Ebbets Field weathered eminent domain, changing owners and bankruptcy. It closed Sunday

It felt like at least half of Springfield had the same idea on Jan. 5: Go to Ebbets Field, 1027 E. Walnut St., for a final hurrah.

Laughter, conversation and music echoed around the small Crafstman-style house that housed the pub for the last 20 years. People waited anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to sit down at a table, and even the upstairs was nearly full.

The bar on Walnut Street was busier than it had been for a while, but that didn’t change the fact that Sunday would be its last day in business.

Ebbets Field announced on Jan. 2 that the first week of 2024 would be its final week in business. Its doors are now closed.

Don't want to miss out? Stay in the loop with the News-Leader's Restaurant Roundup newsletter

'Nick Russo's Ebbets Field'

Restaurateur Nick Russo opened Ebbets Field on Cherry Street in Springfield in 1981.

At that time, Ebbets Field took reservations and eluded definition, serving pasta, soup and burgers in a blue two-story house, the interior converted to a restaurant and decorated with photographs and memorabilia from every spot imaginable, according to 1984 Leader & Press reporting. It became a spot for "people who like to be treated like they're eating at the home of a favorite uncle or brother" to stop in for a bite, from downtown workers to college kids.

The restaurant had been at 735 E. Cherry St. for more than 10 years when Missouri State University — then Southwest Missouri State University — invoked eminent domain to build a parking garage on the spot.

"I always heard about eminent domain; I knew it was a reality but it doesn't become a real reality until it gets into your ZIP code," Russo said in an interview with the News-Leader. "I fought the law, and the law won."

Though it was difficult and ended in the restaurant on Cherry Street closing in May 1994, Russo looks back on the situation with almost a sense of fondness, for a couple of reasons.

More: Return to work: Springfield restaurateurs plan to reopen J.O.B. Public House

"The situation involving the government, eminent domain, I think was a great opportunity for me to take a stand on something I wholeheartedly believed. It wasn't about the money," Russo said. "I don't know how many opportunities we get in our lives to stand up for something that you really believe in and have it displayed publicly."

The time between the Cherry Street location and moving to the Walnut Street location was also when he met his wife of 27 years, Jenny.

Russo ran the restaurant at 1027 E. Walnut St. until 2000, when he sold it to Lance Reeves. At that time, Russo left the restaurant business to "focus on teaching at Springfield Catholic High School," according to N-L archives. He ended up opening St. Michael's Restaurant and Italian Catering a few years later, and still teaches at Springfield Catholic High School.

For Russo, Ebbets Field's closure doesn't impact him as much as it once may have. The restaurant "has been in the rearview mirror" of his life for a while now.

"You never wanna see anyone fail, particularly someone or something that once upon a time was something very close to you. Ebbets Field remains very close to me, visually and emotionally, but not the Ebbets Field that it is today," Russo said. Instead, the version he holds close is "when it was Nick Russo's Ebbets Field. It's not a knock against the owners that proceeded me, it's not that it was better or worse — it was just different."

Restaurant changed hands multiple times in last 20 years

Since Russo handed off the reins, the Springfield staple has been through a variety of owners.

Lance Reeves, who took over when Russo left, operated the restaurant until 2010. Then Ebbets Field was bought by Swisshelm Group, a company owned by Springfield businessman Bruce Swisshelm. Swisshelm opened a second Ebbets Field location on Glenstone Avenue, which closed when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

From there, Pub Management LLC — a management group of Ron Baird, an attorney with Baird, Lightner, Millsap & Harpool PC, and Lynn and Terry Allen, who was the head football coach at Missouri State University — took over Ebbets Field, according to reporting from the Springfield Business Journal.

In 2018, a group led by Bryan Properties LLC purchased the restaurant. The group also included Scott Bailes, a former professional baseball player, former City Council member and former market development manager for the Springfield Cardinals.

"We felt like bringing it back to its glory days," Bailes said in an interview with the Springfield Business Journal.

In March 2022, Josh Widner of Good Spirits and Co. and Josh Sullivan of Fried Design Co. partnered together to manage Ebbets Field under Bryan Properties' ownership. Widner and Sullivan declined to comment on the closure.

A press release from Bryan Properties said closure was due to rising food and labor costs and "changing trends in consumer dining-out preferences."

"We are exploring several opportunities for the future, which include the possibility of another restaurant-bar," said Brad Gebhard of Bryan Properties in the press release.

Bryan Properties did not respond to request for additional comment.

Susan Szuch reports on health and food for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Ebbets Field closes after 40 years of business and challenges