You can’t get a reservation at one of Midtown’s newest watering holes.
“It’s first come, first served,” said Keep Quiet owner Manny Negron. But visiting is not that simple.
To get in, you go through the tasting room or biergarten at Urban Chestnut Midtown. There’s a small hut the brewery serves beer from during the summer. Go behind that, and you’ll find a waiting room and a black door.
If there’s a red light on, you’re in luck: That means the speakeasy has seats.
“I want a little bit of mystery and puzzle solving,” Negron said.
Negron, who also owns the tiny beer bar Little Lager in Princeton Heights, opened the speakeasy in partnership with Urban Chestnut mid-month. An industry veteran, he’d made an offhand comment during an event there that the mostly unused space would make for a “killer cocktail bar.”
One thing led to another, and Negron made it happen. Keep Quiet has a small rotating monthly menu featuring experimental cocktails that Negron describes as “spirit-forward, simple, clean,” as well as a handful of beers and some wine. He said it will have something for everyone and be approachable yet also allow people to try something novel.
Keep Quiet is the latest in a small wave of speakeasies to open in recent years that includes Gerard Craft’s None of the Above in the tunnels under City Foundry and Michael Fricker and Meredith Berry’s New Society, which is in the basement of Grand Spirits Bottle Co. on South Grand.
That’s not the only trend line. Like City SC’s stadium, Energizer Park, last month, Busch Stadium opened a host of new places with the beginning of the Cardinals season. Those new offerings include a local spot, Mayo Ketchup, the rebranding of Mission Taco to Session Taco and the social media phenomenon Crumbl Cookies.
Another opening of note is from James Beard Award semifinalist Ben Welch. He opened two Southern-inflected concepts, Lucy Quinn and Little Lucy, in what was BEAST Butcher & Block in the Grove. And just down the street, the salad concept Neon Greens opened a pop-up biscuit concept, Biscuit Town.
Not many restaurants closed last month. On South Grand, the Gelateria shut its doors temporarily after a fire began in the basement on March 7. Owner Andy Fair said that the two first floors of the building are a complete gut, and the third may also need significant work. He’s waiting to hear from the insurance company before taking any steps to repair the building.
Fair is also looking at ways to still serve the community in some fashion, including opening a walk-up window in an undamaged space behind the cafe off its patio.
The restaurant launched a GoFundMe to help pay employees while the cafe is closed — as of Monday afternoon, it had raised more than $97,000. Many area businesses have held fundraisers to benefit the Gelateria.
Fair said he has been surprised and grateful for the overwhelming response.
“The way that the community has shown up for us is inspirational, to say the very least,” he said. “It kind of makes me cry periodically. I was not expecting this, and it, I mean, it truly keeps me going some days, most days, to be honest. So mostly, I want to say thank you.”
The best way to help the Gelateria is to donate to the GoFundMe, Fair said. There will also be a benefit at 7 p.m. Thursday at Power Creative in Tower Grove South, and a flash tattoo drive at TRX Tattoos & Piercing on South Grand is ongoing.
Openings
- Biscuit Town, Forest Park Southeast (pop-up)
- Crumbl Cookies, Downtown (inside Busch Stadium)
- Dewey’s Pizza, Southampton
- Dough Crazy Cafe, Eureka
- Freddy’s Frozen Custard, Downtown (inside Busch Stadium)
- Fountain Hill Steak & Seafood, Grafton
- Germania Brew Haus, Clayton
- Hi-Pointe Drive-In, Soulard (inside 4 Hands Brewing Company)
- Intentional Wok, Downtown (inside Busch Stadium)
- Keep Quiet, Midtown
- La Vie Vegan, St. Charles
- Mayo Ketchup, Downtown (inside Busch Stadium)
- Lucy Quinn/Little Lucy, Forest Park Southeast
- Pass the Past Coffee, Central West End
- Robin Restaurant, Maplewood
- Session Taco, Downtown (inside Busch Stadium)
- The Bendecido Room, University City
- Vampire Penguin, Central West End
Closings
- Century Coffee, Midtown (inside City Foundry)
- Gelateria, Tower Grove South
- Sgt. Pepper’s Cafe, Edwardsville
- TGI Friday, Sappington
- Rogue Bistro, Midtown
See one I missed? Let me know at jrogen@stlpr.org.
Abby Llorico contributed reporting to this story.
