'Gone Girl' Bar to reopen

A closed Cape Girardeau nightspot that became a local landmark after serving as a set location for a major motion picture will reopen later this month.

The Bar, on the corner of Spanish and Themis streets in downtown Cape Girardeau, has been closed since last fall. However, it will reopen June 27, according to representatives of Taste of Cape, the management company that owns it and several other downtown properties.

The Bar was originally the fictional location of a tavern (called The Bar) in the locally filmed movie "Gone Girl" starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike and Neil Patrick Harris. After the movie was released in 2014, the set was converted into a real restaurant and bar. The Bar and several other downtown businesses owned by Dr. Sonjay Fonn and Fonn Enterprises LLC closed in October 2018.

In addition to The Bar, businesses closing included Buckner's Brewing Company, Ragsdales Pub and the River View Room, all at 132 N. Main St., and Stevie's Steakburgers, 600 Broadway. Fonn Enterprises also owned the Chocolate Works franchise at 411 Broadway that remained open when the other businesses closed.

Taste of Cape, owned by Dr. Fonn with offices in Doctors Park, has started reopening some of the closed businesses.

Ragsdales Pub and the River View Room reopened earlier this year, according to Jennifer Steinberg, who oversees operations at Ragsdales Pub, the River View Room and Chocolate Works.

She became named district manager of Taste of Cape a few weeks ago.

"We want to be an integral part of downtown Cape Girardeau," she said.

The River View Room is available for events such as wedding receptions, banquets and other private events, while at Ragsdales "we've been focused on getting it staffed with good bartenders, bringing some bands in and starting some new things there to get us back on the map," Steinberg said.

"We decided that The Bar should be the next thing to open," she said, adding there has been no decision about when Buckner's and Stevie's Steakburgers will reopen, but that it could be later this year.

"Right now we're focusing our attention on getting The Bar back up and running," she said. "I need to be sure that when they open they open successfully, so opening them all at once would not be a great idea."

Several changes are taking place at The Bar, according to general manager, Derek Vaughn, who said the business will no longer serve food and will only be open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Hours will be from 4 p.m. until 1:30 a.m.

"We're also going to revamp the dining area and make it look more like a lounge with couches and a big-screen TV," he said. However, he did not rule out the possibility of reopening the kitchen at some point.

Vaughn has been preparing The Bar for its reopening for the past week or so. "I'll be hiring a couple more bartenders, and I'm going to try to make everything from scratch here," he said, including fresh herbs for cocktail garnishments he is growing on site. "Everything made from scratch tastes better."

"Gone Girl" fans and movie buffs regularly stop by The Bar even though it's currently closed. "You'd be surprised at the amount of people who are still amped up about the fact that the movie was shot here. Since I started working in here I've had people knocking on the window every day wanting to come in and take a picture with the movie prop over there," he said, pointing to a large chalkboard menu on the far wall.

Vaughn said other downtown businesses have been wanting The Bar to reopen for some time now. "Other businesses don't like to see empty spots downtown, so if you're going to own something here it needs to be open," he said.

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