Not that the restaurant business is ever a safe investment, but two of the less risky concepts are coffee shops and Mexican restaurants. That axiom was likely not lost on the two veteran restaurateurs who are opening Prados, a Mexican cantina, and Roasted Coffee and Wine Bar, a coffeehouse/wine bar hybrid, located next door to each other at The Meadows at Lake St. Louis.
The addition will effectively double the number of eateries at the open-air shopping plaza. Currently, BC’s Kitchen and Max & Erma’s are the only other dining options.
Two of the five-member partnership group have significant restaurant experience. Before launching the Yo! Salsa food truck and then a brick and mortar taqueria in Wentzville in 2015, John Lutgen held corporate positions with Applebee’s, Cheesecake Factory, and Red Robin, where he was a regional director. During his career, Lutgen has opened over 100 restaurants.
Jim Cook is a franchisee with both Imo’s Pizza and Sugarfire Smoke House. Cook owns or co-owns a total of seven units.
Prados (Spanish for “meadows”) will occupy 6,000 square feet and seat a whopping 230, including 40 in a private dining room and 75 on the patio, accessed from the bar via a sliding overhead door. The menu will take the Yo! Salsa concept and expand it to a full-service model, according to Lutgen. He refers to the fare as “modern-style Mexican,” which translates to house-made tortillas and flavorful dishes made with seasonal ingredients, fresh seafood, and “less of an emphasis on combo plates and cheese-on-everything Tex-Mex dishes.”
Don’t expect to see sombreros hanging on stucco walls and clay roof tiles framing the booths, either. Instead, the décor will echo the food, offering “a more natural feel” that Lutgen envisions as framed tile art on walls painted in blues and tans.
Since The Meadows was lacking an onsite coffee shop, the partners decided to double (and triple) down by adding Roasted next door to Prados. The restaurants will have separate entrances but share the same kitchen, a savvy move and a major cost saver. Roasted will have a more rustic atmosphere, with greens, khakis, soft seating, a fireplace, and barnwood accents.
Breakfast and lunch options will transition into small plates, charcuterie, and glasses of wine, topped off with a dessert or dessert cocktail. “Having both components—coffee and wine—under the same roof means a logical transition from early morning to evening,” Lutgen reasons.
The partners are excited about what the center's owners have added to the center and also has planned. A new gym (I Love Kickboxing) recently opened, a Med Spa is planned, and a 220-unit luxury apartment complex (PURE at The Meadows) is now under construction on eight acres to the south of the property.
In addition, United Services for Children, a St. Peters, Missouri–based non-profit, hopes to build the Midwest Children’s Museum on three acres within the property. The City of Lake Saint Louis plans to develop a two-acre park adjacent to the museum.
“The Meadows could develop into a ‘downtown Lake St. Louis’ of sorts,” Lutgen says. “We’re doing all we can to make that happen.”
