A NEW NORTH LOOP RESTAURANT REVIVES A BELOVED STEAKHOUSE BY POPULAR DEMAND

Five years ago, when it became clear that restaurants would close for the unforeseen future to slow the spread of COVID, longtime Twin Cities restaurateurs Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre took even more drastic measures in March 2020 by keeping their four restaurants closed until vaccines became available.

Three of the pair’s restaurants — 112 Eatery, Bar La Grassa, and their newest spot, Snack Bar reopened — reopened in the summer of 2021 while their popular Lowry Hill steakhouse Burch Steak and Pizza closed permanently. Customers never let it go, bombarding the couple with requests about Burch’s potential return.

“We had a lot of comments from our regular customers saying how much they missed Burch, and that never really went away,” Becker tells Eater.

Those adoring fans received good news on Tuesday, March 11 when Beck and St. Pierre opened a new restaurant, St. Pierre Steak and Seafood at 800 N. Washington Avenue. While the restaurant doesn’t represent a full-scale revival, it features several of Burch’s greatest hits.

As Becker and St. Pierre lost their lease at Burch during the brunt of the pandemic, Snack Bar, a small plate spot in North Loop that featured Neapolitan pizzas by the slice was struggling to catch the attention of diners after about six months of operation. One of St. Pierre’s friends suggested opening Burch in the spot where Snack Bar was located, to allow the popular chophouse to live once again with a new name in a new location.

Much of the space at St. Pierre Steak and Seafood remains as it had as Snack Bar, having been designed by Shea, aside from a few branding tweaks, and much of the menu has returned, though with some noticeable adjustments.

The menu at St. Pierre doesn’t include pizza, but items from Snack Bar and Burch litter the menu. Specialties include Snack Bar’s fried eggplant with rosemary honey and pici with pistachio and ricotta. Customers of Burch may notice the steak selection is not as comprehensive as previously (Becker says Burch offered about 30 kinds of steak on its menu). About a dozen beef options are sourced from Niman Ranch.

To distinguish itself from other Cities steakhouses, St. Pierre has more of a robust emphasis on seafood. Specialties include a monkfish scallopine; lobster cutlet with hearts of palm; mussels in shiitake broth; and black cod in crazy water.

Becker says that he hopes that St. Pierre will resonate with diners in the same way that Burch did. St. Pierre has retained some of its workforce and a private dining room is in the works.

“I just want to get this restaurant on its feet. It’s been a long four or five years of not doing well, and I’m hoping that this catches on,” says Becker.

St. Pierre Steakhouse and Seafood, 800 N. Washington Avenue, open 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday; reservations via Resy.

2025-03-17T21:31:46Z