Maybe we’re not so smart after all.
One reason there are so many burger joints and pizza parlors across the metro is that those segments normally carry the least risk. Many times we've said if there’s a slam dunk in the restaurant business, it’s pizza or burgers. And that's true most of the time.
This weekend proved that the restaurant business is always a gamble. Period.
In our minds, Zippy Burger was a brilliant idea. Flat-grilled cheeseburgers (single, double, and triple, topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and special sauce), fries (with or without cheese), and soft drinks. Inside were 18 seats, a cool mural on the walls, and simple (and simply delicious) burgers. A restaurant doesn’t any more basic than that.
Zippy Burger opened last November at 571 Melville (the former Gyros House and before that Seoul Taco) and was both critically acclaimed and popular with diner burger aficionados, so the closure left us scratching our heads.
SLM heard via Joe Sturdy (@dirtysturdy on Twitter) that Zippy’s doors were closing Friday, September 30, and that owners Billy Evans and Josh Shulman were looking to relocate. SLM was unable to reach either owner over the weekend, but was able to locate the landlord, Ray Ghasedi, who like us was miffed as well. “I know they worked hard and they were tired,“ he said, “but the place looked packed all the time. I talked to people who’d drive from West County to eat lunch there.”
Ghasedi left the door open to the 20-something owners. “I told them if they ever wanted to come back, they were welcome. They were the best tenants I ever had.” More as we learn it.
Meanwhile, over on the Hill, Rich LoRusso decided to pull the plug on Leonardo’s Burger Kitchen on Saturday, October 1. LoRusso leased the former Rizzo’s Station Pizzeria at 2130 Macklind two years ago and turned it into Leonardo’s Kitchen & Wine Bar, serving hot and cold sandwiches, pizzas, and wine, only to switch gears a year later. Too many places on the Hill were serving sandwiches, LoRusso told SLM, but few places were concentrating on burgers, hence Leonardo’s Burger Kitchen.
Yesterday, LoRusso told SLM that switching concepts may have confused some diners, but regardless, sales were never what they needed to be—in either iteration. LoRusso said that the small, corner spot was perfect for an on-site chef/operator, but that his other operations (LoRusso’s Cucina and LoRusso’s on Grand) precluded him from being that person.
Follow George on Twitter @stlmag_dining or send him an email at gmahe@stlmag.com. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
