The Midwestern, Wheelhouse and Start Bar shutter again due to pandemic

As St. Louis proceeds with its reopening process, three downtown establishments are backtracking. Although they did not specifically cite COVID as the cause, The Midwestern, Wheelhouse and Start Bar have announced via social media they have once again closed for an indefinite period of time to maintain staff and customer safety.

Prior to the announcement, all three businesses were open according to the city’s regulations for restaurants and bars. The Midwestern had reopened May 21, and Wheelhouse and Start Bar had reopened May 22. 

On Friday, June 26, the closure of all three establishments was announced on each Instagram. The post stated that even with successful business operations, they “can’t operate stress free and enjoy what [they]’re doing.” 

The post did not cite a specific date for reopening, explaining that they will “reopen when [they] think the time is right,” and expressing a desire to reopen “hopefully sooner than later.” 

Requests for comment were not immediately returned.

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This is a marathon, not a sprint for us. We have been here 7 years and built our 3 locally owned and operated small businesses from the ground up, with an ownership and management team that truly cares about our staff, customers, St. Louis and the future success of these businesses for the 3 mentioned.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ We can’t ensure the safety of our staff and customers right now which means we can’t succeed right now. We can’t enjoyably operate in the current environment. Yes, we can be busy and we thank our amazing customers and staff for that but we can’t operate stress free and enjoy what we’re doing. This is our wheelhouse, it’s truly what we love to do and want to do and we can’t enjoy it right now.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ We don’t have to close, we don’t want to close but it’s the decision we’ve made in the best interest of our staff, customers and businesses. We will reopen when we think the time is right, hopefully sooner than later, in a couple of weeks for some Blues Playoffs and Cardinals Baseball. Until then, THANK YOU and We Love You STL.
A post shared by The Midwestern (@midwesternstl) on Jun 26, 2020 at 6:14pm PDT