COVID casualty: Another prominent downtown Lexington restaurant is closing
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed another prominent downtown Lexington restaurant: Saul Good Restaurant and Pub in The Square is gone.
Owner Rob Perez said that he and his wife, Diane, had hoped to reopen and even did some remodeling inside. But attempts to renegotiate the lease were unsuccessful, Perez said.
Perez said that he has nothing but positive things to say about his landlords at The Square but they were unable to come to terms on a deal that both sides could accept.
Mark Fallon, vice president of real estate for Jeffery R. Anderson Real Estate of Cincinnati, which co-owns the property with The Webb Cos., said they will have an announcement in the coming weeks of a new-to-market tenant.
So Saul Good, which has been closed since the March shutdown, is gone for good.
“It’s 100 percent because of COVID,” Perez said. “We love the building, love being downtown and love the energy there. But we just couldn’t make it work.”
The 4,500-square-foot restaurant, which had a full-service bar and seating for about 150, opened in 2013 and was the first new tenant in the renovated development known then as Victorian Square. Saul Good went into the corner once occupied by Hutchinson’s Drug Store in the restored 19th century buildings.
It was the third location of Saul Good, following one at Fayette Mall and at Hamburg. The Hamburg location closed in January, before the pandemic hit.
Saul Good is the second restaurant in The Square to close and part of a growing dining dead zone in the heart of the city.
HopCat, which also closed in March, entered bankruptcy and the company pulled the plug on reopening the Lexington location in September.
Across the corner of Short and Broadway, Shakespeare & Co. closed its last Lexington location in the spring and Spotz Gelato, which opened last year across Broadway, also did not reopen after the spring pandemic restrictions shut down indoor dining.
Starbucks in Triangle Center also apparently has closed; the location has been taken off the corporate web site.
Perez said that with the Rupp Arena crowds restricted to 3,000 people including workers, the convention center closed and under reconstruction and many office workers still working from home, the business from foot traffic just isn’t there.
The suburbs have a different population, which he said will enable the Saul Good at Fayette Mall to stay open.
Perez said that he and his wife will focus on their remaining restaurants, including the DV8 Kitchen on South Broadway and the one they will open in 2021 at the corner of Midland and Third.
Fallon, with The Square’s co-owner, said that he expects downtown Lexington’s economic recovery will be swift, once the COVID vaccine becomes widely available and the pandemic eases.
“By basketball season of next year, the world is normal again,” Fallon said.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
