HARDIN - The Barefoot Bar Restaurant in Hardin is about to make a monumental comeback. The Barefoot has been closed, but Brian Matthews and his sister, Kelly Sievers, and brother-in-law, Phil, purchased the restaurant’s name, recipes, and menu use from previous owner Judy Herter. Matthews said they had just closed on the restaurant deal on Tuesday.
The family has purchased the old Jersey Community Hospital Illini Medical Building on Water Street in Hardin and plans to renovate it into a restaurant. The building on Water Street is in “great shape,” Matthews said. The group will not use the old Barefoot location and believe the new setting will be perfect with the close proximity to the Illinois River and the Joe Page Bridge.
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The other positive is the building Matthews and his family purchased is built up to withstand levels reached in the 1993 Flood, the worst in Hardin history.
“The Barefoot has been a real landmark for Hardin,” Matthews said. “We are excited about it. We don’t know exactly when we will open, but it will be in 2022. We are hoping to have it open by Easter 2022, but we have a lot of work to do. The date to open will be really dependent on how we get supplies and the availability of equipment. We have to convert the old doctor’s building into a restaurant.”
Matthews stressed the recipes and menu that people loved from the old Barefoot will return and that includes the delicious fish fritters and chicken, two prime staples.
“We will have the same menu,” he said. “That is also exciting. This will be good for Hardin and Calhoun County. The county has been hit hard with the Barefoot’s closure. Each fall, a lot of traffic came through town and from the Illinois River to the Barefoot. I was an electrician for 23 years in St. Louis and I can’t tell you how many times when I told people there where I was from, the first thing they asked is that where the Barefoot is? It was one of the last trademarks of the county and we want to bring it back.”
The new location on Water Street has a better view of the river and bridge with a straight-line view,” Matthews said.
The best point of the new property is when floods occur, the new location should stay undamaged because of how it is positioned. The Barefoot building was ravaged many times with flood damage over the years and was one of the reasons for the ultimate closure.
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