St. Louis Bar And Grill Opens To Long Lines In Fredericton
FREDERICTON – The latest location of the St. Louis Bar and Grill sports bar franchise had a couple of busy weeks to prepare for Super Bowl Sunday, one of the biggest sports days of the year.
The locally-owned restaurant opened its doors to a long line of patrons on January 20 after three months of renovations. Co-owner Greg Mercer said there was a 45-minute wait at times for a table the first few nights in business.
“Every day we were backed up and we had a wait line,” he said. “Last week it was really popular and positive for sure.”
St. Louis Bar and Grill has filled the vacant spot left in downtown Fredericton by McGinnis Landing, which closed in late 2018. The restaurant is co-owned by Mercer, Jeremy Cole and Jeff Beaumont, all accountants by trade.
The Fredericton restaurant is the third St. Louis Bar and Grill location in New Brunswick and only the fifth in Atlantic Canada. The franchise first opened in Toronto and now has 64 locations, mostly in Ontario.
The sports bar is considering expanding to other New Brunswick cities including Bathurst, Saint John, Miramichi, Edmundston and Quispamsis.
Mercer said many customers are already familiar with the brand from dining at the locations in Moncton and Dieppe. The restaurant is not taking reservations until it has a better sense of how busy certain days and times will be.
The menu includes wings, burgers, poutine, ribs and a variety of beers on tap. There are two television walls with four 64’’ screens put together and seven 75’’ television in each corner and behind the bar showing a variety of sports.
An outdoor 80-seat patio with televisions, speakers and lights is expected to open in May. The goal is to keep it open into early October with heaters.
“We know we really have to compete in that market, so we want to make ours something special, something that draws people in,” Mercer said.
Image: St. Louis Bar and Grill Fredericton co-owner Greg Mercer with Emily Moore-Wickham and Kennedy Fenell, training coordinators and operations specialists.