Mac's Downtown Alton bar/restaurant marks 35 years in style with enormous expansion

ALTON - Mac’s Downtown Alton bar/restaurant has been in business for 35 years and by next spring an enormous expansion will be completed.

Mac Lenhardt told Riverbender.com that he recently closed on the adjacent building at 114 W. Third St. in Alton. Mac’s is located at 315 Belle St. in Alton.

Lenhardt said the exciting thing about it is it will double the size of his present operation, but one of his key reasons is he wants to renovate his older bathrooms and establish new ones in the new area. Lenhardt also sees this as a golden opportunity to grow his offerings and he wants to expand the restaurant’s seafood area and add a variety of games, from a putting green, a basketball game area, ping pong, a bags game area and add a bar to the new part of the operation. In the top floor of the added 114 W. Third St. location, he said he will remodel for about four apartments.

“This used to be the old Stone Brothers location,” he said. “I have had my eye on this property for a long time."

Lenhardt said he believes there is a market for expanded seafood in Downtown Alton, so he said he is excited about adding that to his already robust menu.

Lenhardt is as hard a worker as anyone in Downtown Alton, starting his day around 4 a.m., working in the bar early, then heading to Alton Steel to work as a machinist. He is normally back at the helm in the later afternoon at Mac’s.

Lenhardt said demo work will begin soon and then after that is finished, the area will be rebuilt. Lenhardt added that he expects it to take six months to complete the project and he hopes to have work completed by next year’s Kentucky Derby date in the spring.

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