Lucas Park Grille in downtown St. Louis has closed, possibly temporarily

Lucas Park Grille has announced its closure at 1234 Washington Ave. in downtown St. Louis, though it may be temporary. “Lucas Park Grille will be closing for an extended period of time due to the economic challenges presented by the current COVID pandemic,” a Facebook post said. “We hope to emerge from this on the other side, but, just in case we don’t, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal employees, customers and friends for all of the love and support we have enjoyed together over the past 18 years."

“I’ve been furloughed since March; we closed on St. Patrick’s Day,” said sommelier Rich Ross, who was the bar manager at Lucas Park Grille and started working there in 2004. 

“The owners want to reopen during Christmastime — they own the building and the restaurant — but it depends on if the Blues are playing or if conventions are coming back. Washington Avenue has changed, sales have been down 60% to 70%. If there’s no baseball, no hockey, no conventions, why stay open?” Ross said.

Meera Nagarajan contributed to this article.