Bolivar BBQ venture plans Springfield expansion

A 6-year-old Bolivar-based barbecue eatery is expanding south to Springfield with plans to open next month.  

Jake Lockhart, one of the owners of Curly Que Barbecue LLC, said he’s working toward an early April opening for the venture’s second location. The restaurant at 1450 E. Sunshine St. will be in the original home of Hot Cluckers LLC, a Nashville-style chicken restaurant that moved out of the 2,000-square-foot space after opening a south-side location in 2020, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. 

Lockhart said he co-owns Curly Que with his parents, David and Cindi Lockhart, noting his friend Jacob Mills serves as general manager. The Bolivar eatery launched as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2017 at 507 E. Maupin St. after starting as a catering business in 2012, according to company owners.  

The family signed a five-year lease for an undisclosed rate with CLB Apex Holdings LLC, Lockhart said, adding startup costs are estimated to be roughly $75,000.  

Springfield has long been a target for the restaurant, Lockhart said.

“It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” he said. “Even before we opened up the Bolivar location, we looked at locations in Springfield. It’s a great market and it’s a great community. We’re just looking to expand and grow.”

While noting his parents are starting to step back from day-to-day involvement in the company, Lockhart said he’ll be shuttling between both restaurants. He added Mills will help run the Springfield location, which will employ a staff of 15.

Like the Bolivar Curly Que, the Springfield menu will include barbecue sandwiches, burgers, chicken wings and appetizers, such as loaded fries and smoked spinach artichoke dip. However, Lockhart said some new offerings will debut in Springfield.

“There will be things served in Springfield that will not be in Bolivar,” he said of plans to serve fried chicken, burnt ends, handmade sausages and barbecued tri-tip. “Eventually, we’ll probably be moving a bunch of this stuff to Bolivar, but for right now it’s just going to be in Springfield.”    

According to past reporting, after Hot Cluckers moved in 2020, the Sunshine Street space continued to be used as a test kitchen for the restaurant owner Michael Felts’ various ventures. That ceased last year when the company was evicted from the location after property owner CLB Apex Holdings filed a lawsuit in September against it in Greene County Circuit Court. 

A circuit court judgment was issued against Hot Cluckers that same month, which stated CLB Apex Holdings could immediately assume possession of the property, according to past reporting. Court documents, which point to a money judgment of $4,663, indicate Hot Cluckers LLC “failed to appear or otherwise defend.”