Downtown Belleville restaurant and bar closes temporarily. Here’s what we know
As of Monday, Jan. 10, Big Daddy’s 618 has temporarily closed for “ongoing maintenance and sanitizing,” according to a Jan. 11 post on the business’ Facebook page.
The social media post and signage at Big Daddy’s state that the downtown Belleville bar will reopen Wednesday, Feb. 16, just in time to participate in the Downtown Belleville Mardi Gras Party.
I wasn’t immediately able to get in touch with owner Scott Schmelzel for comment. I’ll continue to try and reach him and provide more info when I have it.
Big Daddy’s 618 reopened in March after closing its doors for the winter in November 2020.
At that time, Schmelzel said it made more sense to close and that they were “losing more money by being open.”
They spent the down time renovating the restaurant and bar.
Schmelzel said last year they started making improvements during the first pandemic closure in March 2020.
“We renovated the bathrooms. We did some painting, we touched up the bar, we did some lighting,” said Schmelzel.
In November 2020, an exterior wall was replaced with a retractable door leading to the patio area. Industrial ceiling fans and sconce lighting were also installed.
Big Daddy’s 618 is located at 313 E. Main Street in Belleville. They will reopen Wednesday, Feb. 16.
For more information about Big Daddy’s 618, visit bigdaddys618.com or the Facebook page.
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 10:27 AM.
