After almost a year in business, Maplewood’s Blind Tiger will close its doors for good on Thursday, Sept. 18 or Friday, Sept. 19. The closure was first reported by 40 South News.
“It was just a perfect storm, and we had to close,” said owner Mike McLaughlin, citing strategic mistakes and bad luck including a break-in and robbery in late August. Blind Tiger opened in December 2013 at 7376 Manchester Blvd., and featured a wide selection of whiskey and New York-style pizzas.
Blind Tiger chef Jackson Noon will move just down the block to McLaughlin’s other restaurant, The Crow’s Nest, where he will turn his attention to updating its food offerings. McLaughlin said the new menu will “be a more creative take on what we’re already doing. We want to use the best quality stuff we can.” Fans of Blind Tiger’s barrel-aged cocktails can still get their fix at The Crow’s Nest; those drinks will find their way over to that bar, too.
-photo by Michelle Volansky
This article appears in September 2014.