Buzz Bomb Brewing Co. has been a downtown anchor since 2018, but co-owner Josh Flanders said the hobby-turned-business has reached “the end of the line, unfortunately.”
Flanders, Benjie Gines and Bill Larson launched the business at 406 E. Adams St. in downtown Springfield after building a following via the Prairie Schooners Homebrew Club. The group took part in the 2016 Springfield Oyster & Beer Fest and “the public reaction was really positive,” Flanders said.
The business quickly became known as more than a place to grab a beer, hosting everything from live music and karaoke to trivia and game nights. Buzz Bomb garnered many awards and accolades, and was recognized in various categories each year for Illinois Times’ Best of Springfield awards: best beer selection, best bartender, best happy hour, best place to go downtown.
But Flanders said the business never completely recovered from the pandemic in 2020, and the devastating Adams Street fire last year only compounded the problems.
“Some of it goes all the way back to the pandemic,” Flanders said, noting that “a full 20% of our business never returned after that” as remote work emptied out many of the downtown offices.
“We did our best to adjust and bring down expenses, and we were making some positive headway,” he said. “The fire really derailed that. And the economy hasn’t been great, so that isn’t helping, either. This November, business was down 20% from last November, and when you’re barely scraping by, that doesn’t work.”
Despite the challenges associated with operating a business downtown, Flanders said there are no plans to relocate somewhere else or launch any new ventures. He said he and the other business partners will “most likely” list the building for sale soon.
Taste of Seoul, the Korean fusion bistro located in the upper level of the building, will also close at the end of the month. Owner Kimsimone Manning has operated the restaurant since January 2024, when it originally opened under the name Seoul 4 Soul.
“One of the things we’ve prided ourselves on is working with other downtown businesses. We wanted to make downtown better,” Flanders said. “We set up the arrangement with (Taste of Seoul) so that they could reuse our infrastructure. Without Buzz Bomb being open, they’d have to completely retool a lot of the back office stuff to continue to operate.”
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Flanders said Buzz Bomb’s last day of operations will be Dec. 31, and a New Year’s Eve party is in the works.
“We have loved everything we’ve shared with the community over the past eight years,” he said. “Hopefully people will come in and spend as much time as they can before we close. That will also help us pay some of the bills – it’s a win/win.”
I got my first experience of playing open mics at Buzz Bomb, Joel Honey was a tremendous host, and Buzz Bomb, and its patrons remain the most welcoming group of people for a budding artist to perform for. I was looking forward to playing there more, sad to hear this news