ST. LOUIS — F&B's Eatery, the fast-casual sandwich and burger restaurant in south St. Louis' Lindenwood Park neighborhood, has closed.
"I have made the very difficult decision to close F&B’s Eatery 1.0," owner Michael Pauk said in a posting Monday morning on the restaurant's Facebook page. "This decision did not come lightly to say the least. Working almost every day for 6 years, and a global pandemic have proved moving forward in this small space has become impossible for me."
He hinted that the restaurant might return at some point. "Recent easing of capacity restrictions have given me a glimmer of hope F&B’s Eatery 2.0 to be a possibility," the posting said. "I’m going to rest a while, and weigh my options."
The business had to temporarily close for short period during the pandemic, in one instance due to COVID-19 exposure and in another because of a "nagging, long-term restaurant business induced injury," according to other Facebook postings in March and April, respectively.
Pauk did not immediately response to messages left Tuesday.
With over 25 years' experience in the restaurant industry, Pauk opened F&B's (which stand for "food and beverage") at 3453 Hampton Ave. in September 2015. It served hot and cold sandwiches, as well as house-blended beef burgers and fresh-cut fries, and served beer, wine and mixed drinks. The restaurant, already in a small space, had been operating with only four tables and 12 seats available inside due to COVID-19 restrictions, plus outside patio seats and curbside and pickup options.
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