Photo by George Mahe
Photo by George Mahe
Pi Pizzeria + ¡Rico! Mexican, the hybrid concept from Pi Pizza’s Chris Sommers and executive chef Cary McDowell, closed Monday, August 22. Signs on the doors and windows indicated the closure.
Reached this morning, Sommers told SLM that the restaurant was typically busy Thursday through Sunday, but "weekdays didn't build, we couldn't staff for lunch, and it just wasn't enough." McDowell added that "the people who like Pi Rico loved it—there just weren't enough of them."
Sommers added that the pandemic had taken its toll on some of Pi's other locations, particularly those in downtown St. Louis and DC, where tourists and office workers hadn't returned to pre-pandemic levels. "So our restaurant group was particularly hard hit due to the locations of our restaurants," he says, "and we don't have the funds to sustain underperforming restaurants."
Pi at the MX and the flagship Pi in the Delmar Loop recently closed as well. At the same time, Sommers notes, the sole remaining Pi location, at 400 N. Euclid in the Central West End, is back over pre-pandemic numbers, though Sommers says "higher labor and every other cost" remain a challenge. "This industry is more brutal than ever."
Photo by George Mahe
The Background
Pi+Rico opened its original location in the former Filomena's space in Glendale, at the corner of Berry and Manchester Road, in October 2020. The location was particularly coveted because of its high visibility and pick-up window. The restaurant was an amalgam of two prior concepts from Sommers and McDowell, Pi Pizzeria and Gringo, and featured popular menu items from both and then some, as noted by its bold window decals.
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
McDowell was able to produce many well-above-average items in the 1,000-square-foot space. Pi’s contribution included several thin-crust favorites, its signature corn meal–crust deep-dish pie, and several salads. Tacos ran the protein gamut—carnitas, steak carbon, fish, chicken tinga, and a breakfast version with egg. Casting the net further into mass acceptance were two smashed burgers and a fried chicken breast sandwich that rivaled any local or national competitor. The margaritas and sangrias were properly made.
Sommers and McDowell hoped to create what we described as “an efficient one-stop-shop serving a variety of chef-inspired food favorites, a model appropriately designed for the pandemic and beyond.” And they did. At the time that the restaurant opened, SLM noted, the carryout- and delivery-focused concept with minimal dine-in space had "the hallmarks of a late-2020 success story.”
Less than a year later, the restaurant moved a mile west into larger digs and adopted a full-service model rather than fast casual, grab-and-go. (The building, in the Greentree Center at Woodlawn and Manchester, was previously the home of the flagship location of Saint Louis Bread Co., as well as Winfield’s Gathering Place and Kirkwood Brewhouse.)
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Photo by George Mahe
The 2.0 version included a full bar, a 120-seat dining room, 50-person partially covered patio, and smoked meats, including baby back ribs seasoned with a “dalmation rub” (the simple salt and pepper mix favored by Texas pitmasters), served with three sauces.
When it opened in November 2021, the Kirkwood iteration was able to borrow staff from other Pi locations, eliminating the service issues that plagued many other restaurants. Reviews were solid as well.
"We're super grateful for all the guests who enjoyed Pi Rico," Sommers says, "and hope we can revive the concept soon enough."
