Cousin Eddie’s Sports Bar and Grill has new owners and a new look.
Brothers Brandon and Erik Turley bought Cousin Eddie’s, located at 1951 W. Monroe, from Will Hoecker at the beginning of March. They then closed the bar and grill and went to work giving the place a facelift.
The Turleys recently reopened the refurbished Cousin Eddie’s. The renovations included everything from new flooring and fresh paint to the installation of seven new, larger televisions on the back wall and a scrolling LED sports ticker behind the bar. They also expanded the available streaming services for sporting events.
Benjamin Nelson, Cousin Eddie’s head cook, oversaw an upgrade of the kitchen, and the bar and grill has expanded its menu, adding new appetizers, burgers, sandwiches and salads.
“Springfield loves its sports and food,” Brandon Turley said. “Those are two very sure things around here.”
In the coming month, the brothers plan to begin work on renovating Cousin Eddie’s outdoor patio area.
Brandon, who is a graphic designer by day, has worked at Cousin Eddie’s since it opened in 2012.
“That place has become my ‘home away from home,’ in a sense,” Brandon said. “I have met and made many friendships and business relationships within those walls.”
He was working a couple nights a week as a bartender last November when he had his first conversation with Hoecker, who also is an owner of the Brickhouse Grill and Pub and Papo’s Café, about buying the bar from him and his partners. Brandon immediately contacted Erik about the opportunity.
“When he brought up the idea of buying Eddie’s, I knew the relationships he had with customers and the base that would be excited to see him take over and support us if we could make it work,” Erik said.
Erik currently works for Bunn Commercial and has experience in beverage equipment sales and service for food service chains and restaurants. Mike and Ticara Turley, Brandon and Erik’s father and stepmother, are silent partners in Cousin Eddie’s and hold a small ownership stake.
Brandon, who has worked in the restaurant industry since he was 17, said that owning a restaurant has always been one of his dreams.
“People want an experience when they go out,” he said. “Even if that ‘experience’ is just simply a full stomach and a smile on their face as they walk away. So being able to provide a person, people or family with that opportunity is something I love to do.”