What’s the new restaurant that wants to open in Belleville after franchise closure?
West Belleville may be losing a beloved franchise restaurant known for burgers and wings, but a member of the family that ran it for 15 years is hoping to give customers a local business in its place.
Jim Grindstaff, of Shiloh, hopes to open a new restaurant at 6980 W. Main St. in Belleville, following the closure of his family’s Jefferson’s Restaurant franchise and pending an application process for licenses to operate.
“I didn’t want to see another business in Belleville close, especially one I started in 2006,” Grindstaff said in an interview on Saturday. He added that he wanted a place for Jefferson’s employees to go, including some he hired more than a decade ago.
He co-owned Jefferson’s until July 2020, when his mother and brother took over. At the same time, he took sole ownership of the family’s other restaurant, Jack Nolen’s in Soulard, named for his oldest son Jackson and his nephew Nolen.
Grindstaff wants to call the new West Main Street restaurant AJ’s Smashed and Smoked for his daughter Allison Jane and for the smashed burgers and smoked hot dogs that it would serve.
He said he’s enjoyed running Jack Nolen’s in part because he can come up with new menu items, something he couldn’t do at the franchise.
“I’m a food fanatic,” he said. “I eat, breathe and live this stuff. I dream about it.”
The Belleville Jefferson’s was the last location in Illinois after the Mascoutah franchise closed. Its last day of business is Tuesday.
There are 30 other Jefferson’s locations across five states, including in western Missouri and in Tennessee, according to the company’s website. Their menus feature wings, burgers and oysters, and they hang dollar bills decorated by their customers from their walls and ceilings.
Grindstaff said his plan is for the dollar bills to stay if he can open a new restaurant, but it won’t be able to serve wings or the ranch dressing customers are familiar with because of an agreement with the Jefferson’s company.
He said he’s heard from longtime customers who, like him, are sad to see Jefferson’s go but excited about the possibility of a new restaurant.
“There’s a sadness, but there’s a lot more excitement about what’s to come,” he said of the community response. “They want to see something stay in Belleville or something new in Belleville.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
