BURR OAK – Why would a couple with no bar or restaurant experience move to the small village of Burr Oak and open a restaurant in a restored downtown building?
Terry and Robyn Conklin opened Whiskey Creek at 230 S. Third St. this month, attracting customers with their great bar and good food two miles off U.S. 12.
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, Whiskey Creek opens Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 12:00 p.m.
On Sundays the doors are open from 11am to 8pm, with a special brunch available until 1pm, which is already enjoying great popularity.
Last Sunday we had egg panini, biscuit sandwiches, French toast with baked apple and homemade caramel sauce, biscuits and gravy, and cheese grits.
The doors are open until 10 p.m. on weekdays and until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Since there is no grill or fryer, the menu is simple and includes soups, sandwiches and salads.
Many of the foods are locally sourced and change depending on the season.
Fresh bread for paninis is available from a bakery in Vicksburg. Flatbreads are particularly popular.
The unique bar made of antique light wood offers Michigan beers on tap as well as specialty drinks.
Terry, born and raised in Burr Oak, had a strong desire to return to his small hometown. Robyn, from the Detroit metropolitan area, was terrified.
Terry, a supervisor at Consumers Energy Gas, and his wife moved back to the town where his father was a longtime school superintendent and was nearing retirement. “That didn’t happen,” he joked.
Bill McDaniels, a farmer from the Burr Oak area, began restoring the two-story brick building over a decade ago.
McDaniels found the bar, built by Brunswick in Grand Rapids in the 1870s, in a saloon in Colorado.
In 2010, the whole thing was shipped back to Burr Oak, where McDaniels commissioned a local craftsman to build a matching front bar.
Robyn said the buildings on the block were falling apart when McDaniels received a government grant and rebuilt them in 2012.
Over the years, McDaniels redid the floors, walls and tin ceilings at Whiskey Creek. “Everything was here,” Terry said. “Bill really loved the place and put a lot of work into it.”
The venue was used for events, but not permanently.
Robyn said: “It was basically a good opportunity that Bill presented to us and we took it and made the most of it.”
Terry said: “All we had to do was fill it with the equipment and tables and chairs and then get a liquor license.”
After the last bar in Burr Oak closed 20 years ago, there was no longer a liquor license. The village created a Downtown Development District to qualify for the special liquor license.
After the couple moved to the village to renovate Terry’s grandfather’s house, they decided to get involved in the community.
Terry served on the town council and is now on the school board.
Robyn is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Burr Oak Foundation. “We’re just trying to make a difference,” she said.
The Conklins found people with knowledge of the restaurant business to help them get started and hired local students as workers.
Terry said the village is proud of itself. “It’s been a long time since there were cars parked on the street in Burr Oak on weekends.”
The couple is renovating the upper floor to create their living quarters.
Out back, Robyn has created a quiet garden for customers where dogs on a leash are welcome.
Her six-month-old mastiff, Atlas, sometimes hangs out there.
Robyn said she’s gotten used to Burr Oak. “I like the quiet, I like the country. There are some things I miss, like good restaurants. We just eat our own food from the kitchen.”
Contact Don Reid: [email protected]
