Gringo will reopen in downtown St. Louis

A former restaurant resident of the Central West End is getting a new lease on life downtown. Gringo Mexican Restaurant, which closed in 2016, will reopen in the fall in the former home of Robust Wine Bar at 635 Washington Ave., in the MX District.

Gringo founder Chris Sommers, who also owns Pi Pizzeria and 'Zza Pizza & Salad, said he expects the eatery to debut sometime in September. Chef Cary McDowell, the corporate executive chef for Pi and 'Zza, will be a co-owner.

“We feel bullish about downtown and excited about what’s going on there,” Sommers said, noting the recent reopening of the Arch grounds and multiple ongoing residential construction projects.

Sommers said the new Gringo menu will be “about 80 percent” similar to the original with some new items and a few tweaks to some old favorites.

“If it’s not broken we don’t want to fix it,” Sommers said. “For the most part, it’ll be familiar.”

Sommers said he expects the construction process to be fairly quick.

“We’re in the design phase right now,” he said, and the liquor license process is underway. “The bones are in place. We’ll do a renovation and remodel, but it won’t be a big construction project.” The restaurant will have 125 seats inside, 50 outside and a private room for events.

Matt Sorrell is staff writer at Sauce Magazine.