Hi-Lo BBQ OUT, Lazy Bear IN on 19th Street

Big news over in the Mission: after only a little more than a year in business, Scott Youkilis' Hi-Lo BBQ is on its way out. The restaurant struggled in its early going, earning a Bauer pan that resulted in the departure of chef Ryan Ostler, but after it changed focus to a more upscale concept under Youkilis' Hog & Rocks chef, Robin Song, and added a bar, it apparently became profitable. Nonetheless, as Inside Scoop reports, the team received an offer it couldn't refuse, from David Barzelay and the team behind acclaimed Mission underground restaurant Lazy Bear, and decided to sell up. "It's what we decided was best for the group," says Youkilis, who's also undergoing the pricey renovation of fire-displaced Maverick, which has now been closed for four months and counting.

The plan is for Hi-Lo to stay open for the next 90 days, until its liquor license transfers over to Barzelay and his partners. That would put a closing date around May 22. As for Barzelay, the former lawyer who staged at Commonwealth and other top spots before hosting one of the city's most sought-after secret dinners, he's staying mum on whether the new concept will be Anagram, the restaurant he originally sought funding for in 2012, or something entirely different. Back then, he was hoping to do a menu similar to Lazy Bear's upscale offering, "with a wider range of refinement and pure deliciousness," but that could have shifted by now. Meanwhile, Youkilis and his partners say they'll continue to explore new concepts and locations for another restaurant or bar.

· The Mission's Hi Lo BBQ sold to Lazy Bear team [Inside Scoop]
· Hi-Lo BBQ Launches New Menu, Drops Lunch [~ ESF ~]
· Lazy Bear Aims to Go Brick-and-Mortar with Anagram [~ ESF ~]