St. Louis Restaurant Openings and Closings: May 2023

Delis, crepes and juice, oh my!

Jun 7, 2023 at 7:00 am

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click to enlarge

Jessica Rogen

Diners wait in front of Deli Divine's counter for ordering sandwiches.

As of May 1, St. Louis city has a real Jewish deli — finally — thanks to our very own Ben Poremba opening the doors at the long-awaited Deli Divine in the new Delmar DivINe building.

When we say long-awaited, we're serious. Even Poremba, who already has more than a handful of well-regarded restaurants in his portfolio, took pause before diving into the project. “There’s so many expectations when we did this because so many people, especially the Jewish community, they know everything,” he told the RFT in May. “And they’ll let you know. Even now, they’ll come in and, ‘Why are you doing this? Why aren’t you doing that?’”

This anticipation for Deli Divine played out in the Facebook comments on this article. Commenters wanted to know if the restaurant had knishes (and are they good) and say that the RFT had failed to consider a host of other spots for the "real Jewish deli" in the city category: the Post Nosh, Protzel's, Kohn's are more.

To those so passionate about delis, we salute you, but one of those same commenters said it best: "Before everyone gets their knickers in a twist, the headline says St. Louis CITY. None of the places you are about to mention are in the city of St. Louis."

But that, of course, wasn't the only opening of the month, which saw everything from new juice and smoothie places to the return of Dressel's in the Central West End. There were also a few closings, though thankfully not many.

Openings
B Juiced, Ferguson
Berry Box Superfood Bar, Clayton
C and B Boiled Bagels, Wood River, Illinois
Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery, Central West End
Crepes and Treats, Gravois Park
Deli Divine, West End
Dressel's Public House, Central West End
El Milagro Azteca, Southwest Garden
The Fortune Teller Bar (reopening), Benton Park West
French Creperie, Chesterfield
Gioia's Deli, Valley Park
Holy Crepes!, Swansea, Illinois
Honey Bee Tea, St. Charles
Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company, St. Charles
Katie's Pizza and Pasta Osteria, Downtown
The Main House, St. Charles
PJ's Coffee, Lake St. Louis
San Jose Mexican Restaurant, Ellisville, Missouri
Ted Drewes (reopening), Dutchtown
Sneaky's Bar & Burger Joint, Edwardsville, Illinois

Closings
Bait, Central West End
Zenwich x Ramen, Central West End
Boardwalk Waffles & Ice Cream, Soulard