The GOAT Pub and Grill, a new Rockford sports bar, expected to open this fall
Tom McDonald's favorite sport is football, and he hopes to have his new business, The GOAT Pub and Grill, a "sports and vintage bar" open by midfall.
The bar will be located in the space last occupied by North Main Bar at 1428 N. Main St.
McDonald, 37, of Byron, and his wife, Michele, already own two other bars — the Grant Park Tavern at 3015 Kishwaukee St. in Rockford and The Post Sports Bar & Grill in Winnebago.
The McDonald's $250,000 investment would likely be welcome in any number of locations in and outside of Rockford, but Tom McDonald said he was drawn to Rockford's North End Square.
"There's a lot of neighborhoods (Churchill’s Grove, Edgewater, North End Square and Signal Hill) around here, and I just feel like this place doesn't have a nice bar to hang out at anymore," he said.
More: Comings & goings: Businesses that opened, closed in the Rockford area in 2022
The approximately 2,500-square-foot space that McDonald is transforming has sat vacant for over a year since the closing of North Main Bar.
Recent improvements to the North Main streetscape and the parking lot in back added to the location's appeal. McDonald is hoping the extra-wide sidewalks out front will allow for patio seating.
"And they just did that nice mural on the Rockford Billiard Cafe," he said.
When it opens, the GOAT, short for Greatest Of All Time, will feature a newly constructed bar and an open kitchen where burgers, fries, salads, bruschetta and other dishes will be prepared in front of the customers.
McDonald said the changes to the business coupled with its likely 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. hours will help The GOAT tap into what he described as an underserved niche "where people can have a few beers and hang out with their buddies" in front of 10 to 12 TVs airing sports late into the night.
McDonald, a full-time firefighter in Schaumburg, said he got into the barkeeping business in large part thanks to his wife, an experienced bartender who has worked in Byron and Rockford.
"In 2015 or 2016, we wanted to do something to make some extra money, and it just kind of developed into this," he said.
Before it was the North Main Bar, the building was home to The Barn, a bar dating back to the 1970s.
McDonald has refinished the wood floors and restored the ceiling. He plans to keep the expansive ornate back bar and mirror and, if salvageable, and the farm-themed wallpaper on the bar's south wall.
"The place really has a lot of character," he said.
Elizabeth Schaer, owner of Rooted, a gift and home goods store at 1408 N. Main St., said The GOAT will be a welcome addition to the North Main Street business strip.
"We are so excited to have Tom here," she said. "We think it's going to be a really great addition to what we have going on down here and should add a lot more traffic to the area."
Artistic Director Epic Jones at the West Side Show Room theater, 1414 N. Main St., said The GOAT will provide a place for patrons before and after shows.
"It's going to be nice to have a neighborhood place to go to for a beer after rehearsal for the actors, too," Jones said. "If rehearsal gets out at 10 p.m. or a show gets out at 10 p.m., we can just walk over and hang out."
Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: The GOAT Pub and Grill expected to open this fall in Rockford
