain with a flat-screen TV or surprise guest behind it. The building was certified LEED platinum and claimed to be the greenest, most sustainable diner in the nation. Asked what might become of the 1,800-pound neon (awarded Best New Sign in the World in 2015 by Signs of the Times magazine), Edwards hopes that it will “remain in place and spawn a business as innovative and revolutionary as the one we imagined.”
