Entrepreneurs plan new concept, may relocate food hall

SBJ file photos

Good Spirits may relocate their Blackwell Hall concept after finding engineering and architectural issues at the former Bistro Market.

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Last edited 2:10 p.m., Sept. 18, 2018

An entrepreneurial plan to reinvent the former Bistro Market downtown may take a back seat to another idea.

Josh Widner and Jim Wilson, co-owners of Good Spirits Concepts LLC, are fast-tracking a new concept called Best of Luck Beer Hall that’s planned for 313 S. Jefferson Ave., the former downtown home of Mille's Cafe and Coyote’s Adobe Cafe & Bar.

Wilson said this morning Good Spirits is waiting on the city’s approval of construction permits before the bar inspired by European athletics can open by a November goal.

Wilson’s JJJ Development LLC in June purchased the building from Lakebuds LLC, which operated Mille’s and Coyote’s. Good Spirits is leasing the back side of the building from JJJ Development for Best of Luck Beer Hall. The front side is leased to Zayka Indian Cuisine, which in 2016 launched in 3,700 square feet of the 9,300-square-foot property.

Best of Luck Beer Hall will be a “European athletic club” with an indoor bocce ball court, beer served at three different temperatures, arcade machines and a full kitchen, said Wilson.

“It’s a totally different concept in Springfield,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Good Spirits business partners are wading their way through issues related to the Blackwell Hall venture they announced in May, Wilson said.

The concept is in the midst of a possible location change from the former Bistro Market, 401 South Ave., Wilson said.

Wilson said Good Spirits uncovered issues with their plans for the downtown building, where his company had planned to open the food and beverage hall this month.

"We ran into engineering and architectural issues doing our project in the building.  It is a unique concept with eight-10 kitchens going at the same time," he said. "There are no engineering or architectural issues with the building."

Other sites are being considered, Wilson said.

Plans at the former Bistro Market called on 10,000 square feet of interior space for 10-15 local and regional food, beverage and retail vendors, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Pyramid Foods’ downtown liquor and grocery store Bistro Market closed in summer 2017.