Lowertown restaurants are struggling, but the news isn't all bad
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Lowertown is going through a major restaurant turnover. Photo: Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Fifteen years ago, Barrio was among a wave of new restaurants bringing buzz to the up-and-coming Lowertown neighborhood.
State of play: Last week, it became the latest restaurant on downtown St. Paul's east side to close.
- Handsome Hog, Noyes & Cutler, Ox Cart Ale House, Octo Fish Bar and Just/Us have also closed or relocated out of the neighborhood since the pandemic, and Saint Dinette plans to shut its doors in March.
The big picture: These are hard times for restaurants in general, but downtown eateries in the Twin Cities are struggling even more without the same number of office workers that once filled lunch and happy hour seats.
What they're saying: "... this was solely about absolutely no commerce down there," Barrio owner Ryan Burnet told Minnesota Monthly.
- "I am an optimist by nature, but would you open a restaurant in Lowertown St. Paul or downtown St. Paul right now? Unless you could figure out a way to only be open for events — I'm not sure," Jason DeRusha wrote in the magazine.
Reality check: Some entrepreneurs are still opening restaurants in Lowertown.
- Bullvino's Brazilian Steakhouse opened in 2021; Lost Fox opened in 2022; The Union Depot was recently backfilled with 1881, run by the operators of Lake Elmo Inn.
- The Bulldog's owner told Fox 9 he wants to either expand into the former Barrio space or open a new concept there.
Between the lines: Restaurants in both cities are relying more on event business, but it's easy to see why Lowertown's struggles are more pronounced.
- While CHS Field and the Farmers' Market bring crowds during the summer, the other side of downtown gets most of the traffic from Xcel Energy Center, RiverCentre and the Ordway Center, which have events year-round.
What we're watching: Several of the buildings with now-vacant restaurant spaces are owned by Madison Equities, which has put its large downtown portfolio up for sale following the recent death of founder Jim Crockarell.
- One of the Madison-owned restaurant hotspots, Park Square Court, is under bankruptcy protection.
- It's unclear if the company is still making an effort to lease them; Axios sent an email to its attorney and didn't hear back.
The bottom line: Lee Krueger, former Saint Paul Port Authority president who now does retail consulting work, told Axios the city should buy and redevelop a building to prove that investment in St. Paul pays off — much like it did with the Penfield project during the Great Recession.
- "They've got to be a catalyst for development down there."