Before SqWires Restaurant & Market became a cornerstone of Lafayette Square, Bethany Budde-Cohen had spent years working in private clubs and restaurants, environments she describes as having “3,000 bosses.” By the late 1990s, she was ready for something different: a business that reflected her own experience, instincts and sense of responsibility – both to her staff and to the neighborhood she already called home.
Ironically, it wasn’t until developers presented plans for redeveloping the former Western Wire Products factory that Budde-Cohen seriously considered opening a restaurant in Lafayette Square. The project, now known as Wireworks, proposed lofts, offices and a small deli for residents. What Budde-Cohen saw was opportunity. She began shaping a business plan that blended restaurant, bar, market and event space, designed not just for visitors but for the people who lived nearby. That vision became SqWires.
From the beginning, the restaurant reflected Budde-Cohen’s belief in hospitality as something personal and lived-in. When SqWires opened, her children were still young, and the restaurant grew up alongside them. That perspective helped create a culture that values adaptability, long-term commitment, and the realities of family life. Over the years, SqWires has employed generations of Lafayette Square residents – siblings, cousins, high schoolers on their first job – many of whom return during college breaks or stay on for years.
Today, that legacy continues through Budde-Cohen’s daughter, AJ, who now serves as general manager. Watching her daughter step into leadership has been both grounding and affirming for Budde-Cohen. AJ brings a steady, calm presence to the role, guiding a staff of more than 40 while balancing her own young family – the same balancing act that defined SqWires’ earliest years.
The restaurant itself has evolved through necessity rather than reinvention. During the recession from 2008 to 2009, Budde-Cohen made significant changes, closing the original market, resizing the dining room and transforming space into a private banquet area. Those decisions allowed SqWires to weather economic shifts while staying operational. When the market reopened during the pandemic, it did so with a renewed sense of purpose – thanks in large part to AJ’s reimagining of the space. Since its relaunch, the market’s business has doubled, reinforcing the value of listening closely and adapting quickly.
Through it all, the food has remained remarkably consistent. SqWires opened as an elevated comfort food restaurant, and Budde-Cohen never tried to make it anything else. Dishes like noodle-less vegetable lasagna, smoked brisket, baked onion soup, spinach salad and Caesar dressing have endured for decades, evolving only when practicality demands it. Brunch, once a single-day offering, has grown into a defining feature, complete with the now-iconic bloody mary and mimosa bar, an idea that began modestly and grew, garnish by garnish, into a weekend ritual.
Budde-Cohen sees SqWires’ role today less as a citywide destination and more as a neighborhood constant. While the restaurant still hosts banquets and draws guests from across St. Louis, its heartbeat is local. SqWires donates space for neighborhood meetings, hosts gatherings after neighborhood house tours and supports events that rely entirely on volunteers. For Budde-Cohen, that relationship is reciprocal as the neighborhood supports SqWires, and SqWires shows up in return.
After 25 years, Budde-Cohen isn’t focused on dramatic reinvention. Her goal is steadier, and perhaps harder: to remain. To continue offering meaningful work, familiar food and a welcoming place where people mark everyday moments. In a city where restaurants often come and go, SqWires’ longevity comes down to an attentiveness – to people, to change and to the signals that say when it’s time to adjust.
“I think you have to be willing to admit when something didn’t work,” Budde-Cohen said. “Fix it, and move forward.” That clear-eyed, people-first philosophy has carried SqWires from its beginnings in a reclaimed factory to its standing today as a fixture in Lafayette Square.
This article appears in March 2026.