Coming to St. Helens: Bayview Restaurant

A new restaurant will be coming to St. Helens this month -- if all construction goes as planned, that is.

Joel Cummings and his brother Glenn Cummings and sister-in-law Lori Cummings leased the Stadium neighborhood space that formerly housed Cafe By The Bay at the end of July. By the end of September, they hope to open a 40-seat restaurant at 229 St. Helens Ave. The restaurant will be called Bayview.

Joel Cummings is the former kitchen manager of The Spar. "I was leery about opening a restaurant now," said Cummings. He wanted a small space in a good neighborhood, like Stadium. He and his partners looked at the same spot 18 months ago, but took a pass because the terms were too high. When it came back on the market with better terms, they jumped.

The menu will be something like comfort American food said Cummings. "It's good food that I like. It's going to be fresh soups, salads, pastas, seafood, lots of specials during the week -- good home food, like pot roast and meatloaf. Fresh stuff and healthy stuff, no fried stuff except (French) fries. It will be good food for a good price," said Cummings.

He said the 40-seat restaurant will be open daily, except Sunday, for lunch and dinner. He's hopeful foot traffic will mean the success of his place. That, and the deck. "Nobody knows this and the previous owners didn't market it, but I've got a deck that I'll push in the summer time. Easily 40 people could sit out there comfortably and it has a great view," Cummings said.

If all goes as planned (and it rarely does), look for the restaurant's soft opening in late September.

Details:

Bayview, 229 St. Helens Ave.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sundays.

Caveat: I initially identified Bayview as a Stadium restaurant when I posted this. TNT Diner reader Jacob says it should be identified as the St. Helens district. I've considered that neighborhood Stadium or at least Stadium annexed for the 30 something years I've lived here. Ahem. Maybe an old timer thing. What do you call that little area of restaurants where Bayview, The Hub, Doyle's are? Stadium? St. Helens?

This story was originally published September 3, 2008 at 10:22 PM with the headline "Coming to St. Helens: Bayview Restaurant."