While the Honey Fitz shut its doors last weekend, plans are already in the works for a new burger bar its owners hope will provide a new niche for Pleasant St. diners: live, after-dinner entertainment.

Fizz Ed'z - owned by childhood friends Richard Bransfield, John Cagno and Benedict Faletra - will offer food, drinks and nightly entertainment, including music and, eventually, stand-up comedy.

So far, the club is already booked solid until May, Bransfield said.

The trio also made plans to move into the adjacent storefront, home of New England Art & Framing, and would expand the club into the second building sometime after their initial opening. New England Art & Framing closed its doors this week.

Bransfield, who is also the principal at Linden School, said he and Cagno had been fantasizing about opening a restaurant since they were 18-year-old students at Malden High School.

He said the name referred to his over 20 years of coaching sports in Malden schools. 

“Malden is a place that means a lot to me, and hopefully, they rejuvenate downtown and maybe this ballpark comes in, because we're certainly like to be a part of that,” he said.

He joked that the trio wasn't looking to get into “a food fight” with other area restaurants - “there are some phenomenal restaurants in Malden,” he said – but to work with them to provide another incentive for consumers to spend the night out in Malden Center.

“Our hope is that people go to these phenomenal restaurants for dinner, and come here to dance and listen to great bands,” he said.

If all goes according to plan, the site should be open by St. Patrick's Day. 

Bransfield also took the opportunity to thank Honey Fitz owner Stu Mayerson, whom he called a "stand-up guy." 

"He is an absolute class act, and has been phenomenal (to us)," he said.