After more than two decades in Soulard, the family behind Johnny’s Restaurant & Bar is putting the popular watering hole up for sale.
“It’s going to be a little bittersweet, because it’s been part of our lives for 21 years,” co-owner Johnny Daus III says about selling Johnny’s, best known for its scantily-clad wait staff and impressive menu that is, as the bar’s bluntly honest motto says, “better than it has to be.”
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Daus says Johnny’s has been “quietly for sale, if someone was going to offer me the right price” for the last year, ever since a woman came to the bar and surprised Daus with an offer to buy it. That deal fell through, but it got Daus thinking about life after Johnny’s.
“I’m thinking maybe it’s time for me to make a change,” Daus tells SLM.
Daus, age 51, and his wife had their first child—a boy, of course named Johnny IV—four weeks ago, and his 75-year-old parents John, Jr., and Sandi Daus, who are also co-owners, are eyeing retirement. Daus says it would be “a lot simpler” to turn Johnny’s over to a new owner.
“It’s not that I have to sell,” Daus says. “Nothing’s changed. The only thing that changed is my family is ready to move on.”
The listing eventually found its way to Craigslist, where it was picked up by the Riverfront Times. Daus says he’s not sure how the bar ended up on Craigslist.
“I think somebody in the brokers’ group just linked it to there,” Daus says. “We were just trying to get the name out. Once that got put on the RFT, that’s when I started getting some phone calls about it.”
Daus hasn’t had any luck yet finding a buyer.
“There are people that call, and then there are people who call and actually have some money,” Daus says.
It won’t take much money to buy Johnny’s. The 6,000-square-foot bar is listed on Craigslist for just $975,000, and Daus has made major improvements, including a new windows, roof and staircase, in recent years. Daus says the price is “almost a steal, something i would never have sold it for” until he talked to his parents and real estate broker.
“It’s a turn-key operation, if somebody wants to come in. All they have to do is turn the key and keep running it,” Daus says.
The sale of any iconic St. Louis bar always begs the question: Is this because of Ballpark Village? Daus, adamant, says no.
“It’s the shiny new penny in town,” Daus says of the year-old restaurant and entertainment complex he calls “Corporate Village” across from Busch Stadium. “My customers and Ballpark Village customers aren’t really the same. They always come back to the mom and pop places.”
Daus, who has been opening restaurant-bars in St. Louis since before he was old enough to sign his own liquor license, says he’ll make sure Johnny’s goes to the right buyer.
“I think anybody who is thinking about really, finally wanting to have their dream come true, this is the place,” he says.
And if he can’t find the right buyer, he won’t sell.
“I’m running it like I’m going to be there another ten years, which I might be.”
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at [email protected] or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
