SPRINGFIELD – A classic prohibition-era bar and steakhouse has reopened and is serving updated specials to customers.
Mick and Mary’s, a neighborhood from-scratch kitchen at 310 E. Ebony St. in Thayer, reopened March 19 after being closed since Jan. 10 for renovations.
The restaurant, which is owned by brother and sister Josh Snodgrass and Ashley Cox, is back welcoming customers from all over central Illinois paying homage to the Thayer as well as their father, Dan, who was diagnosed with cancer in January 2024 and ultimately delayed some of the renovations.
Living by the motto “You can’t go wrong by doing the right thing,” there are now pictures of Dan Snodgrass on the walls of the steakhouse refereeing games over the bar and standing with family.
Snodgrass says he wants to honor his father in his business, his livelihood and make sure he continues to do right.
“Unfortunately, my dad’s situation presented itself and we didn’t have the mental drive to want to do it,” Snodgrass said. “These projects take away time from people you care about, so we didn’t want to do that to our dad.”
Other updates include a new roof, a new hood and exhaust system in the kitchen to go along with new kitchen equipment, a new coat of paint and flooring in the dining room.
The gaming machines in the back have also been removed in favor of three more tables. Snodgrass says the choice was to accommodate more dining events as an intimate family restaurant setting where patrons can still get a limited menu of steak and fried chicken to go along with new specials including seafood and pasta.
Snodgrass said the mindset behind the design has always been to uplift the history and the name of the business – that he happily likes to refer to as Maggie, Mick and Mary’s, adding in the original owner’s name, Maggie Enrietta.
“I like to bring Maggie’s name into it because her and her husband started it,” Snodgrass said. “Thayer was a coal mining town during the ’20s to ’40s so this restaurant was a house, and her husband Dominic was a bootlegger, so they would make alcohol downstairs and sold food upstairs. … One time, this little place had seven liquor licenses with one restaurant and six taverns.”
Enrietta operated the bootlegging business with her husband, before the businesses lapsed in opening and was eventually sold to Steve “Mick” and Mary Stankoven. Mick passed away in 2010, after the business changed hands in 2002 to Snodgrass and Cox.
If time was reversed and if he was in his mid-20s again, he’s not sure if he’d be able to operate the business like he is now given the current economic climate.
The recent upgrades to the building have cost six figures according to Snodgrass, who said with bad weather in January pushing back construction dates and new things being found to fix before opening, the overall cost increased by about 25%.
“It’s unique, we defy all the odds,” Snodgrass said. “We have the worst location you could ever imagine when it comes to what restaurant business recommend and we overcome that, so it’s a testament to the history and the people who have worked here now in the past (to the dedication.)”
The cost of utilities, insurance and construction are non-negotiables he can handle now as an established owner, but thinking about new business owners, his heart goes out to them.
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@usatodayco.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Remembering family, culture and Thayer history through renovations
Reporting by Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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