ST. LOUIS — Bootleggin’ BBQ is expected to reopen, as Bootleggin’ Tavern, in a new space in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood by spring or early summer.
Co-owners of the restaurant and sports bar, Brenton Brown and Eddie Belter, opened the original location of Bootleggin' BBQ in 2015 at 1933 Washington Ave. in Downtown West. They stopped full service at that location in late December last year, shuttering it at the end of January in preparation for the move.
Brown told the Business Journal that he and Belter had been searching for new locations for the better part of a year. They got lucky a few months ago when their current investors, TJO Holdings of St. Louis, offered them a lease in a building it owns at 4501 Chouteau Ave. at Taylor Avenue, the former home of the Golden Grocer.
The new 2,500-square-foot space will have a concept similar to the original location downtown: a sports bar with 15 beers on tap and a Kansas City-style barbecue menu, with the addition of healthier menu items created to cater to a wider range of customers, according to Brown. The new location has a room that can be rented and is equipped with TV's capable of displaying slideshows and presentations.
Brown has been working on permit applications and applying for licenses to start build-out at the new site, located four blocks from The Grove and near Cortex, BJC HealthCare and Washington University. He said the new location is more in keeping with what the business partners are trying to accomplish: a more close-knit, “in-the-neighborhood” feel, with a wider range of food offerings, in addition to a more robust catering operation.
Read the full story on the St. Louis Business Journal website.