A facelift, fresh menu and new management team are coming to Ebbets Field.
The iconic restaurant on historic Walnut Street will stay under current ownership, but the day-to-day operations of the sports bar and patio will be turned over to the co-management teams of Good Spirits & Co. and Fried Design Company.
Joshua Widner, owner of Good Spirits and Co., and Josh Sullivan, owner of Fried and co-owner of Supper Co., aim to create a sports bar and patio experience that reflects the Springfield sports community, local university culture and an elevated hospitality experience.
“I remember growing up inside of Ebbets,” Widner said. “The past few months looking into this opportunity, and now developing it out, has been exciting beyond belief. Our partnership together, and then with the ownership group, is what will build a new renewed enthusiasm behind this brand.”
Ebbets’ program will tout a new, slimmed-down menu with a scratch kitchen, multiple draft beers and cocktails, frozen drinks, a new brand and a completely flipped interior with new, high-end technology for the sports crowds.
“The idea is simply to clean it up a little organizationally and get it marketed for what we know about the community today,” Sullivan said. “We’ve all grown up together and built bars and restaurant brands all over the region for all sorts of folks. This is our go at doing it for a place we’ve all grown up inside of. We’ve all been together for so long, this was just the natural progression.”
The plan is for Ebbets Field to be open sometime in March. Business hours will be Tuesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to bar close.
“We’ve always looked forward to working on a project like this,” Widener said. “We’ve taken aspects of some of our favorite spots around the country and created something comfortable and refreshing with the sports crowd, students and business crowds all in mind. With the emphasis on college students, the food and cocktail program will be approachable with few frills, but re-imagined and fun and interesting way. Nothing pretentious and something for everyone.”
Widner and Sullivan partnered on Sweet Boy’s Neighborhood Bar, which took over the location housing the prohibition-era cocktail and whiskey bar Scotch & Soda, the first brand the duo built together. Sweet Boy’s, located at 310 South Avenue, opened in June 2020.
Good Spirits and Co. also operates The Golden Girl Rum Club, Cherry Picker Package & Fare and Best of Luck Beer Hall. Sullivan’s companies Fried Design Company and Supper have helped to bring brands to life all over the city with clients like Mother’s Brewing Company, Big Whiskey’s and Brown Derby.
