Good Bye to Ozzie's

The recent demise of Ozzie's sports bar in the Westport Plaza area of St. Louis was a personal blow to me.  It was one of my all-time favorite sports bars, anywhere.  I'd been going to Ozzie's since the mid-90's and for a long time it was a good place to get a pretty good meal, drink cold beer and to watch sporting events on one of the 50+ televisions they had throughout the bar.  But things had changed for the worse over the past few years for the place.  I thought the food began to suffer.  A couple of recent times I'd been in, the beer was nowhere close to being ice cold like I once remember.  Then the economy and competition in the Westport area caught up with Ozzie's and they were forced to shut their doors in late October. 

(To read my original post on Ozzie's, click here.) 

I was in St. Louis the week after Ozzie's shut down.  In fact, I was thinking about going there for lunch one day to grab a burger, but it turned out it would have been quite a trek in some heavy rain to get over there.  I ended up just getting a burger at a Fuddrucker's in South County.  I would have been devastated walking up to Ozzie's and finding the doors locked. 

For those of you not in the know, Ozzie's was named after the former St. Louis Cardinals and Hall of Fame shortstop, Ozzie Smith.   St. Louis restaurateur Ray Gallardo (who founded and owned the Casa Gallardo restaurants) opened the restaurant in 1988.  Smith decorated the restaurant with some of his numerous awards, along with other memorabilia from the Cardinals, St. Louis Rams and St. Louis Blues.  The place was an immediate hit with the people of St. Louis and a "must see" for Cardinals fans who would come from all over to see the Cards play in the summertime.  While the food wasn't all that great, it was more of the atmosphere that kept people coming back year after year. 

When I worked for a company in suburban St. Louis a number of years ago, Ozzie's was always one of the more favorite places for me to go to grab a quick sandwich or to catch a game that I wanted to see.  When we'd have sales managers from vendors come into St. Louis for meetings, invariably at some point we'd end up at Ozzie's.  I still run into guys at trade shows that I knew from years ago who bring up their visit to Ozzie's.  Ozzie's had a couple of private rooms that we'd take over from time to time and that, along with all the memorabilia throughout the place, made a lasting impression on some of the people we'd take there. 

Ozzie's menu was wide and varied, very typical of a high-profile sports bar.  They had a little bit of everything - appetizers, sandwiches, steaks, ribs, Mexican food, pasta.  While they didn't do anything great, it was adequate enough for what it was.  I did like their burgers and they had a dynamite blackened chicken sandwich.  And I did like their brisket sandwich, as well.  But most of the main entree choices were pedestrian, at best.   But the surroundings and memorabilia trumped the average food, in my book. 

The economic climate in St. Louis over the past few years has been deteriorating and that, undoubtedly, cut into Ozzie's bottom line.  But many people point to the establishment of Pujols 5 in Westport Plaza as the beginning of the end for Ozzie's.  Pujols 5 is named after the Cardinals great first baseman, Albert Pujols (left).  Before Pujols 5 opened up, Ozzie's management was told that it was going to be more of an upscale restaurant on the level of Mike Shannon's than a sports bar like Ozzie's.  Based on that information, Gallardo's management company signed a lease extension through 2015 and borrowed $150,000 to upgrade Ozzie's restaurant.   

It turned out that Pujols 5 (which I've not been to yet) was more like Ozzie's in terms of a sports bar and grill than an upscale restaurant.  At least, that's what Ozzie's alleges in a lawsuit that was filed last spring against the owners of Westport Plaza.  Ozzie's claims that with over 40 hi-def televisions, a menu that is more similar to Ozzie's than to Mike Shannon's, and the fact that they advertise themselves as the "newest and hottest of America's sports restaurants," Pujols 5 was, indeed, a sports bar and it violated the lease agreement.   

Westport Plaza's owners countersued Ozzie's for non-payment of rent.  As Ozzie's closed up, the lawsuit against Westport Plaza was dropped, but the countersuit against Ozzie's goes on.  Ozzie's held an auction after they closed to sell off some of the memorabilia, fixtures and equipment.  The owners of Westport Plaza now claim the auction was not authorized due to their lawsuit against Ozzie's management.  I'm sure it's going to get more messy as time goes on.  Stay tuned. 

With revenues falling and Pujols popularity helping drive people to the restaurant named after him, Ozzie's began to slip.  The food was noticeably more weak than I remember during the first few times I'd gone to the restaurant.  On our annual trip to St. Louis to see the Cardinals a couple years ago, we stopped into Ozzie's for a cold beer before the game.  But we were served slightly below room temperature beer.  I'd noticed the previous few times that I had been in, the beer coolers weren't very cold.  It just didn't seem to be the same place I'd once remembered. 

Sports bars come and go.  Some last longer than others.  Ozzie's lasted longer than most.  It had a good thing going for a number of years.   Unfortunately, they were overshadowed by a bigger name in St. Louis sports these days and that, undoubtedly, led to their demise.  However, the name Ozzie Smith will continue to live in the hearts and minds of St. Louis fans for years and years, even if his namesake restaurant will not. 

(Update - Ozzie's has reopened at a new location in downtown St. Louis (see map).  I've yet to make it into the new Ozzie's, but plan to during an upcoming trip to St. Louis.)

Comments

[Tim Lake]

I liked Ozzie's, too. My wife like it more than I did, tho. She's more of a baseball fan that I am.

[Robin Kelly]

Mr. Road Tips - I enjoy looking in on your blog. I came across you blog from the St. Louis Today forums. I just wanted to let you know that Ozzie's is being rebuilt in downtown St. Louis on Washington north of the Scottrade Center. It was one of my favorite places to go to but the food had suffered over recent years. Keep up the good work!

Robin Kelly