Springfield's Greek Belly offers dinner and belly dancing; Bambino's starts renovations

Susan Szuch, Springfield News-Leader
·2 min read

This week in 417-area food news: Get dinner and a show at this local Greek place, a restaurant backed by Drake announces plans for a Springfield location, and a local Italian spot closes for renovation.

Get taste of Greek culture at Greek Belly event

Belly dancing and Greek food comes together at Greek Belly once again with "My Big Fat Greek Night." The restaurant at 320 E. Walnut St., will have special items on its lunch menu and three dinner seatings on Saturday, March 9. The coursed dinner menu, which will be released Monday, is $47 per person.

In addition to belly dancing, Chris Sarantakis will perform on his bouzouki, a Greek instrument similar to a lute. The event page also says there will be "Greek dancing and breaking of plates."

According to Greek Belly's Facebook page, the second performance is fully booked. However, people can still make reservations for the first performance at 3:45 p.m. or the third performance at 8 p.m. Reservations can be made by emailing greekbelly@gmail.com, messaging Greek Belly on Facebook, or calling 417-597-3382.

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Another chicken restaurant set to come to Springfield

Dave's Hot Chicken, a Nashville-style chicken restaurant, is looking to come to Springfield, according to a press release. It will be one of seven across two states owned by Nick Morgan of Morgan Food Groups.

There is no site decided yet and the restaurants will open "within the next few years," according to a company spokesperson.

Dave's Hot Chicken was founded in early 2017 by by Arman Oganesyan and classically trained chef Dave Kopushyan, along with brothers Tommy and Gary Rubenyan. It initially opened up as a parking lot pop-up but now has 140 locations in the United States and Canada. The company has a number of celebrity investors, including actor and rapper Drake.

Bambinos at 1141 E. Delmar St. will close for renovations on March 2. A temporary location will open at 405 W. Walnut St. in the second or third week of March.
Bambinos at 1141 E. Delmar St. will close for renovations on March 2. A temporary location will open at 405 W. Walnut St. in the second or third week of March.

Italian staple closes doors for renovation

Bambino's Delmar Street location will close Saturday, March 2, for renovations. Bambino's at 2810 Battlefield Road will still be open and a temporary location is also set to open soon.

The owners hope to offer takeout, limited dine-in and catering from a temporary location at 405 W. Walnut St. in the second or third week of March.

A kitchen expansion, parking lot improvements and a second floor for an outdoor patio and additional space are among the planned renovations for Bambinos on Delmar Street, according to previous News-Leader reporting.

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: Springfield's Greek Belly offers special dinner, dancing event March 9