Springfield restaurant known for chicken, fish bringing back regular dining hours
Summer has yet to officially begin but fans of MJ’s Fish and Chicken Express have reason to turn their attention to autumn.
Owners of the local business confirmed plans this week to once again offer regular dine-in hours at the popular 716 E. Enos Ave. eatery beginning in the fall.
It’s been two years since husband-wife team Jerome and Margaret Taylor scaled back operations to only offer catering and the occasional pop-up event. The Springfield couple cited staffing difficulties for the decision at the time.
Margaret Taylor said the plan is to have lunch and dinner hours.
Jerome began frying for the public in 2014 when he opened MJ’s Fish and Chicken Express as a food trailer at 11th Street and South Grand Avenue East.
Three years later, MJ’s found a permanent home in the Enos Park address when the Taylors purchased the former Suzi Q’s building with the help of tax increment financing money from the city.
Restaurant review MJ's makes a tasty pork-tenderloin sandwich that fills a plate
New food truck
Potbelly Sandwich Works is hitting the streets of the Capital City, just months after entering the Springfield market with its first brick-and-mortar store.
A food truck for the Chicago–based sub shop will launch with various downtown destinations before venturing to the city’s west side.
Operator Rob Wilbern said a weekly itinerary for the food truck will eventually be posted online. But the first week's lineup includes stops at Second Street and Capitol Avenue (May 20-23), outside Horace Mann at 700 E. Washington St. (May 23) and the Howlett Building at 100 E. Edwards St. (May 24).
More: Popular fast-food restaurant returning to Springfield while new dining concept opens
The truck's first west side appearance will be May 28 and 29 at Memorial Care on Koke Mill at 3132 Old Jacksonville Road.
The food truck will serve a limited menu of eight signature sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
You can find where the food truck will be every week online at potbellyfoodtruck.com.
The rolling kitchen is actually the original Potbelly food truck from Chicago that was overhauled before bringing the “best handheld eats” to Springfield’s streets.
Local franchise operator Rob Wilbern opened the first of what is expected to be multiple Potbelly Sandwich Works stores in the Springfield market on the ground floor of the Memorial Learning Center on the Memorial Health campus in March.
Mod Pizza leaves Springfield
MOD Pizza has shuttered its only Springfield location – adding to more than two dozen sites the fast casual pizza chain has eliminated this year.
The business at 2401 Wabash Ave. closed April 24 on the heels of a Sangamon County Circuit Court ruling a week earlier for the company to vacate the property.
The ruling also awarded the Maryland-based landlord NikJef Realty just under $38,000.
Representatives for the Seattle, Wash.-based MOD Pizza confirmed the closure marks a permanent departure from the Springfield market for now.
“Despite the best efforts of the team, the restaurant had underperformed for some time,” MOD Pizza spokesman Rick Van Warner said via email. “This was strictly a business decision.”
The departure comes after the build-your-own pizza brand closed 25 corporate-owned sites in the first quarter of 2024, also citing underperformance as the cause.
More: Popular BBQ returning to Springfield at new location after closing last year
Eliminated stores were located across 10 states and the District of Columbia. Another franchise-owned store also closed in Atlanta during this time. MOD Pizza continues to operate more than 500 locations globally.
The fast-casual pizza chain shared the newly constructed building on the southeast side of the White Oaks Mall campus with Mission BBQ.
The made-on-demand ‘za brand closed just shy of its third anniversary.
Summer tacos are back
El Taco Guapo kicks off its summer season at Lake Springfield Marina May 24.
The seasonal eatery is back at Lake Springfield from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
El Taco Guapo returns with fan favorites like brisket birria tacos, Guapo nachos and street corn. The chips and salsa appetizer has been eliminated this year, but Chips Mexicali – nachos chips with queso, guacamole and salsa – is still on the menu.
Live music will be available every Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.
This is the first year El Taco Guapo will have two locations with the newly opened site in The Railyard.
Special menus
Luminary Kitchen & Provisions is crafting two special upcoming event menus.
A spring tasting menu will be served May 25 as a dine-in event at the 3121 Hedley Road establishment and a birria taco carryout event May 30.
The spring tasting menu features a five-course meal. Cost is $82 a person. Wine pairings – featuring wines from small Italian towns – are available for an additional $28.
The menu features morel mushroom ramen, spring green goddess pizza with fresh peas, avocado and pine nuts, asparagus cacio e pepe, bass poached in lemon and olive oil and, for dessert, almond cake with roasted strawberry and goat cheese ice cream.
Call 217-679-1819 for reservations.
The taco carry-out event will be available for pick-up May 30 from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
The package includes birria tacos with choice of beef or oyster mushroom filling, chips and roasted tomato salad, elote macaroni and cheese, Mexican salad with avocado, black beans and a cilantro-lime dressing. Coconut tres leches cake for dessert. Orders can be placed online at luminarychefs.com/events.
The A La Carte column highlights restaurant openings, closings, renovations and relocations, as well as personnel changes and business news. Natalie Morris can be reached at 217/737-7254 or by email at natalie.sjr@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: MJ's Fish and Chicken Express bringing back dining hours in Springfield
