Scusi Plans a Switcheroo With Closure and Remodel

Scusi, The Blue Plate Restaurant Company’s Italian spot in St. Paul, will close after Saturday service this weekend, according to a recent announcement. Blue Plate owners Stephanie Shimp and David Burley promise to open a new, revamped restaurant in the space. Thanks to St. Paul's new and improved liquor ordinances, Shimp and team plan a full bar, but offer scant few details about plans for the new eatery, other than they hope to capture the magic of what makes their other restaurants, including Longfellow Grill, Groveland Tap and Freehouse (among others), so successful.

The Blue Plate Restaurant Group opened its first restaurant, the Highland Grill in 1993 and has defined a brand of easygoing, affordable, neighborhood specific restaurants. Scusi was a bit of a one-off, serving pizzas, pastas and wine in a quiet location in St. Paul just one block from a more casual restaurant of theirs, Groveland Tap.

It's been suggested the bar might feature the cocktail stylings of Tattersall Distilling along with that refreshed concept. There will also be a lunch and weekend breakfast added along with that full bar service.

More details will be announced in April.