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…Adding… WMAY…

The days of Boone’s Saloon are over, as new owners Mike Zengilani and Chris Stone are closing the popular bar and grill on College & Edwards to give it a re-branding.

The new venture will be simply called Boone’s. Zengilani will draw from his ten years of experience at Cafe Moxo to tweak the menu, while plans also include an expanded outdoor beer garden. Already considered one of the best beer gardens in Springfield, the new Boone’s will have more space in the garden, as well as video gaming.

Stone told me yesterday they’re dropping the Confederate dish names from the menu. That’s a relief.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 8:54 am

Comments

Rich, you and the rest of White Sox nation are going to love Len Kasper. He’s is top notch and a huge “get” for the Sox.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 8:56 am
Yeah, Kasper and DJ will be solid. I wonder who the Cubs are going to get now for TV.

Comment by Dutch Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:05 am
@47th, agreed. Big “get” for the Sox. Wish Kasper was doing TV and Benetti radio. Benetti is a rock solid play by play guy, but too often reverts to a hacky stand-up comedy routine. He wouldn’t have time for that in the radio booth.

Comment by BC Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:05 am
The Cubs are a dumpster fire at the management level.

Good on the Sox getting Kasper, a real treat, will be incredible on the radio, and pairing that with your Tee-Vee tandem, the White Sox will be the envy of all of baseball in media.

Cubs are regressing, all fronts.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:08 am
It sounds like Chris Myers from Fox Sports is considered to be the front runner for the job.

Comment by Get it Solved Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:15 am
CNN has an interview with Rick Pearson about Madigan up on the web now

Comment by Stu Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:19 am
I know there will be a COVID-19 thread later today, but when looking at the county level data I found the list of counties with the highest rates of death per capita — over the Illinois average to be a pretty telling indicator of how rural communities have contributed to the drive of unchecked community spread. Death as a lagging indicator means the discrepancy is going to get much, much worse and in many of those counties local jurisdictions still haven’t taken any action to enforce any of the mitigation efforts while local officials actively encourage violations of those efforts.

Comment by Candy Dogood Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:28 am
As a Cubs fan - the team should have moved Hughes out of the radio spot if that was a way to keep Len. His departure is a big loss for the broadcast team. But since I don’t get Marquee, I have little to worry about on that front.

Too bad you can’t get AM 1000 in central Illinois.

And while Boone’s food was good - if it starts to rival Moxo then I’m all in.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:29 am
I noticed this morning WMAY Newsfeed was interviewing the head Medical Doctor from HSHS St. John’s Springfield. I said a little prayer since it was in about the same timeframe that they interviewed Tom DeVore yesterday. I thanked God DeVore went into law and not the medical field with his it’s not about the winning theory.

Comment by Club J Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:37 am
A little scary down here in Southern IL this weekend - second firearm season - so every tree is holding a hunter. COVID is running rampant. BUT St. Clair county did take some decisive action on a couple of repeat violators and pulled liquor licenses. Expect more business for DeVore.

Comment by DownSouth Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:48 am
I’m a Sox fan. But it does seem more like it’s a Sox Colony rather than Sox Nation.

Comment by midway gardens Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 9:52 am
Downsouth,

At least hunting can be done in a socially distanced manner. Even 2 man teams can be part of each other’s pods (I seem to remember the buddy system being suggested when I was a kid–reinforced when one of my sister’s friends fell out of a treestand and had to crawl 2 miles until he could be found by someone who could help. He lived but never went out solo again).

Comment by cermak_rd Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 10:00 am
Just an observation. Went to Walmart yesterday for the first time since March. I would estimate about 80% of people were wearing masks and about 25% of them were walking around with the mask under their nose. Got out of there as soon as possible.

Comment by rabble Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 10:09 am
Still waiting for Rep Willis to resign her leadership position. She is collecting extra pay for being on Madigan Team, she should resign and return money

Comment by Realtalk9912 Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 10:16 am
I never noticed the Confederate stuff on Boone’s menu. Moxo food will be an improvement for sure. Boone’s had the best beer garden.

Comment by Original Rambler Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 10:30 am
My husband tells me which stand he’ll be in, sends me a text message when he’s safely buckled in, and tells me when to expect him back at the house. Good luck hunters! Be safe everybody.

Comment by Dog Lover Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 10:58 am
For nostalgia’s sake, hoping the new Boone’s includes some old Dairy Rose desserts.

Comment by WH Mess Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 11:26 am
I hope the Boone’s rebranding includes proper punctuation. The lack of an apostrophe in their name (”Boones”) always annoyed me.

Comment by Nick Name Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 11:30 am
Boones by any other name…

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 11:36 am
To Cool Papa Bell’s comment about no AM 1000 in Central Illinois. Anyway to stream it on cellphone if you don’t have Internet? Check out the AM 1000 website.

Comment by thisjustinagain Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 12:09 pm
Boone’s is great, I’ve been going there since Embree owned the place but I think their problems are a lot larger than the menu or dish names. With the Stratton, Howlett and Capitol all but deserted due to remote working, they’re unable to serve most of their daytime customer base. Add the COVID mitigation rules on top of that, and it’s a killer for any business in that location. I wish them luck, and hope they’re still in business when things get back to normal.

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 12:12 pm
Just saw that Cheri Bustos foolishly joined Dan Lipinski in voting against a House bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.

My first reaction is banned words.

My second reaction is that if Bustos is this out of touch with what the vast majority of Illinois voters including rural Illinois voters want on marijuana policy then it is no wonder she was such an abysmal failure as DCCC chair.

It is a shame she hung on to get reelected meaning the Dems will probably screw up the new map trying to create some snakelike abomination of a district to try to save her instead of following the voting trends to create a more sustainable Central Illinois college towns + Peoria Downstate district.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 12:59 pm
Shia Kapos:

“Illinois Reps. @RepLipinski and @CheriBustos are 2 of only 6 Dems in the U.S. House to vote against marijuana decriminalization.”

https://twitter.com/ShiaKapos/status/1334937077180456960

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 1:12 pm
“Just saw that Cheri Bustos foolishly joined Dan Lipinski in voting against a House bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.”

Me too. Very disappointing. Glad Lipinski will be gone and Bustos won’t be DCCC chair. Kudos to the US House passing historic legislation, and hoping this builds momentum for the next, very difficult steps.

Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 1:56 pm
Many people, including myself, refused to go to Boones because of the racist menu.

Comment by jimbo26 Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 2:18 pm
@RealTalk9912…

Your comment - and that mentality - is one of the many reasons the Illinois House needs a new Speaker. Leader Willis based her decision on what she felt was the right thing to do when faced with the realities of the recent revelations as to how business was being conducted by Madigan and close allies for personal and political gain. Isn’t that what leadership is all about? If the Speaker has a problem with that, he can certainly ask her to resign from the post.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 2:41 pm
@- thisjustinagain

You can’t listen to a radio stations free stream of an MLB game. That requires a subscription.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Friday, Dec 4, 20 @ 2:43 pm