Moonshine Sports Bar to open on West Sunshine Street in early July

A new sports lounge is planned for Springfield’s west side this summer. 

Entrepreneur Brian Lahman says he plans to open his Moonshine Sports Bar LLC sometime around July 1, with a grand opening roughly two weeks later.  

“I love sports,” Lahman told Springfield Business Journal on June 2, “and wanted a little bit of sports theme in there with a rustic, vintage feel… a place where people can come and chill.” 

In the future, Lahman said, he’s looking into registering a fictitious name that includes the word lounge due to the upscale theme of the place. The bar goes by the Moonshine Sports Lounge moniker on Facebook. 

Moonshine Sports Bar is located at 1326 W. Sunshine St. in a 1,000-square-foot space owned by Tamara Ridgway, according to Greene County assessor records. Lahman said he recently entered into a five-year lease with Ridgway, for undisclosed terms. According to Lahman, Ridgway owned a bar called Sunshine Saloon in the space for two decades and supports his new venture. 

Lahman said his investment to start up Moonshine Sports Bar is roughly $45,000.  

Lahman’s vision for the place is less bar or nightclub and more of a sports-themed lounge, he said.  Moonshine Sports Bar will be a “bougie rustic lounge,” in Lahman’s words. The ceiling has chandeliers, but the bar also has a 120-inch mega-screen, Lahman said. He emphasized the lounge will be welcoming for everyone, celebrating sports – especially football and college basketball.  

“I love college basketball, but I really, really love football,” Lahman said, noting Missouri’s strong Kansas City Chiefs fandom.  

“But we’re open to all sports,” Lahman said. “We want to encourage anybody that wants to watch a game or have an event or anything like that to let us know.” 

The grand opening in mid-July will feature live bands and a few vendors, Lahman said, and he plans for live music at least two to four times per month, as well as a food truck routinely on site to provide meals for Moonshine Sports Bar guests. Lahman said he’s in talks with food truck vendors, with no firm plans confirmed to date. 

Karaoke, bike nights, ladies’ nights are also among Lahman’s plans for theme entertainment at Moonshine Sports Bar. 

“My plan is to cater to everyone,” he said. 

It’s not the first bar venture for Lahman. 

Lahman’s career has included property management and sales in Springfield and other Missouri cities, according to his LinkedIn profile, and he said he was part of the ownership group for Bizarre Bar LLC, which operates two bars, one in downtown Springfield and one on West Olive Street.  

Bizarre Bar Director of Operations Amy Temple confirmed that in early 2025, Lahman sold his stake in that business to Dave Onescu and other members.