Upper Deck to open in former Pairings spot

Travis Dibben, of Springfield, plans to open Upper Deck Sports Bar and Grill at the location, 318 W. Guin Road, in April. Renovations to the restaurant portion, which will seat more than 100, began in early March.

Dibben, 25, said he first became interested in opening a bar and dance club last November. He said he was looking for real estate to build on when he learned that Pairings was closing its doors.

Pairings owners Rebecca and Kevin Flynn shut down the restaurant Oct. 29 after a year and a half in business. The upscale eatery – inspired by the Flynns’ trips to northern California’s wine country – matched meals with wines, offering recommended wine pairings with each course.

Flynn told Springfield Business Journal last fall that the concept was slow to catch on in the Ozarks, where customers seem more focused on quantity than quality when dining out.

Before it was Pairings, the 6,000-square-foot, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired structure was the Flynns’ home for three years.

Dibben said he’s spending roughly $500,000 to renovate the existing dining area and add a three-story, 9,000-square-foot dance club to the building’s north side, where an outdoor deck looks onto a wooded hillside. Dibben said he purchased the building and surrounding land for roughly $1.3 million. The sale closed in early March.

Rebecca Flynn said she became acquainted with Dibben when he attended a Pairings farewell party in early November. Dibben left a note about buying the building on the front door.

“I had a couple of other people interested, but he was the most serious about it,” she said.

Dibben said he’s equipping the restaurant and bar on the building’s main floor with 10 to 15 plasma-screen TVs, an upgraded stereo system and a modern bar designed and installed by Shirestone Custom Countertops of Nixa.

Shirestone is also outfitting the bathrooms, which will include an exotically themed VIP bathroom in the club, Dibben said.

“Everything’s going to be top-of-the-line in the place,” he said. “It’s going to be real classy-looking.”

Rebecca Flynn wishes Dibben success in his endeavor, but she acknowledged that the metamorphosis has been tough. “It’s like losing one of your children,” she said of closing Pairings and putting the property up for sale.

The restaurant and bar, which will offer a variety of cuisine including wings, burgers and steaks, will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, Dibben said. Chef Wayco Yarber will assemble the menu for Upper Deck, which Dibben said will be competitively priced.

The restaurant will start serving later this month, but the dance club won’t open for another two or three months, Dibben said.

Club patrons will have to adhere to a dress code, and security guards will enforce a zero-tolerance policy for underage drinking, he added.