Frailey's: Late Night Party Then Closed For Good

A longtime employee of Frailey's Pub and Grill is shedding some light on how the Manchester Road eatery came to close suddenly late last month, while he and almost two dozen employees wonder when they'll get paid and if they'll find new jobs.

Anthony Weems, who said he worked for the restaurant for eight years, most recently as a bartender and a night manager, spoke to Patch on Thursday.

On June 23, he said he got a call from owner Andrew Jones, telling him that Jones and others would close down the bar early for cleaning. But instead of cleaning, Weems said the group actually threw a party.

The next day, Weems said a text from a general manager told him not to worry about coming in, that the restaurant had closed down. According to Weems, Jones sent a letter to property managers turning in keys to the property.

Patch has been unable to reach Jones for comment and neither has Weems, who along with more than 20 employees, is waiting on a week's worth of pay. 

The property management firm, Otis & Clark Properties, has not returned calls seeking comment.

Weems, due to graduate from University of Missouri-St. Louis next August, now finds himself in search of a job, hopefully in finance. He's learning a real-world lesson on the subject in the meantime.

He saw the restaurant work through the consolidation of co-owners to a sole owner in Jones, and also worked through talk last year that it would be put up for sale.

The restaurant becomes the latest in a string of businesses located in the shopping center at Manchester and Kiefer Creek to close. Large tenants in Shoe Carnival and Gordmans have left. The city of Ellisville confirms that Gold's Gym has gained approval to open in a subdivided portion of the Gordman's space.

But still, Weems said business at Fraileys was there, especially on Sundays with the proximity to St. John Lutheran Church. "We had a lot of regulars," he said. The same beer, sit in the same spot."

Patch will continue to try and locate the restaurant's owner and will update this story when that happens.