Black Sheep coming to Glenstone Marketplace 

A fourth Black Sheep restaurant is slated to open later this summer at Glenstone Marketplace. 

The restaurant will occupy the building made of repurposed shipping containers, said Brad Thessing, co-owner of Glenstone Marketplace LLC with Kevin Guffey. The structure was home to Taco Habitat until its closure in February for nonpayment of $57,000 in rent.  

It is located at 3325 S. Glenstone Ave., in the parking lot of the shopping center that includes Natural Grocers, Petco and Designer Shoe Warehouse. 

Black Sheep – Glenstone LLC was registered with the Missouri secretary of state on May 9. 

Thessing said the building will suit Black Sheep well. 

“They’re going to redo it all and open it up, and it should be really neat when they’re all done with it,” he said. 

Mike Jalili, co-owner of Black Sheep with his brother, Billy, said the Glenstone location will be more similar to Black Sheep ASAP, the restaurant located at 2420 E. Sunshine St., than to its Black Sheep Burgers and Shakes locations in downtown Springfield and in Chesterfield Village.  

He added he hasn’t finalized the menu yet, but it will have a smaller burger selection and fewer fry options than the downtown and Chesterfield locations, and it will not have a full bar. He described it as a fast-casual restaurant with a drive-thru. 

Jalili said the first Black Sheep location, 209 E. Walnut St., is on the site of his former restaurant called  Bijan’s Sea and Grille. 

“We owned the building, and it was empty for the longest time, and I just wanted to lease it out,” he said. 

So, he put together a burger menu and offered potential tenants the chance to operate the burger restaurant while paying the lease price. 

“Nobody wanted to lease it, so I thought, you know what, we’ll just do it ourselves,” he said. 

That turned out to be a good decision, he said. 

Jalili said with Black Sheep, he strives for a restaurant with character and personality, as well as quality service. 

“All of that is important,” he said. 

Jalili added that he considers the new site a gorgeous building. 

“I always drove by there and said, ‘My gosh, I love this – I could live in there,’” he said. “I think it’s a cute little building. I’m very fortunate to have this, and of course thanks to Brad for allowing us to go in there.” 

Jalili declined to disclose the rental rate, but he noted the restaurant would not take much to get up and running. 

“I don’t want to change anything – maybe put some nice umbrellas out on that little balcony and do a little work inside. It doesn’t need much,” he said. 

He added that he thinks he can have the restaurant operational by late August: “If I move my booty a little bit.”  

In addition to Black Sheep, Jalili owns Char Steakhouse & Oyster Bar and Flame Steakhouse.