Family-oriented, upscale restaurant/bar will have grand opening Friday

By DAVID COLBURN

News editor

The dream Joe and EJ Pickett conceived three years ago will become reality Friday when their new restaurant and bar, MacGregor’s, has its grand opening in downtown Marion.

The Picketts have spent more than a year renovating the former Suffield building at Main and 3rd Sts. Kari Cook has been helping since September. She’ll be training staff, tending bar, and assisting where needed.

“Joe and EJ are two of the most dedicated, hard working people I’ve ever met,” Cook said Monday. “They are so ready; this is blood, sweat, and tears their baby. They’re excited.”

Cook summed up the building’s transformation with one word.

“Wow,” she said. “I’ve been in the service industry for 21 years, and it is by far the most beautiful bar and restaurant I’ve ever seen.”

From hand-finished solid wood tables to a large bar and flooring wood dominates the décor.

“Pretty much everything in there has been handmade and repurposed from other stuff,” Cook said.

A signature item will be a “Rhino burger,” Cook said. Menu selections should have broad appeal.

“It’s the ‘suit everybody’ restaurant and bar,” she said. “It’s not a dive bar, it’s not over the top. That’s why we serve everything from burgers to hand-cut steaks, from draw beer to high end drinks. It is 100 percent a family atmosphere every night until 9 p.m.”

Full- and part-time positions are available for servers, bartenders, and kitchen help, but Cook said MacGregor’s is sufficiently staffed to start operating.

“We’ve got enough to get open and go for a good while,” she said. “We’ll be putting in some hours, but it’ll be worth it.

The restaurant will open at 4:30 p.m. Friday, and the bar will be open until 2 a.m.

The Picketts plan to eventually be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and will add a full patio and a banquet room. Live bands, billiards, and karaoke will be featured in the bar.