Iconic St. Armands Restaurant Set to Reopen with New Name and Mediterranean Concept in 2025
A beloved St. Armands Circle dining destination prepares for a fresh start in 2025. The restaurant, known for over 50 years as Café L’Europe, will reopen as The Café on St. Armands with a new Mediterranean-inspired concept, offering dining experiences from breakfast to dinner, coffee, and to-go options.
The updated menu will focus on Mediterranean cuisine, emphasizing small plates and seafood inspired by French, Spanish, Greek, Italian, South African, and Middle Eastern flavors. The shift in concept aims to create a more casual and approachable dining experience, blending tradition with modern dining trends. Approximately 75% of the menu will feature shareable plates, complemented by a selection of main dishes, while the offerings will change seasonally to accommodate customer preferences.
The restaurant’s facade will also receive a vibrant update, featuring a colorful bougainvillea and lemon-themed design created with a local artist. Bright pink, yellow, and green accents will signal the new direction to passersby at 431 St. Armands Circle.
Inside, The Café on St. Armands will feature a multi-section layout to cater to various dining needs throughout the day. A coffee bar, Café Soleil, will offer specialty drinks, breakfast, and grab-and-go options, including Tampa-based Buddy Brew Coffee. The Wet Bar will provide an expanded cocktail experience for evening patrons with creative drinks and full menu access. Additional lounge furniture and cocktail tables will enhance the space’s seating capacity.
Recognizing the growing demand for convenience, the new concept will introduce to-go liquor sales, custom picnic baskets, and third-party delivery services. The absence of a dedicated liquor store on St. Armands Circle has created an opportunity for the restaurant to meet this need with alcohol delivery options.
The restaurant's reopening comes after significant storm damage forced it to close in September 2023. Hurricane Helene's flooding destroyed the interior and contents of the restaurant. In response, the new design incorporates measures to enhance resilience, including plans to move equipment quickly in the event of future storms.
The restaurant, which opened in January 1973, was acquired in 2022 by John and Amanda Horne’s Oysters Rock Hospitality Group, owners of the Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurants. Drawing on their experience managing other post-storm operations, the Hornes and their team have adapted the new concept to balance tradition with sustainability.
The Café on St. Armands will reopen on January 21, 2025, and a celebratory launch event will mark the restaurant’s 52nd anniversary.