The GOAT Pub and Grill opens in Rockford’s North End after extensive renovations
By Helen Karakoudas
Special to the Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The city’s North End has a new gathering place and another transformation near the Main and Auburn streets roundabout: The GOAT Pub and Grill is officially opening at 5 p.m. today.
“I’m relieved,” Tom McDonald, owner of The GOAT, said Thursday night during a soft opening for family, friends, local business owners and the contractors who helped make the extensive, seven-month makeover happen.
The soft opening was timed to fit McDonald’s schedule as a firefighter in Schaumburg, where he rotates from a 24-hour shift to having 48 hours off.
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Since he got the keys to 1428 N. Main St. in July, McDonald has been spending much of his time making structural changes himself — or overseeing structural changes being made — to the 1935 building that for decades has been a neighborhood tavern.
The space had been empty for over a year. North Main Bar, which had operated there for seven years, closed in early 2022 after code violations and loss of its liquor license. Before that, the space had been The Barn.
“We’re happy to see a longtime neighborhood business location revitalized. It’s gratifying to have others see the potential of Signal Hill and be as invested here as we are,” Bob Peterson, a Signal Hill resident, said Thursday via text. Peterson and his wife, Dorien, has been an advocate of businesses bringing new life to the 1930s and 1940s buildings in the North End Commons strip and new energy to the city’s west side.
Signal Hill, which includes The GOAT, is one of the four neighborhoods that meet at the Main and Auburn roundabout. The other neighborhoods are North End Square, Edgewater and Churchill’s Grove.
“The area in proximity to The GOAT has a lot of active residents who regularly get out and walk and/or bike these historic neighborhoods. The GOAT will give these neighbors — and others in our community — yet another great local place to stop in for some fun, food and drink,” said Third Ward Alderman Chad Tuneberg, who applauds McDonald, a Byron resident, for choosing this area.
“Tom has shown his confidence in the neighborhood by putting in a tremendous amount of financial and sweat equity into this endeavor,” Tuneberg said.
City records show the total valuation for all building permits related to the renovation at $150,000 – an indicator of the initial investment but not an updated picture of the extent of the investment. McDonald did not disclose the final dollar amount of the buildout. He has a five-year lease, with two five-year renewal options.
Where exactly is The GOAT
The GOAT is in the strip of businesses on the southwest side of Veterans Memorial Circle, the roundabout near Greenwood Cemetery. The North End Commons business strip includes, among other businesses that have opened in the last half decade, The Norwegian brunchpub, Rooted vintage home goods and gift boutique, and West Side Show Room community theater.
The GOAT is two doors down from Rockford Billiard Cafe, the building where the new mural honoring veterans and active members of the military was added last summer. The pub is next to the former Altamore Ristorante, which closed in 2016 and remains empty, and across from the city parking lot beside Midland States Bank where North End City Market sets up every Saturday morning from May to October.
Goat cheese, GOAT sauce
The renovation includes the addition of an open kitchen in the back right of the space and an extension of the bar seating wrapping around it.
Diners not watching a game on one of the nine surrounding TV screens will be able to see appetizers, wings, burgers, sandwiches, entrees and salads prepared there.
McDonald, who with his wife, Michele, also owns The Post Sports Bar and Grill, at 119 S. Benton in downtown Winnebago, and Grant Park Tavern, at 3015 Kishwaukee St., on the south side of Rockford, had a little fun with this menu.
Playing on the acronym in the pub’s name — which stands for Greatest Of All Time — he’s got goat cheese whipped with hot honey in a bruschetta appetizer, and goat cheese crumbled on a mixed greens salad with bacon and candied walnuts. One of the entrees, bulgogi, a marinated ribeye steak, comes with the housemade GOAT sauce; so do three of the burgers. McDonald describes the GOAT sauce as sweet and tangy.
To wash down food like crispy calamari, a grilled chicken and provolone sandwich, or an Italian beef, there’s a full bar, with wine and craft cocktails.
“We’ll have some fancier cocktails too. It’ll be a little bit of everything,” McDonald said, adding there also will be mocktails.
Biggest changes to the interior
McDonald has kept and restored the ornate back bar, one of the nostalgic touches he says made up his mind to dive into renovating an old tavern with lots of atmosphere.
One of the crews he hired also took down all the wood boards covering the walls and had them re–planed, to bring out the charm of the original barn wood. But there was a feature from The Barn era that he couldn’t keep – the fan-favorite farm-themed wallpaper along the front left wall.
“The cost of saving it was just too much,” McDonald said. “I couldn’t do it.”
What interior change was the biggest challenge — and what he’s most proud of?
“Refinishing these floors. They were in pretty rough shape. And just look at them now,” McDonald said proudly on Jan. 8, as he waiting for one of the last round of inspections.
Safety reassurances
According to Alderman Tuneberg, North Main Bar, the business previously occupying this space, had been a public safety concern, as had its predecessor in the location, The Barn, a tavern which had been there for decades. Local news archives show The Barn had been the site of three undercover cocaine-related arrests in seven months.
Tuneberg had told the Rock River Current in August — a statement McDonald confirmed then and now — that McDonald had assured the city The GOAT would be a safe environment and that he would bring in security if needed at different times of night in case people who had frequented the location for criminal reasons return.
The father of two young children in addition to being a full-time firefighter, McDonald said he will be present at The GOAT as best he can but will be relying on a rotation of managers to run the pub. He said the safety matter is top of mind for everyone.
Community hangout
The refreshed space got rave reviews Thursday night from people who live and work in the neighborhood:
“We’re so excited. We can come here after shows.” — Carolyn Cadigan, a Churchill’s Grove resident and actor who frequently stars in productions at West Side Show Room
“It’s great to have another thriving business on this block to bring in people.” — Liz Schaer, owner of Rooted, a regionally known shopping destination in the North End Commons strip that houses Wonderland Sweets, a high-end pastry and chocolate shop
“It feels good in here. Look at this place: It’s awesome. This is a nice complement to The Norwegian.” — Holli Connell, a Churchill’s Grove resident who with her husband, Doug, owns Engine Studio, a digital media company in the North End Commons strip and who on her own runs Winnie Nutter, a vintage shop in the back of the Engine Studio building
“During the summer months, our weeding and watering volunteers who work into the night need a local place to go have a drink and cool down. The GOAT is the perfect location.” — Ernie Redfern, co-chair of Friends of Veterans Memorial Circle, the nonprofit that organizes community volunteers to plant and maintain thousands of flowers on the grounds surrounding the Main and Auburn roundabout in honor of veterans and military families
About | The GOAT Pub and Grill
Where: 1428 N. Main St., Rockford
Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily; kitchen closes at 10 p.m.
On social: Facebook page
This article is by freelance journalist Helen Karakoudas. You can email feedback to news@rockrivercurrent.com.
