Irish eyes will be smiling soon in Downtown Alton.
There has been sepculation that a new Irish style bar is coming to downtown and it is true. Soon, renovation of a location at 200 State St. will begin and a touch of Ireland will invade the bar/restaurant area.
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Lisa Morrison and her partner, Mary Vankirk are preparing to close on the building in February at 200 State and renovations of the property will begin for hopefully a spring opening.
Mary Vankirk said there will be a lot of remodeling done at the new bar/restaurant.
“We are very excited to be a part of the Alton community.”
Katey Vankirk and George Thayer will manage the restaurant/bar and kitchen together and admitted they too, are excited to begin their quest.
Morrison and Vankirk both have Irish heritage. The two have brought back memorabilia from Ireland and will decorate the bar in that fashion.
“If you look up at the Temple Bar in Dublin, you would be amazed at the similarity of our building structure,” she said. “We will have lots of decorations from Ireland.”
Morrison and Vankirk plan to have traditional Irish food, bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie and even Guinness ice cream, along with some traditional food. The women will also serve hamburgers and lamb burgers.
Drinks will be an Irish variety of whiskeys, stouts and about 16 beers on draft.
A person is even committed to performing some Irish music for the two women at the new pub.
“We hope to be open sometime in April,” Morrison said. “We would love to be open before then, but I don’t think it is possible.”
