Words on the St. Louis Bar Scene

The most notorious and popular dive bar in Saint Louis, the Cat's Meow, has undergone a major renovation. The bar is owned by 9th Ward Alderman Ken Ortmann (Tower Grove East/Soulard/Benton Park) and part owned/managed by a pair of sisters. Apparently the sisters had a falling out and one bought out the other. The bar closed down for a few weeks and now has the following changes:

* no more drop ceilings and now the original tin ceilings are exposed
* switched from the only existing CD/vinyl jukebox hybrid known to man to a CD only juke (boo!)
* Less cat themed memorabilia
* Gray paint has now covered all of the natural wood
* The shuffle bowl no longer exists
* most importantly the cheap beer has remained

* The recently shuttered commune style music club/art house Centro Sociale apparently has not quite stayed shuttered. This underage no-booze music club on the Hill has continued having the occasional music show and continues to act as a space for an acting troupe.

* The wild hotspot the Living Room on Doctor King Drive in the Ville has closed. This is not the shuttered Living Room downtown.

* Frank's Cocktail Lounge on Whittier and MLK has also closed leaving only the Harlem Tap and the politico hangout Js Hideout on this bar strip.

* The restaurant/bar Colorado will be departing the current digs on the edge of the SLU campus is packing up and moving south to the Hill, just around the corner from the newly reopened Rigazzi's. SLU is on course to scare off every independent business outside of the fortress' gates within the next five years.

* Shannon's sports bar on South Grand is now called Fat Jacks. No word on how fat Jack really is.

* Another Jack, the Jack's on Broadway (at Osceola) sold out to the Skip's Place (on Holly Hill) owner, which promptly renamed the place Skip's Place Too (clever huh?). The food is still good. The owner of Jack's has recently opened an interesting new restaurant called JW's on the Park located in Dogtown in place of the old RL Steamers.

* The mysterious new swank Irish bar Riley's, formerly an old timer bar Neumann's located off the South Grand strip on Arkansas and Arsenal, has been threatening to open up for nearly a year looks like it may miss its second Saint Patrick's day opening date.

* Tom Schlafly's wildly successful brewpub/restaurant/music venue Tap Room is rumored to be opening a second location at the soon to be finished historic Cupples warehouse megaplex.

* Speaking of Alderman Ortmann, he has recently passed a bill banning any new bar liquor licenses for bars or bottleshops in his Ward. This will prevent any new bars opening up from the South Grand strip east, including the southern end of Soulard down to the Mexican strip on Cherokee.

* There is also the same ban in 10th Ward Alderman Craig Shmid's ward (Dutchtown) from Cherokee south to about Meramec. That means no new bars for anyone, including any of the new immigrants to the area. This is a bit different than when the Germans first settled these areas over 100 years ago when a bar or buckethouse was literally on every street corner. This is especially unfortunate to the Cherokee strip which could be helped by having some Latin nightclubs to serve the new Hispanic immigrants.

* Other legislative issues include 14th Ward Alderman Steve Gregali (South Hampton/Bevo) has a pending bill barring any new 3am liquor licenses outside of downtown. This may signal the return of the East Side's dominance of the late night bar going and the end to any new club scenes sprouting up in downtrodden and struggling city commercial/industrial districts like the areas of Delmar east of Skinker, Cherokee, the old Gaslight Square or Broadway outside of downtown.

* The city has started selectively enforcing the dance cabaret license. Many rock clubs forgo this license, because rock kids really don't dance, they kind of bob their too cool heads and if the music is right, and if the mood is just right, they might start shoving each other (i.e., "moshing").

* The big popular mega music venue Mississippi Nights has been rumored to be flattened in the name of progress since about '96. First, the much hyped Casinos were to erect some sort of huge development that never panned out and now the plan to build new luxury condos is on hold. So Mississippi Nights has continued to stay open despite the supposed impending doom and the opening of the Pageant. So there is no date set for closing, if at all.

* The newly reopened Fredricks Music Lounge on Chippewa is filling in nicely as the new funky bar of Saint Louis. The Thursday night "Hootenanny" music jam is attracting oddball musicians of all flavors and bands are filling out the rest of the nights schedules, with the exception of Mondays which are "Movie Night" with art and cult flicks. Heavy hitters MU330 performed a sold out unpublicized show at Fred's on New Years Eve.

* The Bosnian Inn on Chippewa west of Hampton now has authentic live Bosnian music on the weekends.

* Rumors persist, as they have for the past several years, of a potential music club to open up in a cabaret space above the Comp and Soft space next to and owned by the Trinh family's Mekong on South Grand.

* Off Broadway, the rootsy music club which had been for sale as long as memory serves, finally found a buyer. Bill Camarat sold the popular club to Joe Telle and Connie Garcia. It will now be called Jammin' Jimmies, that will serve the needs of the jam band fan. All booked shows will be honored by the new owners. Plans are in the works to open up a beer garden and a kitchen. The neighboring Cherokee House bar is now featuring acoustic singer songwriters.

* Matteo Mulcahy's Club Viva, the popular Latin dance club in the West End now has a "Bosnian" night on a weekend night. Bosnians make up the largest new ethnic group in Saint Louis with estimates as high as 36,000.

* Joe Edwards' Pageant has scored its 3am license, just under the wire of the new law. The Halo bar, the front bar for the Pageant, is staying open late on Thursdays through Saturdays.

* Pop's, the mega 24 hr bar and classic rock band tour stop in Sauget, is rumored to become a House of Blues affiliate. It reportedly will undergo a face-lift to reflect the new changes.

* RFT scribe and Captain of the Sovereign Glory on KDHX Randy Roberts is spinning records of the mellow electronica flair with his squeeze Joanna at South Grand's hipster hangout the Upstairs on Sundays.

* The very popular CPB, the Rave for those who like jam music, is moving the monthly parties to Soulard at the Boilermakers Hall, from the old location of the Firefighters Hall in U City was too small.
* The beautiful rehabbed Firehouse and Spotted Dog Cafe is rumored to be closing in early March. The husband and wife owners, Christian and Caeleen, are not making any money on this mid-capacity rock club and restaurant and they are planning on walking away. Perhaps the cost of the lighting system became too much. The property is owned by longtime bar owner John Clark and there is no word if anyone plans on reopening in the space.

* Yet another new club has entered the cycle on Washington. This time it is the Stardust, located in the ashes of Club Indigo. From all indications Stardust is another dance club noted by the predictable formula of a commercial radio (Z107) promo on opening night with lots of lights and smoke machines.

* The rock club scene-ster hangout the Rocket Bar has been dabbling with record spins and has now employed the skills of DJ Matt Hunt to spin what he calls "Cream"- a mixture of Acid Jazz, funk and other beats. Surprisingly they are charging a cover for this.

* Blake Brokaw's cozy Asian themed ultra cool lounge Lo has dropped the restrictive rules sign and the cool club card that ensured only the coolest were allowed in. Now formerly banned hoosiers and those with shiny shirts are allowed to swill overpriced saki to ambient beats with the beautiful people.

* Jeff Park's punk rock haven, the Creepy Crawl, is rumored to be bolting from dance club dominated Wash Ave for new digs a "drunk's hurl away" from the current Firehouse near Saint Louis University. The word is the heat that was attracted by all the Washington clubs became too much for the DIY punks.

* The too trendy Wash Ave dance club Kaos, formerly the Cheetah and before that the Monkey Bar, got busted for serving underage kids and is now 21+. This space has been frequently been targeted by current and past owners for similar and other violations. The only dance club in the vicinity that is still serving the 18 year old's dancing needs is Club Liquid by Union Station.

* The old superclub the Living Room, the one that was located on 10th and Locust downtown is on the verge of reopening as a (surprise!) dance club with a new name.

* The buzz of the new disco themed restaurant/bar Club Z initial overwhelming success has been mildly exaggerated, but apparently people should really go for the food.

* There is confusion between bars about having been able to be open on New Years Eve, which fell on a Sunday. One bar stayed closed citing that they were not allowed to open unless they had a Sunday license, but another specifically felt they were allowed to stay open on this day by the wording on their liquor license. The safe side bar pointed out that City Hall said there was a bill presented in the State Legislature that would have legalized a New Years Eve Sunday as an exception, but it did not pass in time.

* The Metropolis Walk has been doing many successful field trip walks beginning w/ a north side walk on Doctor King Drive back in August, and more recently has visited bars in Dutchtown, Carondelet, the lesser known half of Soulard and a while back a walk way north up in Baden. Upcoming Walk field trips are scheduled for South Kingshighway and Fairgrounds Park.

* David Alan Difani, owner of the ultra popular neighborhood haunt, the Black Thorn, was rumored to have looked into developing a bar on Morganford south of Arsenal, but the neighborhood teetotalers did not want to see a responsible bar owner from developing a vibrant bar at a blighted business on this critical commercial strip.

* "Ladies and Vets" are still welcome at Ashau Valley on Morganford. No word if male civilians are welcome. We should really be thankful for the Vets that fought hard to protect our third amendment rights.

* Matt, the bartender at the hipster hangout CBGBs on South Grand has gained a scholarly following on Wednesday evenings with his own version of a Trivia night that starts at 10:45. The reward is very thirst quenching.

* The alluring "Peaches" is no longer bartending at the neighborhood tavern, the Rycraw on Delmar and Whittier. No word where she is now bartending.

* Miss Dee at Miss Dees at Pennsylvania and Utah is still the oldest bartender in town.

* Ernestine, of the Ernestine's Scorpio Lounge near the old Gaslight Square is no longer regularly bartending due to health problems. Her daughter has now taken over the bulk of the bartending duties.

* The sultry voiced Roxanna, the popular Tuesday night bartender at CBGBs, has now picked up weekend shifts at the Tangerine.

* The southside 3am pub Sandrinas finally bought an large neon "Open" sign but they only occasionally turn it on when they are open. The "No Tank Tops" is still prominently displayed on the door.