Backwoods Bar and Grill reopens at new location
A ribbon cutting with Backwoods Bar and Grill staff, city and chamber of commerce representatives and community members celebrated the restaurant’s reopening just 20 days after the previous location on First Street closed. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
Backwoods Bar and Grill reopened at its new location at 238 Main St., in McGregor, on Dec. 26. Owners Kari Waterman (left) and Janet Hallberg stand behind the bar made by Kari’s husband, Andy, which is one of many unique touches in the building. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
The new Backwoods logo was hand burned into the bar top by Mary Anderson, and is one unique touch in the bar and restaurant's new space. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
Backwoods Bar and Grill reopened at its new location at 238 Main St., in McGregor, on Dec. 26.
A ribbon cutting with staff, city and chamber of commerce representatives and community members celebrated the event, which came just 20 days after the restaurant’s previous location on First Street closed. That building is slated for demolition in the coming months.
When news broke last year that the spot Backwoods had occupied since 2016 would no longer be available, staying in McGregor was a priority, said Kari Waterman, who now owns Backwoods with long-time employee Janet Hallberg.
“We had built ties here. We had our extended family—Janet and all of her family, they all worked with us. We’ve gotten to know so many people here that it would have been hard to leave this town,” Waterman shared. “We looked at a place in Elgin and we talked about Volga, but I said, ‘If McGregor isn’t gonna work, we’re done.’ There are just so many good people here that we didn’t want to leave everybody.”
The group considered several other locations in McGregor, but none had adequate space for dumpsters and a smoker. The building at 238 Main St. did. It wasn’t for sale at the time, but they approached the owner to gauge his interest.
“We lucked out. Otherwise, I don’t know what we would have done,” Waterman said.
Backwoods took possession of the building at the end of September, and immediately got to work transforming it from what was Cabin Fever Soaps into a bar and restaurant.
Kari’s husband, Andy Waterman, “was already in here that weekend building the bar,” she said. “But he already had wood precut at home because we knew we were going to buy it, so he had stuff sawed and drying and was just waiting to get in here.”
Along with the bar—which features a unique beer tapper and foot rail crafted by River Town Ironworks in Prairie du Chien, Wis., and new logo hand burned into the bar top by Mary Anderson—Andy built Backwoods’ wooden tables.
“He made the tables out here [in the bar], and we moved some of the tables that he made from the other place into the dining room. But, yeah, he did everything out here. Then he put the kitchen together,” Hallberg noted.
Having those personal touches, “means a lot,” said Waterman. “He’s got a lot of time and energy put into it.”
Backwoods staff and owners appreciated the chance to make the space, which includes separate bar and dining areas, their own.
“This is us here. It’s unique, and it’s what we are,” Waterman shared.
“It’s been a long couple of months, but it all came together through blood, sweat and tears,” Hallberg added.
The two acknowledged there will likely be some kinks to work out as staff adjust to the new space. But patrons can expect the same friendly faces and menu as at the previous location. The popular trivia, held at 7 p.m. on Thursdays during the winter, returns on Jan. 8.
Backwoods may “try some different stuff” in the summer, the owners teased. That could include staying open later on Fridays and Saturdays and operating as more of a bar.
“Being on Main Street, I think we’re going to have a bit more of a bar crowd in the summertime, which would be good. People like to tour around. It’s the same with the restaurants. You need the variety,” Waterman said.
Hallberg appreciates how McGregor businesses and community members work together to support one another.
“When we were more of just a restaurant, we would send people up the street to the bars when people wanted to stay out. Then when they were at the bars, people would send them to us in the restaurant to get something to eat,” she said.
The outpouring of support at the ribbon cutting, and from those who have stopped in to Backwoods since it reopened, means a lot to Waterman and Hallberg.
“All the feedback and comments since, it makes it all worth it,” Hallberg said.
Follow the “Backwoods Bar and Grill” social media for more information.
