Local restaurants head to Vegas

Photo courtesy Big Whiskey’s

Big Whiskey’s Las Vegas franchise restaurant opened Feb. 19.

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Open for Business: Whiskey Tango

Two local restaurant operators have plans for Las Vegas this month, and there’s sure to be whiskey involved.

The grand opening for Big Whiskey’s newest franchise store, located in Nevada’s largest city, is scheduled March 15, and the owners of the nearly year-old Whiskey Tango are scheduled to serve as guest speakers for a convention that inspired their south Springfield restaurant.

Franchisee Anthony DePasquale and his Henderson, Nevada-based Calant Capital LLC held a Feb. 19 soft opening for the Big Whiskey’s at Town Square Vegas, an open-air shopping and entertainment center on the south side of the Las Vegas Strip.

“Everyone in the Big Whiskey’s family is pumped for this store to be open,” said Austin Herschend, Big Whiskey’s president, in a news release. “It’s been a great experience for our entire team working with the Vegas team from the beginning.”

DePasquale’s company signed a two-store deal in June 2017.

Big Whiskey’s now has 11 restaurants, eight of which are corporate-owned. A Birmingham, Alabama, franchise restaurant is scheduled to open this year, and deals are pending in Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, according to the release. The most recent corporate-owned restaurant opened late last year in Nixa.

In separate Las Vegas plans, Whiskey Tango owners Karen and Stephen Williamson are headed to the city this month for the March 25-27 Nightclub & Bar Show. They’re scheduled to speak about their first year in business during a speech titled, “First-Time Attendee to Successful Bar Own — a One Year Journey.”

“This is the very show that, less than one year ago, solidified our decision to pursue our dream of opening our own business,” co-owner Karen Williamson said in a news release.

The couple attended the 2018 Nightclub & Bar Show ahead of the May opening last year of Whiskey Tango at 1111 E. Republic Road, Ste. 180. The Williamses renovated the former home of Parlor 88 in Gallery Eleven.