More than two years after a fire gutted a once-vibrant block of the city’s Central West End, the building’s owners say the commercial space is fully leased—and multiple tenants are at long last preparing for fall openings.
Businesses to open at Euclid and McPherson now include not just two of the three restaurants that anchored the block before the June 2022 fire, with Mission Taco Joint and Ranoush both hoping to reopen by November, but also some new businesses. That includes Pass the Past, a vintage store that previously had a smaller space but is now also adding a coffee shop; an outpost of Tikka Tangy, a popular Chesterfield-based Indian eatery offering bowls, plates, and wraps; Rushmore Boutique, a women’s clothing shop previously based in Alton; a nail salon called T Nails; and a higher-end restaurant to be named later.
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Scott Sturdevant, who handles commercial leasing for owner Rothschild Management, says it took a few months after the fire to regroup, “and then we wound up on, ‘Hey, we can rethink this corner,’ which doesn’t happen very often.” He’s thrilled with the collection of all-local businesses. “A lot of times when this happens, you pull the trigger with a chain,” he says, as when Coffee Cartel closed and cosmetic chain Blue Mercury moved in. “You kind of lose the soul of the neighborhood. Here, we stayed tried and true to local operators.”
That includes Rushmore Boutique, which Sydnie Rushing originally opened in Alton in 2019. Dealing with her mother’s terminal illness during the pandemic made Rushing reevaluate her life and contemplate moving her business to the city—and neighborhood—she’d always loved. When she saw the space on Euclid, “It felt like kismet.” From the tin ceiling and hardwood floors to the walkable neighborhood, she says, “It was everything that was on my list. I feel like I practically manifested it.” She hopes to be open by early October, likely followed in short order by Erica Tsimmerman’s Pass the Past Coffee, which has moved to a bigger, 1,000-square-foot space that will include a grab-and-go coffee bar.
For Sturdevant, Tsimmerman’s expansion satisfies a key item on his wish list. “We wanted a coffee shop, a local coffee shop,” he says. “Pi had one for a little bit, which I thought was great, and Vino Gallery had one for a little bit, which was also great, but nothing that ever really took place at Coffee Cartel. It was just a perfect fit.”
Among the other previous tenants that also saw new opportunities was Mission Taco Joint, which had a popular outpost on Euclid for six years before the fire. CEO and co-founder Adam Tilford says the eatery took advantage of a retail storefront opening up to expand, moving its prep kitchen and walk-in coolers from the basement and making more room for the event space downstairs.
Tilford says even though the location is just a few miles from Mission Taco’s eatery on Delmar, it drew a different crowd, with grad students and young professionals flocking to the restaurant’s margaritas and West Coast-style tacos. “We always had success,” he says. “We want to reopen and keep that going.”
That’s also the case for Aboud Alhamid, whose restaurant Ranoush has been a popular destination for Middle Eastern food and late-night hookah. “It’s one of the best areas in St. Louis,” he says. “I love the Central West End and want to be there.”
Why It Matters: Having a key block of Euclid Avenue go dark has been tough on the northern half of the Central West End. “It’s just been devastating to the neighborhood,” says Pete Rothschild, owner of Rothschild Management. “But we’re bringing it back and it’s going to be better than ever.”
What’s Next: The identity of the higher-end restaurant filling most of what used to be Salt + Smoke is still under wraps, but Sturdevant promises something exciting. He says the place is currently one of the toughest reservations in town, and a bigger space should open up the possibility of walk-ins. He hopes to have details to share in the next few weeks.
Sturdevant also notes that, while commercial space is totally booked in the building gutted by the fire, eight second-floor apartments are about to go on the market. (Check with Alex Davis of AH Realty Advisors for more details.)
Rothschild and the condominium association within the building sued the owners of Salt + Smoke, which had been the third major restaurant on the block, saying an employee had accidentally caused the fire. The suit remains pending in St. Louis Circuit Court. In court filings, Salt + Smoke has denied culpability.
