ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – Three weeks into the Cardinals season, downtown businesses are hoping baseball brings a turnaround.
One restaurant on Washington Avenue says crowds matter, and so does how people feel about coming downtown.
“On days where, you know, Cardinals play or Blues game whenever we can get some foot traffic to come down here, it’s really good for business,” said Ono Ikanone, owner of Levels Nigerian Cuisine.
Ikanone’s restaurant sits on Washington Avenue, where business can spike from events like Cardinals fans descending downtown for a game.
Nigerian restaurant brings new flavor to Washington Avenue
For three years, the Nigerian restaurant has brought a different flavor and flair to downtown’s main street.
“Levels is a space where we share our food, we share our art, we share our music, and we have been taken very well by the downtown community,” Ikanone said.
“Levels is a brainchild of my family. It’s a Nigerian restaurant. In college, I always enjoyed sharing my culture with my friends through music, through food, and so levels was the perfect opportunity for me to do both,” Ikanone said.
The idea for Levels started long before college. Ikanone’s parents attended SIUE in the 1970s and came to St. Louis to hang out with friends. They moved back to Nigeria, then returned to St. Louis when their older children reached college age. Ikanone came to St. Louis at 14 and attended high school here.
The Levels location isn’t new to Ikanone. He used to host events at the space, so when it went up for sale, they jumped at it.
“We saw that there weren’t any Nigerian restaurants in the area. So we wanted to be pioneers and we went ahead and did it. It was a huge sacrifice, huge risk, so to speak. But so far, the way we’ve been received by the downtown community and St. Louis in general, we’re very happy that we made that move,” Ikanone said.
The second floor features art brought in from Nigerian and St. Louis artists.
“They come in, they put the art on the walls, and they sell them right off the walls to whoever is interested, and they keep 100% of their sales. So that’s our way of getting new art for us and also being able to share our space with St. Louis,” Ikanone said.
Downtown works to shake stigma despite crime drop
Ikanone said being downtown has had its ups and downs.
“It’s ups with the renewed energy that’s being put into downtown that has helped us quite a bit. But then, downtown still has it’s stigma of not having enough foot traffic. We don’t experience the same population boost as other parts of the city or other parts of similar downtowns in other states. So that’s one thing that, you know, I’d say is not the greatest for us,” Ikanone said.
He said that stigma is what downtown is trying to shake.
“I think that it’s time that we start bringing positive energy and speaking about downtown positively because it is a helpful amenity for the rest of the city with revenue generation, you know, taxes, all of the things. I think that if we start speaking about it more and getting people to understand that you can come down here and play and hang out, and you’ll be just fine,” Ikanone said.
St. Louis Metropolitan Police CompStat shows downtown neighborhoods saw overall crime down 11 percent, with zero homicides recorded downtown in 2025. Police credit targeted patrols, special-event security and focused enforcement in high-traffic areas. Even with those numbers, old and often inaccurate perceptions persist.
“And I’ll attest to the fact that it’s just fine. We’re having a great time. People come here, they enjoy themselves,” Ikanone said.
Ikanone is encouraging other business owners to give downtown St. Louis a look, giving more people a reason to come eat, play and stay.
“Just keep talking about St. Louis in a positive way, talking about downtown in a positive way, and let’s just keep propelling it forward and, you know, letting all the business owners know water’s fine over here. Come by and hang out. It’s a good place to do business, as long as we keep pushing it as a community,” Ikanone said.
Grant program helps new restaurant open on Washington Avenue
Levels isn’t the only sign of momentum downtown. Another business opened last month. Karsyn’s Soule received funding from a grant that helps small businesses grow downtown. The owners chose to open on Washington Avenue.
“What gave birth to this particular space is I actually saw, not a promo, but an offer from Greater Saint Louis Network that was actually being aired on Channel 4 that was offering incentives for businesses to relocate to downtown,” said Janerra Carson-Slaughter, owner of Karsyn’s Soule.
Karsyn’s Soule is one of five small businesses awarded grant money as part of the Downtown Retail Incentive Program. It’s a partnership between Greater St. Louis, Inc. and the St. Louis Development Corporation, started in 2024. The latest round of funding is expected to total more than $115,000, paid out to recipients in increments.
“So there was a lot of things that had to be done before we could actually open the doors. And with the extra monies that we received from them, it helped us do a lot of things,” Carson-Slaughter said.
The husband and wife duo say a lot of money went into repairing the building on Washington Avenue, just steps away from the Dome and two well-known businesses.
“It’s a completely different vibe being in downtown St. Louis, working hand in hand with some of the senior businesses like Hi-Pointe and Sugar Fire that have already been here a while prior to us being here. You know, it just amps up not the competition part, if you will, but just letting the customers know that there’s a different, there’s a different variety of foods, you know, for everybody’s palate,” Carson-Slaughter said.
Karsyn’s Soule offers a variety of soul food options.
“We started off years ago being known for our chicken wings, right? And for some reason, catfish has taken over. We’re getting the word, you know, we’re getting to be known for our catfish. And aside from that, we have sides that people consider to be soul food sides. You know, the macaroni and cheese, the cabbage, the collard greens, sweet potatoes, the cornbread, and everything that we do is in-house. So everything is scratch-made. So a lot of people, you know, they really take into consideration they want to come and just enjoy a nice home-cooked meal, enjoy the view and just think about grandma’s house,” Carson-Slaughter said.
Business started in garage, moved to Fairview Heights before downtown
The down-home feeling began in the Metro East. Janerra Carson-Slaughter and her husband Vernon’s business started out of a garage, eventually moving into its Fairview Heights location before making the leap downtown.
“The best thing we’ve done, you know, 314 day, we just opened up. We said, well, we’re from Illinois, so we’re 618. We was like, ‘okay, we’re thinking like, ‘What can we do for 314 day?’ We went with the three whole wings and French fries, $3.14. Walking out the door, it was just moving. So we’re sitting around talking. My daughter was like, ‘Let’s make this every Saturday.’ So we made it the home of the 314 special every Saturday now. Three whole wins of French fries for $3.14. So people, they’re catching on to it with these different foodie networks and different foodies on Facebook. Those guys are helping out a lot with the wording. So it’s just been a blessing all around,” said Vernon Slaughter, owner of Karsyn’s Soule.
The perception of crime downtown crossed their minds when deciding to open, but they say it didn’t stop them.
“You know, people leaving downtown because of safety, because of guys flying up and down the street on these motorcycles. We can’t worry about that. We leave that up to the police,” Vernon Slaughter said.
“They’re very visible. Some of them are undercover that we learned about just a few weeks ago. But with the visible, with the visibility of the police that I think that kind of harnesses, you know, the crime rate,” Carson-Slaughter said.
As the restaurant awaits the World Robotics Competition, which brings people from all over to the heart of St. Louis, they want more to think about making the move downtown.
“Don’t be discouraged about downtown St. Louis. It’s what it is. It’s the beauty. You have the Dome right here, you got Busch Stadium, you have the Enterprise Center. There’s so much traffic down there. Everybody can make it. Don’t be ashamed. Don’t be scared of failing. If you don’t try, you won’t fail,” Vernon Slaughter said.
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