Nixa’s Main Street to soon gain new eatery

A concept that launched in Joplin nearly a decade ago is set to debut a second location later this week in Nixa.

Petros Haldoupis, who co-owns the forthcoming Nixa sports bar with wife Jacque, said he’s targeting a June 12 soft opening for Social BTB at 101 S. Main St. Haldoupis said he’s wrapping up hiring for the five-employee, fast-casual restaurant that includes counter service and a full bar, including 16 beer taps.

The menu will feature several hamburgers, including a vegetarian option, along with sandwiches, hand-breaded chicken tenders, salads and appetizers, such as fried pickles and fried cheese curds.

Haldoupis said he got the blessing from his longtime friend, George Michalopoulos, to open a sister location of Social BTB in Nixa. Michalopoulos opened the venture in Joplin around eight years ago, Haldoupis said.

“It’s not a franchise, but everything’s trademarked. The logo’s trademarked and everything,” Haldoupis said of the Nixa restaurant. “We’re doing the same exact menu, same exact food, same basic style of everything.”

Startup costs were around $35,000, Haldoupis said, adding he and his wife purchased the Main Street building in March from Mark and Pamela Anderson for $849,000. The building purchase was made prior to deciding to open Social BTB, Houldoupis said.

The restaurant fills 4,000 square feet on the building’s first floor, previously occupied by Reeds Spring Pizza Co., which shuttered last year. The second floor is leased by Main Event Center, an event venue that Breyton Cagle took over as owner last year, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. 

While the BTB component of the name stands for burgers, tenders and beer, Haldoupis said the moniker also has additional significance.

“If you want alcohol, there’s a button at every table. It’s got a circle around it, and it’s written ‘buzz the bar.’ Hit that button, as all the tables are numbered,” he said, which will signal to the bartender which customers are needing drink service.

Haldoupis said while he will likely be on-site at the restaurant “95% of the time,” his wife will continue working as a hair stylist at The Salon in Springfield. Social BTB marks his first time to own a restaurant, but he said he worked off and on at longtime Greek eatery, Papouli’s, which operated for 36 years in Reeds Spring before closing in 2019. Papouli’s was owned by his parents, Tom and Bessie Haldoupis.