Business & Tech

Niko's Closes, Jammy Buggars to Open Next Week

'Gastro-pub' to open on Tuesday with huge beer selection and creative menu.

In Lakewood, when one door closes, another one opens. Sometimes, in the same spot.

That’s the case with Jammy Buggars — a new, upscale burger joint — set to open next Tuesday at 15625 Detroit Ave.

The restaurant is located in the space most recently occupied by , until that restaurant closed in April.

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Owner Jim Sprenger didn’t change much to the interior — it’s still got the same soft colors with stylish décor. However, he’s added 20 taps for a complete beer experience (with brews that include Guiness, Harp and Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap).

“I come from a restaurant family,” said Sprenger. “We’re burger-and-fry people. I know that’s kind of played out. But I think the menu has that influence.”

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He hired experienced chef Robert Geul to craft the offerings.

“He’s put together a heck of a menu,” Sprenger said. “I hate to be called a gastro-pub, but that’s probably the box we’re in. It’s a chef-driven menu, with some creativity. I really had to have a burger.”

So he selected Ohio, grass-fed beef — with buns made locally at .

“It’s the burger I have ever had,” Sprenger added. “Of course, I am biased.”           

What’s in a name?

The restaurant got the name “Jammy Buggars” — which Sprenger says is British slang for “lucky individual” — from his mother, who is from Britain.

“I was looking for something new, something fun,” he said.

The son of a German immigrant (dad) and a Britain native (mom), Sprenger cut his teeth at his father’s burger joint near Toledo.

Sprenger said he worked at his dad’s restaurant picking up cigarette butts in the parking lot for a dollar a day. By 14, he was working in the kitchen. And when he turned 18, Sprenger was the restaurant manager.

Shortly after high school, he walked away from the restaurant business.

“I felt I had missed out on my youth,” he said, adding that he went on to become an engineer. “Then, all I wanted to do was get back into the restaurant business.”

Now, after a few years of dreaming — and a few more years of preparing — the restaurant is set to open. Sprenger has hired 13 people and said he is ready to go.

“We’re going to open up the doors and I hope the community welcomes us the way we want to welcome them,” he said. “I didn’t open this place to make money — I opened it to be a part of this community.”


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