An iconic Cassville restaurant that closed its doors a decade ago is reopening officially on Wednesday, with the new owners aiming to revive the times of old.
Zanetta Campbell and Karlton Burbridge purchased the building with the goal of reviving old memories while creating new ones.
“Karlton and I have been together for many years,” Campbell said. “We thought there needs to be some more places in town for people to socialize and get a good meal, and we remembered how great The Rib used to be. We ant to bring back the same staple business. We looked at which real estate office had it and the list price, and we decided we could open it back up.
“Everything just fell into place. There are a lot of memories in that building, and it will be a nice place to eat and give some jobs to the area.”
Campbell and Burbridge already have their own businesses, tax and concrete services, and Campbell also has restaurant experience.
“We belt with our business experience, we could run a restaurant,” she said. “I was the lounge bartender at Steak Inn for 15 years, and I have catered big events like weddings.”
Campbell said though they did some small renovations, the vast majority of the building remains the same, as they intended to retain the look and feel of The Rib before it closed.
“We have 26 total employees, though not all are full-time,” she said. “We made a point to hire a few high school kids, but we have a mix of employees. We wanted the kids to have a chance to get experience in working and job ethics that we will instill but others may not.
“We are very family-oriented, and we want this to be a great experience for the whole community.”
The Rib will host a grand opening today (Wednesday), and hours are 4-9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday in the restaurant and 3-10 p.m. in the lounge.
“We are not doing lunch at this time, but we have brought back a lot of the staple dishes, like the rib salad and the French dip,” Campbell said. “We can accommodate large groups, and we ask for reservations for eight people or more. The phone number is the same as it was before, 417-8473600.”
