Who is going to nab the empty space at the recently shuttered Brandt’s Café in The Loop? No deal has been inked yet, but Mike Hobbs, owner of The Melting Pot in The Loop, located just down the street from Brandt’s, is making a serious go at nabbing the storefront at 6525 Delmar Blvd. He hopes to turn it into a restaurant/tavern called Dillon’s on Delmar, as reported by St. Louis Magazine’s George Mahe.
Hobbs told The Scoop that while he has not yet signed a lease on the property, he has engaged an architect and a designer to put together drawings. Hobbs expects to see a first draft of their renderings this Friday, at which time he also hopes to have completed a rough draft of a business plan for the restaurant. If all looks good, it will be off to the bank to seek financing. “We have had verbal encouragement that we might be able to pull this off financially,” said Hobbs, who has owned The Melting Pot since 2002.
The property is currently owned by businessman Joe Edwards who also owns a slew of other Delmar hot spots including Blueberry Hill, The Moonrise Hotel, Pin-Up Bowl, Flamingo Bowl and The Pageant. Once financing is in place, Hobbs hopes to approach Edwards with his intention to lease the property as soon as next week and ink the deal shortly thereafter. “We are full speed ahead to put all the pieces together,” summed Hobbs.
This article appears in June 2011.