Popular Euro-gastropub reopens, teases new sports game hub in downtown Macon

A popular downtown Macon restaurant and bar reopened Dec. 5, and its owners already have plans to expand.

Bearfoot Tavern, a European-American gastropub at 468 Second St., had been closed since its roof was destroyed during a heavy storm in July 2024. The walls and floor were gutted and rebuilt along with a new roof, according to co-owner Janine Ellis, 52.

“Every time you do something to a 100-year-old building, something else goes wrong,” Janine Ellis said, and laughed. “The floor had to be leveled, you put the roof on, then you got to support it a little bit better because the brick isn’t (holding up).”

The only areas that were salvaged after the storm were the wooden bar and exterior windows. The restaurant’s interior now has brighter lighting and feels a bit more upscale.

“We redesigned the restaurant leaving the format of the first floor essentially unchanged, but there are stairways now to the second floor that didn’t previously exist,” Ellis said.

The stairs will lead to a room of electronic sports simulators to play golf . Janine Ellis expects it to open in early 2026.

A door also connects the tavern to The Social Duck, so patrons and workers can flow between the businesses. But customers can’t order food or drinks at one and expect to be served at the other, Janine Ellis explained.

“Both great food, some minimal cross-overs such as the wings, sometimes the desserts, but we’ve tried to create an environment where you can come here and have a good time, and not feel like you’re duplicating by going next door,” she said.

Janine Ellis and her husband, Kris Ellis, own both the gastropub and duck pin bowling hub. Janine Ellis is also a hospital physician and Kris is a nephrologist, or kidney doctor.

Bearfoot got a few new menu items just a week before its unexpected closure, according to Mark Bell, a manager. He drew inspiration from European islands, including Ireland.

“It took a lot of research, like what can we do to keep the tradition but change it,” Bell said. “They have a lot of seafood in Ireland, so it’s not all just meat and potatoes.”

New dishes include shepherd’s pie, drunken mussels and a scotch egg.

“It’s a soft-boiled egg that has a breakfast sausage encased with panko powder, and its fried, it then it gets a Dijon honey mustard on top of it,” Bell said of the scotch egg. “So you’re going to get the tanginess from the sausage but the sweetness from the honey mustard sauce on it, but the inside is still soft.”

Tuesday afternoon, Vince Gilbert, a 36-year-old cook from Little Haiti in Miami, whipped up a stuffed Kilpatrick, which is a beef patty stuffed with corned beef and Swiss cheese, topped with sauerkraut and 1000 island dressing.

“We’re keeping the corned beef while being able to put it in an American dish,” Bell said.

The drink menu, known for its whiskey and beer, hasn’t changed.

A pre-existing covered back patio, which Bell described as a biergarten, is “nearly done” being renovated, Bell said. It’ll have a bar, dining tables with full service and stage for live music.

“We’re just beautifying it a bit,” Bell said. “We’ll have bands, events and everything back in the garden.”

There’s also a 25-person private dining room that was still under renovation when the restaurant reopened. This is free to reserve.

The Bearfoot Tavern food truck is still up and running, or driving, throughout Middle Georgia. It’s available for events and catering.

“I’ve barely slept,” Bell told The Telegraph hours before Bearfoot’s grand opening Friday.