By Anthony Jameson
The Wildfire Bar & Grill has officially opened for business in Macomb. The location is situated next to the Dairy Queen and across the street from Wendy’s.
Wildfire Bar & Grill is run by Blake Kelly and Clare Weinrich. Kelly is an alumni of Western Illinois University. After working for seven years at Hometown Café with Weinrich, both decided to open their new restaurant. They brought several other employees with them from Hometown Café when they left.
Kelly spoke about the plan for the back of the property where there is a large garage area. “We want to construct a beer garden and additional seating. Opening the area for a full bar will be very important going forward.” He hopes the next project will be done in the next year.
The next question was about the liquor license. Kelly said that the City Council will approve their license at the next meeting. “It is hard to have a BAR and grill with no bar. We plan on serving beer, wine, seltzers, mimosas and bloody marys as soon as inventory arrives,” he said.
He was then asked how he felt about 928 W Jackson St. as a location. Recently, another restaurant had tried to open there and failed. However, Kelly didn’t seem phased. “We knew coming in that this location can be difficult. I knew the previous owner and he is a nice guy. It is too bad that things didn’t work out better for him. Wildfire is in it for the long haul, and we are just getting started.”
Wildfire Bar & Grill is open Monday-Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and serves breakfast all day.
