SoDoSoPa will become Victory Steakhouse

SMITHFIELD — SoDoSoPa, the downtown eatery, takes its name from the animated TV series "South Park."

For that restaurant's successor, owner Mike O'Dowd is taking inspiration from a piece of Smithfield's past.

"The name is Victory Steakhouse," he said in an email, explaining that the building at 146 S. Third St. was once home to the Victory Theater.

"We love the historic ties," O'Dowd said, adding that he also considered it a "victory to be able ... adapt into a new venture that we believe will help downtown Smithfield to grow."

To make way for the Victory, SoDoSoPa will close.

"Our last possible day open will be the end of the month," O'Dowd said. "We're gonna focus on lunch business until then as we try to deplete product. It's possible we may close before the last day if needed, but we will make that public quickly if we decide to do that."

O'Dowd said he did not know how long it would take to open the Victory. "We have some solid architectural plans that we will be presenting to get permits," he said, adding that the project would take some work. "We will be expanding into the old escape room and increasing our dining capacity."

O'Dowd said the Victory would offer high-quality cuts of beef along with a salad bar and full drink bar. "It'll be solid," he said of the menu.

O'Dowd said the change from SoDoSoPa to Victory Steakhouse would meet a need. "We need a nice local steakhouse in Smithfield, and we believe our downtown needs a solid destination for a great meal," he said. "We've been working on a plan for a total facelift of SoDoSoPa anyways, and as conversations happened, we found ourselves going this direction.

"Hopefully we can be a catalyst to bring more businesses and more customers downtown."

At last week's Smithfield council meeting, Town Manager Michael Scott said he had seen the plans for the makeover. "A really nice setup, a lot of nice seating, nice bar," he said. "So really excited about that renovation and those owners making that investment in the town of Smithfield and our downtown."

"Looking forward to dining there," Scott added.