Prodigy Burger Bar’s growth plans include two former Stacked Pickle sites

Prodigy Burger Bar, which changed ownership earlier this year, plans to open as many as three new restaurants this year, including two at sites previously occupied by the now-defunct Stacked Pickle chain.

Those expansion plans begin this weekend, when Prodigy opens a location at 8923 S. Meridian St., in the Meridian Marketplace shopping center just north of County Line Road. The restaurant will be Prodigy’s second in the Indianapolis area and third overall.

Next on the list will be spots formerly occupied by Stacked Pickle: near the IUPUI campus at 910 W. 10^th St. and at 4335 W. 106^th St. in Carmel.

Stacked Pickle, an Indianapolis-based sports bar chain, shut down all 10 of its locations earlier this year. The 10-year-old company’s president and CEO, former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett, said in May that the uncertainty and loss of business caused by the pandemic forced him to close.

Prodigy purchased the furnishings and equipment at the two former Stacked Pickle locations. Exact opening dates for those two locations haven’t been set, but the goal is to open them this year, said Stephanie Hooper, marketing director for Prodigy’s owner, O’Reilly’s Holdings LLC.

Indianapolis-based O’Reilly’s purchased Prodigy in February from Jeremiah Hamman, who opened the first Prodigy location in October 2017 at the Clay Terrace shopping center in Carmel. A second Prodigy location opened in Kokomo in 2018.

Keith Reilly is the majority owner of O’Reilly’s Holdings, which also has a number of other investors, including David Castor.

In addition to Prodigy, O’Reilly’s also owns three other food-service entities. Its original brand, O’Reilly’s Irish Pub & Restaurant, opened its first location in 2006 at 36 S. Pennsylvania St. downtown. The pub also has locations in Speedway and Fort Wayne.

In March 2019, the the holding company also acquired TwoDEEP Brewing Co., a microbrewery and brewpub at 714 N. Capitol Ave. In November, it acquired Detour American Grille at Geist.

The south-side Prodigy opening this weekend is in a former O’Reilly’s pub location that the company decided would do better as a Prodigy.

And because they’re so bullish on Prodigy, the owners plan to open several additional locations over the next few years.

“It’s the strongest brand that we have,” said Hooper, who also serves as TwoDEEP’s general manager.

Prodigy’s menu includes build-your-own burger options with toppings that include everything from fried eggs to grilled pineapple to peanut butter, along with more traditional toppings like cheese, lettuce and tomato.

The menu also includes seafood, steaks, salads, sandwiches and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic milkshakes.

O’Reilly’s has not made changes to Prodigy’s menu or management staff since taking over ownership, Hooper said.