YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
by Karen E. Culp
SBJ Staff
It's been Hot Rods and the Oh-Zone, and is known to longtime Springfieldians as the Barth's building, and now a brother-and-sister team hope to open Ezar's Grill and Spirits in the building at 154 Park Central Square.
Bryan Hanna and his sister, Gina Hanna, hope to open the steak-and-seafood restaurant and a third-floor club in four to six weeks. The Hanna family has been in the restaurant business for a long time, Gina Hanna said.
Gina Hanna is now the manager of Aussie's Oyster Bar and Grill, and Bryan Hanna ran his own restaurant near San Antonio, Texas.
This project is family-financed, Gina said. The Hannas have formed a corporation, the Hanna Corporation, to oversee the operations of the restaurant. The Hannas are now working on renovating the interior of the building to fit their needs.
"We want to restore a lot of the hardwood floors and work with a lot of the historic elements of the building," Gina Hanna said.
The family decided to open a downtown restaurant because of the emphasis they saw on restoration of downtown. Gina Hanna had been involved in the start-up of Aussie's, which is now over 3 years old and "here to stay," Gina Hanna said.
"A lot of people have asked us if we're worried about the fact that Springfield has so many restaurants, but when we started looking around down here, we found there are not a lot of places for lunch," Gina Hanna said.
The restaurant will have a lot of greenery and a "tropical-type feeling," Gina Hanna said. The menu will be varied, but will feature grilled items and seafood prominently.
Bryan Hanna will be the chef at the restaurant. Bryan Hanna worked as a chef for Bonniebrook Park in Branson. Gina Hanna will handle the wait staff, marketing and day-to-day operations of the restaurant. Bryan Hanna's wife, Deena, will also be involved in the restaurant, perhaps as a hostess, Gina Hanna said.
The building is 16,000 square feet and all of it will be used, including the basement, which will probably house a secondary kitchen, Gina Hanna said. The upstairs club will have side access only and will be targeting the "young professional age group," Gina Hanna said.
"We want a place that offers entertainment for a little more mature group. There just aren't a lot of places catering to that crowd, and we want to provide a fun place for them to go," Gina Hanna said.
Right now, the Hannas are painting and cleaning, and they have already taken down the giant jukebox decoration that had been in the building since it was Hot Rods.
The family is looking to make some improvements to the outside of the building, if they can get the necessary approvals from the city. They would like to put up an outdoor sign and clock, and would like to provide a third-floor outdoor dining area.
The third-floor club will have a safari theme, Gina Hanna said. "This is a really big area for hunting and fishing and outdoor activities, so hence the safari theme for the club," Gina Hanna said.
Bryan Hanna said he has a strong focus on consistency, and he will carry that through with this new restaurant.
"If you get something here once, you can rest assured that it will be the same the next time, the same quality and prepared the same way. I'm a stickler about that," Bryan Hanna said.
The family plans to open both the club and the restaurant at the same time.
"We want this to be a fun, casual place for young adults and families. We also want to be especially focused on the lunch crowd and on giving the people down here a quality place to go for lunch," Gina Hanna said.
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