A beloved dining establishment on the Old Mission Peninsula is for sale. I drove by Old Mission Tavern yesterday and saw a “For Sale” sign in front of the restaurant.
Like many of you, I have fond memories of the Tavern dating back to when it first opened as an ice cream place (Mission Freeze), where all of us on the Johnson Farms cherry shaking crew would wait out a storm, where we played pool in what is now the main dining area, and where I’d take my mom and kids for those fabulous chicken dinners after church on Sunday.
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Mom also loved their corn chowder. Maybe I can persuade the Bartnick family, owners of the Tavern since the beginning, to send along a recipe or two from their menu.
My personal hope is that someone will buy this treasured OMP gem and run with it. I wouldn’t be opposed to bringing back the pool table.
Do you have a favorite memory or dish you loved from the Tavern? Feel free to leave it in the comments section at the bottom of this story.
The listing price for the 3.49-acre property is $1.5 million, and includes both the restaurant, located at 17015 Center Road, and the separate gallery on the corner, which owner Verna Bartnick used as an art studio. Verna recently passed away, which you can read more about here.
That building on the corner was once a farm equipment and repair business. Someone fill me in on who owned it – leave a note in the comments below or email me, [email protected].
The listing also includes a liquor license (beer, wine and liquor) with Sunday sales. All fixtures and furniture are included, as well. The perfect setup for someone who wants to open a restaurant and make it their own.
For more info, check out the listing details on Realtor Ted Schweitzer’s site, courtesy of the listing broker, Keelan Commercial Group.
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A group of would go for prime rib about every other week, it was always delicious.we miss doing that. I hope it remains a restuarant.
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Watch out! One of those evil “outsiders” might buy it and try to make a go of it. Then bail when they find out how hard is it to be “new” to the old Old Mission Peninsula.
Or worse since it’s commercially zoned open another winery. Egads traffic traffic traffic! Maybe the PTP folks should get together with all their $$$$ and buy it and keep it closed.
In any event it sold so who knows.
All the soups were delicious!! Key lime pie was the best and we also enjoyed the Sunday Chicken Dinners.
The fudge brown dessert, I was sick made Frederic go get me one.
When I was a kid my Uncle Tony Dohm had a garage there. Aunt Alta had a stand out in front.
My son loved the Turtle Sunday at The Mission Freeze when he was a little boy…..he’s 46 now! Over the years I have enjoyed meals at the Tavern with friends and family, and it will be missed. Hoping a creative team will make it wonderful again.
I loved the Ham Potato Leek soup. They should put out a cookbook with all of their recipes. We LOVED going there. I would love to see it reopened by someone who would just carry on the traditions.
Thursday Pierogi night! Fantastic! Also The Liver and Onions! You could get it with bacon too! ❤️
We were not truly back to the peninsula until we had a meal at the Tavern. Always one of our first stops when we arrived on Old Mission for the summer and always a last stop upon leaving. We loved the whitefish and of course the desserts! The addition of the art gallery was a bonus! Verna’s art, fabulous! My husband grew up going for ice cream and I remember the screened in porch/restaurant. Wonderful memories and hopeful that whoever purchases it will continue supplying more memories.
My husband and I would drive 2 1/2 hours one way every month on Sunday April – Oct. for chicken dinner. We brought many family and friends along for the ride over the 35 years. We miss it so much. We are in town right now and I was checking to see if it would be open tomorrow. So sad!