Belleville Hofbräuhaus to reopen Friday with new hours, coronavirus restrictions
Belleville’s Hofbräuhaus is set to reopen this week, after closing in March due to COVID-19.
The German restaurant and Biergarten will reopen at 4 p.m. Friday, offering seating carryout service with new restrictions to comply with state and local guidelines.
The new rules include temporary hours of operations from 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and six-person party limits.
New sanitation procedures also will be followed by restaurant staff and menus and condiments will all be single use.
New management took over operations at Hofbräuhaus in December after the restaurant had to close last fall due to unpaid sales taxes. When the restaurant closed, it also owed $21.7 million to a bank in Missouri.
Royal Banks of Missouri alleges in a petition filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court on Dec. 2 seeking the $21.7 million judgment against the Hofbräuhaus developers that they failed multiple times to pay restaurant sales tax when they were due, which resulted in the closure.
William Guy Crouch was named the receiver who has “complete and exclusive control” over the business affairs at the Hofbräuhaus, according to an order filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court in December.
Oak Tree Management Services was formed by the Keller family of Effingham as part of the development of the Hofbräuhaus, which is located off Illinois 15 across from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the religious order that owns the Shrine, severed ties with Oak Tree Management at the Shrine Restaurant and subsequently filed a lawsuit that asks for a $171,766 judgment and alleges a breach of contract by Oak Tree.