The city’s first cannabis dispensary–themed eatery and paean to late-night munchie food—aptly named Fried—closed earlier this month, after just seven weeks. Two weeks later, sister restaurant Red Oak Biscuits closed as well.
Owner Derek Schulze confirmed the closures in separate Facebook posts today, explaining that Fried closed “due to not getting licensing in St. Louis…and a string of violence that impacted our store.”
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According to the social-media post, Schulze elected to close Red Oak (which relocated to Cherokee last fall from Fried’s present location) for similar reasons. “The city has stopped issuing catering permits to us which was a huge boost in revenue, our numbers are down from a year ago, and my other downtown businesses have been impacted by neighborhood violence unrelated to my businesses.”
Schulze was referring to two drive-by shootings within a block of one another in the space of a week, one at an event hosted by Schulze in the Eli Walker Building, where more than 30 shots were reportedly fired, the other that impacted Fried’s façade.
In April, Schulze’s catering and events business, Element Events, hosted the Fried Fest at one of his Downtown West venues. After that time, he says had difficulty obtaining catering licenses to sell liquor at traditional events, such as bar mitzvahs and wedding receptions. “That was tough and unfair,” he says. “Restaurants build the brand, but events make the money, and the excise division controls the magic wand that makes those things happen.” Element Events is now on hiatus as well.
Fried, Schulze’s self-proclaimed stoner palace, offered a themed menu and out-of-the-box ingenuity. The entrepreneurial Schulze was convinced that the time was right for such a venture, earlier saying he planned to “use Fried to create a pot brand of sorts, from edible products (frozen foods, sauces, spice rubs, homemade CBD-flavored chips) to genetics (papers, pipes, bongs), and wearables.” By doing so, Schulze said he hoped to encompass the whole industry. “There’s something to be said about an all-encompassing brand,” he said. “When people think of cool, sleek technology, they think Apple. I want to be that brand for marijuana. When people talk about weed, I want them to envision our logo and think, Fried.”
When he returned to St. Louis years ago, after living as a Hindu monk for several years, Schulze fell in love with the stretch of Washington Avenue west of Tucker. At one time, he was planning to open several ventures there and hoped to generate more interest in the area.
Red Oak Biscuits was a descendant of Red Oak Eats & Treats, a reaction to customer input and Schulze’s “art of the pivot” mentality, as he explained.
In Red Oak’s Facebook post, Schulze noted, “Several years ago I started a journey to start businesses in STL” but “decided it would be best to move on to something where I can live with some financial freedom, and freedom from being scared for my life. We love you Cherokee, STL, and all our people that visited Red Oak religiously. I will never forget all the good that has come from this.”
Schulze says he plans to continue exploring nontraditional and unconventional businesses in “areas willing to work with more creative types, places with fewer barriers to entry.”
