Legends on Main alive and kicking after reopening

Legends on Main Pub and Grill is once again thriving.

 About two months after owners Leslie and Travis Cone listed the property for sale, the popular eatery, located at 114 E. Main St., was once again filled with satisfied customers.

 Business partners Ryan Stirm and Rich Chalmers took control of the business over three weeks ago, re-opening the restaurant on March 10.

 “Leslie is my cousin,” said Stirm who tends bar and manages the Longbranch Saloon in Horseshoe Bend, which is about 62 miles east on Highway 55.

 “They ended up deciding they weren’t going to do it anymore, that they were shutting down,” he told the Signal American on Friday. “We took the opportunity to take it over and get it going again.”

 For now, Stirm and Chalmers are running the business under a lease agreement with the Cones, but plan to buy it outright, possibly this summer. 

 “We have to be in business for a year over there in Horseshoe Bend before the bank will loan us money, so we just went ahead and did a lease agreement,” Stirm explained. “We came in on Monday (March 6) and started getting everything prepped and ready, and we were open today at noon. We do have the option to buy, and we do plan on doing that, but we have to wait until July 1 to get that done.”

 Stirm and Chalmers said they are able to continue serving alcohol thanks to the liquor license they already own via the Longbranch Saloon. They plan to continue providing catering services, with the addition of a catering trailer, which the partners intend on having up and running in late spring or early summer.

 “We don’t have the trailer yet, but we are going to get one,” said Stirm who is a 1999 Weiser High School graduate. “We were already working on the liquor trailer idea and the catering before we decided to lease Legends, but at the end of the day, this deal kind of accelerates everything.”

 Stirm said the deal was made rather quickly.

 “It ended up being a fly-by-the-seat of your pants kind of deal,” he said. “We were told on Friday (March 3) that if it didn’t sell, they were going to have to go ahead and pull it off the market and go another route. So, me and Rich took the opportunity to take it over and get everything going again.”

 Much to the surprise of the community, the Cones publicly announced Jan. 14 that they were closing the restaurant.

 “It’s a very emotional time for us … We love Weiser and want to thank everyone for their love and support!” the Cones stated in a Facebook post. They did not provide an explanation behind their decision to close the successful business, which garnered 4.6 of 5 possible stars based on 250 Facebook reviews.

 Carlos Ribera owned the restaurant for seven years before selling it to the Cones in April 2021.

 Stirm and Chalmers have no plans to change the original menu and have retained as many of the original staff as possible, including Melissa Mead who will manage the operation.

 “I love it; it’s a win-win for everyone,” Chalmers said. “It’s definitely a win for us, but also for the public. So far, everyone here has been amazing. Everywhere we go, people are excited. We are blessed for the opportunity.”