Edmund Babski was a mid-1900s boxer from Pittsburgh who, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, died in July 1950 from pneumonia induced by fractured ribs after allegedly being hit by a car earlier that year.
His lineage can be traced down to his great-grandson, Lansing developer Kris Elliott, who, along with business partner Chuck Schofield, co-founded the Lansing sports bar Edmund’s Pastime in 2010. Their restaurant company, Urban Feast, also operates Grand Woods Lounge and Dublin Hall in Grand Rapids, plus Thunderbird in Kalamazoo.
“The story, as I can best tell it, is that he threw a fight one time, and I think he paid for it with his life,” Schofield explained, referring to Babski’s alleged hit-and-run incident. “But he also had a little diner-type restaurant back in Pittsburgh. We kind of took that and ran with it.”
Originally situated downtown on Washington Square, Edmund’s Pastime closed in 2014. It returned for a brief stint in 2019 before shuttering again due to the pandemic. Elliott and Schofield have been discussing reviving the concept for the past few years.
On Nov. 12, Edmund’s Pastime opened to the public for a third time in a much larger eastside space formerly home to Arcadia Smokehouse. This time around, Schofield said, they’ve revamped the menu to include Italian offerings like pizza, pasta, house-made meatballs and sub sandwiches, as well as a Sunday breakfast service.
“When people mention Edmund’s Pastime, they’ll think tater tots and totchos,” Schofield said of the popular tater-tot nachos the restaurant was known for during its first two runs. “Those might still rear their ugly head, but we’re still deciding on that. This time, we went with a new menu that we thought would be economical but also allows us to make great food from scratch.”
The revised menu also includes burgers, salads, chicken wings and robust bar offerings like pitchers and specialty cocktails. It will continue to see some tweaks going forward, Schofield said.
The new space, which Schofield said is “about three times the size” of the previous one, includes a banquet room that can be rented out for private parties and events. The bar has already booked some live music on Friday and Saturday evenings.
“We’ve had three entertainers so far and have had really good reception for all of them. We also want to have things like book and motorcycle clubs, plus post-basketball-game get-togethers and other group events,” Schofield said. “For those, we’re not charging these astronomical room fees that you see around town. We’re charging $25 to $100 to cover our costs, and that’s it.”
In perhaps another nod to Babski, who was a prizefighter before boxing took a backseat to major national sports leagues like the NFL, NBA and MLB, Elliott and Schofield plan to showcase a range of sports matches on the bar’s TVs.
“It’s not just your run-of-the-mill Michigan sports bar setup,” Schofield said. “For one, the World Cup is coming, so we want to make sure all the soccer fans know that we’re going to be here for that. We’re also going to carry all the Olympic sports when they’re on, plus others like golf and Formula 1 racing. We’re really excited about having that kind of a theme to pair with our great food.”
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