The new Horseshoe restaurant, to be opened later this year, will be remodeled, but will retain some of the historic touches that have made it a Collinsville landmark since about 1947.

The bar, circa the 1950’s, in the building currently known as Horseshoe Restaurant and Lounge / Photo courtesy of Neal Strebel

Horseshoe Restaurant and Lounge sign / Photo by Roger Starkey

The interior front of the restaurant will be renovated to be more open, but the area behind the bar will be knocked down to start from scratch. The kitchen and restrooms, currently in the back of the building, will be completely rebuilt.

The iconic horseshoe shaped bar, in place since the building at 410 St. Louis Road first opened as the Circle Café and Tap Room around 1947, will remain the centerpiece of the bar room. The menu at the new version of the Horseshoe will feature steaks cut on site and fresh ground hamburger as highlights of the sports bar-style menu.

In 2010, the National Road Association of Illinois recognized the Horseshoe Restaurant and Lounge sign as one of the 100 most architecturally and culturally significant locations along the Illinois portion of the National Road (US Highway 40). The sign will remain and welcome visitors to the new restaurant.

According to the book “Collinsville (IL) (Postcard History Series),” edited by Neal Strebel, the Circle Café and Tap room gave way to Saggio’s Tap Room and Dining Room, which operated in the building from 1953 to about 1959. The building, along with other businesses and homes, Strebel indicates, stands on the site that was Abbey No. 1/Hardscrabble Coal Mine from 1904 to 1938.

The Horseshoe Restaurant closed in 2011 and will be reopened in the coming months under new ownership. The date it will re-open has not yet been finalized.