The long-awaited reopening of Springfield-staple J.O.B. Public House is slated for Wednesday, April 10, said co-owner Chris Brown.
The downtown bar, located at 319 E. Walnut St., will feature a selected food menu of J.O.B./Grad School favorites as well as a new whiskey-inspired cocktail menu, said Brown. The grand reopening will start at 11 a.m. and last until bar close, with food served until 11 p.m.
The public house hosted a soft opening for family and friends for three consecutive nights starting April 3. More than 300 people came through during the three days of the soft opening, Brown said.
The customers “seemed to be elated to be enjoying this space again,” Brown said.
In late-2022, J.O.B. closed following the sudden and unexpected death of its founder, Danny Schlink, according to previous Hauxeda reporting. Schlink was a magnate of the downtown restaurant and bar scene in the 2010s, launching Grad School, Primetime Bar and J.O.B. Public House.
At the end of 2023, a group of downtown restaurateurs purchased the businesses and the building, planning to reopen J.O.B. in the spirit that it was. Chris and Nicole Brown, owners of The MudLounge, along with Clayton and Anne Baker, owners of Finnegan’s Wake, Civil Kitchen and Tinga Tacos, closed on the purchase Dec. 29. Brown declined to disclose a total financial investment for J.O.B.
“I want to pay respects and thanks to Danny and all of his coworkers and peers that started Grad School, started J.O.B. and created this experience downtown that we’re able to, thankfully, keep going,” Brown said.
J.O.B. Public House will be open from 11 a.m. until bar close Wednesday through Sunday. Food will be served until 11 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. On Fridays and Saturdays, the kitchen will stay open until midnight, Brown said.
A menu full of favorites
J.O.B.'s food menu is selective, but packed with Grad School classics that the new kitchen crew has spent time recreating. Of course, there's the Full Ride, a two beef-patty burger with lettuce, tomato, carmelized onion, soft sharp cheddar and bacon, served with fries.
There's a few other dishes that Grad School customers of the past will remember. There's Micah's Chicken, complete with diced hand-breaded chicken covered in “sweet with a kick” house sauce and served with basmati rice. Then there's the Rasta Pasta, with a choice of protein and house red sauce tossed in penne. Main dishes cost $13 to $15.
Some appetizers will also be familiar. J.O.B. features its version of garlic bread, called G-Bread, as well as the fan-favorites Pizza Balls and Wings.
“I feel like our kitchen really excelled with very little practice” during the soft opening, Brown said. “A lot of that takes cohesion, communication and experience working together and they really pulled together and pumped out a lot of food in a short amount of time.”
Customers at the soft opening ended their dinning experience with a short survey. Brown said the crew took reviews and suggestions to heart, meeting after close each night to go over successes and ways to improve.
J.O.B. has 13 employees, with four kitchen staff and nine front-of-the-house.
“We wanted to just get honest feedback from our customers in relation to value, atmosphere, quality of food, how they remembered the food in the past and how it compared,” Brown said.
New whiskey-inspired cocktail menu
A whiskey bar isn't complete without a whiskey-inspired cocktail menu. The menu is a completely new addition to J.O.B.'s offerings. Coming up with the cocktails, and the comedic names, was a labor of love, Brown said.
“They’re a lot of different riffs on classic bourbon cocktails as well as other cocktails that feature different spirits,” Brown said.
There's the Zoom Meeting, featuring Four Roses bourbon complete with a coffee liquor and Coffee Ethic cold brew. There's the Office Crush, with Rittenhouse Rye, peach and black tea syrup, lemon juice and peach puree.
There's the Consensual Harrassment, featuring Amaro di Angostura, Basil Hayden and Tuaca with lemon juice, egg whites and Burlesque Bitters. The list goes on and includes Karen from HR, Smoke Break and Paid Vacation. Cocktails cost anywhere from $11 to $14.
Then there's the namesake, the J.O.B. Old Fashioned. It has two ounces of the ultra-rare Weller 12 Year, along with vanilla-infused Demerara and Xocolatl Mole Bitters. It's the most expensive drink on the menu, coming in at $25.
And if you would rather your bourbon straight, the bar has about 150 different types of whiskey, Brown said. Customers can also order from a wide variety of beer choices, including options from Mother's Brewing Company, Boulevard Brewing Company, 4 Hands Brewing Company and more.
While the soft opening definitely tested the crew, the experience was an overall positive one with only minor hiccups, Brown said.
Customers were happy “that they’re able to come back in and, you know, enjoy their memories and their experiences that they had here in the past,” Brown said.
