ST. LOUIS — A well-known restaurant in St. Louis is changing its name and saying “we must do better.”
Savage restaurant is now called SHIFT. The owner made the announcement on social media Sunday and apologized for naming the restaurant after a word with a troubled history.
“It was a mistake to celebrate that in our naming. We are truly sorry for the ignorance and haste of choosing it, and any harm or discomfort it may have caused any of our guests and community,” owner Logan Ely wrote in his announcement.
Back during the time of Christopher Columbus, the word savage came to be known as a slur used by white Europeans to describe Native Americans, according to dictionary.com.
Just last week, Tower Grove Park removed a statue of Columbus that had been standing in the park for nearly 140 years.
“We will continue to learn, grow and shift towards a better future. We honor, respect and appreciate the questions being asked and work that needs to be done to create safety and equality for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color),” Ely said.
The restaurant formerly known as Savage is well known in the St. Louis restaurant scene. In 2019, it was named one of the best new restaurants in the U.S. by Bon Appetit magazine.
SHIFT is located in St. Louis’ Fox Park neighborhood. The menu is vegetable and seafood focused. At this time, the dining room remains closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but curbside service is available.
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