ST. LOUIS — Washington Avenue business owners and residents are pointing fingers at Reign Restaurant for the rise in downtown violence. Employees say what happens on the outside is not what is going on inside.
"You'll love your experience from the minute you walk in and you see my big face saying 'Hello welcome to Reign, got any reservations today?'" Host Chris Lucas said.
"Reign has really been the best job I've had, ever," server Kelly H. said.
Reign closed on Sept. 10 after their liquor license was temporarily suspended at the City's Detriment Hearing, financially impacting more than 80 employees.
"It did affect me a little bit financially because I'm not going to lie, in one night at Reign I could make enough money to pay my whole bill for rent," server Brittney Reed said.
Owner Dana Kelly now faces a year-long shutdown from an order issued on Friday from the City saying the restaurant failed to abate the nuisance behavior at the property.
"The fact that they can do this to my restaurant without any citations or any substantiated or real evidence towards me is heartbreaking," Kelly said.
The order said Kelly has 30 days to board up windows and doors and leave the property, which was news to her.
"I put my lifetime savings into this downtown here, and the fact that I have to hear from a reporter that they're taking it away is sickening," Kelly said.
Kelly stands firm on her stance that the violence never happened inside her venue and continued in other areas of downtown since they've closed.
"Something is happening here and here and here but we're the only ones being shut down like why is this happening?" Kelly said.
She's working with her legal team to fight the new order. Reign's Operations Manager Alex Sampson is asking city leaders to meet so they can come to a compromise.
"Get everybody all on one page and then kind of figure out what works for business as unique as Reign, because we're still the biggest most square foot restaurant and bar on Washington. So you can't govern that place the same way you govern a place that holds 50 people," Sampson said.
The city's order to close stated that there was a nuisance notice letter posted at the restaurant on Sept. 15.
The city said the police service calls have increased since then.
5 On Your Side reached out to the Department of Public Safety for clarity on the order. We are still waiting for a response.