Mike Shannon’s restaurant to close down

The name Mike Shannon has been connected with the city of St. Louis for over half a century. Whether as a player on the World Series Champion teams of the 1960’s, or as a broadcaster for 1120 KMOX (and 550 KTRS), Shannon has become a beloved figure in the Gateway City.

But in two weeks, Shannon’s most famous business venture will be closing down: his downtown restaurant.

Named “Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood”, the restaurant located at 620 Market Street in St. Louis, will be closing down after 30 years of business. There are two other restaurant locations that will remain open: in Edwardsville, Illinois, and at Lambert-St. Louis international Airport. Both of those are named “Mike Shannon’s Grill”.

Shannon said, “I’ve had a great 30-year run down here. It’s been wonderful, but we’re moving forward.”

He also has delved into businesses such as wine and barbecue sauce.

For the first 20 years, Shannon’s restaurant was located a few blocks away from where the Market Street location currently is (which opened in 2006).

Despite closing what is essentially a St. Louis landmark for three decades, Shannon said on Saturday night that “it’s not sadness. It’s been a celebration. It was everything that I wanted it to be, a place that people could enjoy before and after the games. And they did.”

Debuting in the big leagues in 1962, one of Shannon’s greatest moments as a player came in the 1964 World Series, when he hit a game-tying, two-run home run off of Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, who was pitching for the New York Yankees, in the series opener. The St. Louis Cardinals wound up winning the World Series in seven games. Unfortunately, his career was cut short by nephritis, which is a kidney disease, in 1970.

In 1972, he began his broadcasting career for the Cardinals, and has been broadcasting ever since.