Shops at West End Looking to Gain Comedy or Jazz Club

The Shops at West End are looking to expand, adding additional restaurant space and possibly a comedy or jazz club.

The Park Boulevard shopping development is currently home to 11 restaurants and bars, including Toby Keith’s, Rojo and Little Szechuan.

The development is currently allowed to have up to 82,277 square feet of restaurants, but the owner is asking for about 10 percent more—an additional 8,543 square feet.

During a Monday work session of the St. Louis Park city council, most council members sounded amenable to the change in the planned unit development. A potential parking shortage of 11 stalls during weekday hours was dismissed as a minor annoyance.

Council member Sue Sanger raised concerns about the existing restaurant clientele.

“The restaurants you do have, they’re quite noisy, they’re quite aimed at a specific demographic group, and it’s a little off-putting to people who aren’t in that demographic group,” she said. “If you could have a jazz club, if you could have a really quality restaurant—not something that’s just one step up from fast food—it would be more appealing [to more people].”