Center city eatery closes, another opens

Three months after opening, South & Walnut Bar & Grill has closed its doors at the high-profile downtown intersection that bears its name.

The Crafts family – Dan and Pam and their son, Daniel – opened the 4,000-square-foot restaurant Sept. 24 serving lunches to the business crowd and drinks late into the night. South & Walnut employed 14 part time at 400 South Avenue.

There was no answer this morning at the downtown establishment, and no staff members were on site at 10 a.m. – an hour before its published opening time. Attorney J. Craig Preston of O’Reilly, Jensen & Preston LLC, who served as registered agent for the Craftses’ company – Public House Hospitality LLC – referred comment to his clients. The Craftses could not be reached by deadline.

Four blocks immediately east, Qdoba franchisee Burrito Concepts LLC opened its fourth Springfield store Dec. 19, said co-owner Randy Allen.

Qdoba is the first tenant of the $1.5 million Campus Plaza Center at 401 S. Kimbrough Ave., the former site of a gas station, a telecommunications office and a bicycle shop during the last several decades. Allen said the buildings at the southwest corner of Kimbrough Avenue and Elm Street were razed and remediation work was completed before developer Morelock-Ross Builders began construction earlier this year.

The 2,550-square-foot Qdoba seats 70 and employs roughly 20, giving franchisee Burrito Concepts 100 employees across its four Springfield stores and nearly 250 employees in the 13-store system. The owners scrapped a rooftop seating design for its latest store due to structural concerns, Allen said.

Located between downtown’s central business district and Missouri State University’s main campus, Allen said Burrito Concepts is targeting professional and student groups. He said the center has 50 on-site parking spots, and roughly 6,000 square feet remain available for lease through Arch Watson Sperry Van Ness/Rankin Co. LLC. Watson’s listing courts retail tenants for $20 to $22 per square foot and claims more than 11,000 cars pass by per day.

Allen said Burrito Concepts has four sites on the drawing board for 2013 with negotiations under way for two Qdoba stores in Tulsa, Okla., one near Branson Landing and another in Bentonville, Ark. The franchisee topped $10 million in 2011 sales, and Allen expects to post a double-digit percentage increase this year, though he declined to disclose revenues. He said the company plans to be operating 16 Qdoba restaurants by 2014.