Business owners find a silver lining in pandemic closing

by Marianne Gasaway

If there is a silver lining in the coronavirus pandemic restrictions, Al and Mike Hejna found it.

The brothers used the Governor-ordered restaurant shutdown in April and early May to remodel their popular downtown businesses, Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar and Sevens Restaurant & Steakhouse.  The projects were finished just as the dine-in prohibition was lifted and they opened their doors to the public last week.

“The state closed us at noon on March 17 and the next morning we started in Rookies,” said Al.  “We took all of the signs and TVs off the walls and tore off the old barn board that made up most of the walls.  The first thing we did was paint the antique tile ceiling a darker red. Then we put up new wood where the barn wood had been and then we had the walls all painted and the woodwork that was left sanded, stained and finished.”

The project also included replacement of Rookie’s iconic black and white checkered floor over the old one.  A new concrete table that seats eight and three more TVs were added for a total of 20 TVs in Rookies.

In Sevens, which sits adjacent to Rookies, everything came off the walls and booths were moved out for a deep clean. All of the walls were painted, bathrooms remodeled with new colors, and a new floor installed.  New concrete table tops are now in place in Sevens and larger booth dividers are now on the shorter booths to give more safety and privacy from booth to booth.

“After that was all done we started putting everything back on the walls; I’ve had 100 or so old antique beer signs I’ve been wanting to get up and now they finally are up with certain booths dedicated to the older beers,” said Al.  The addition of another TV brings the total to eight in the restaurant.

According to the Hejna’s, the ordered shutdown was the perfect time to dig into projects which they have been thinking about since purchasing the businesses.  Al said they bought Rookies in 1995 and in 1997 gutted the building on a Sunday and opened on the following Friday with a new floor.  The bar was moved to its current location in the middle.  In 2008 they bought Sevens, but spent almost a year remodeling. As part of that process new bathrooms were built for Rookies behind Sevens and the pool table area was expanded toward the back where the bathrooms were formerly located.

“We chose to shut down entirely and not do

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any take out (during this remodel) because we figured they would distract from each other and we wouldn’t get the remodel done as soon as we did,” said Al. “We really weren’t sure when we would be allowed to open back up so we wanted to just concentrate on getting it done ASAP and then if we weren’t able to open we would start curbside carry out.  At the time when we closed we thought we needed to take advantage of the down time and reinvest in the property and in downtown Clear Lake.  Turns out, we would’ve never been able to do these things any other time.”

COVID-19 restrictions didn’t really play a part in any design changes at the businesses.  However, the addition of barriers put up between booths at Sevens provide separation now and will give greater privacy when the restaurant is back to full capacity seating.

Menus also have a new look with new items for every meal.  Sevens Manager Alison Flugum worked on adding a couple new Benedict’s for breakfast and new sandwiches for lunch.  A grilled Mahi-Mahi on a hoagie and french dip are also new offerings.

“We added a couple appetizers, too,” added Al.   “Firecracker shrimp on wanton chips and a new spicy shrimp cocktail for one; for dinner, we added Mahi-Mahi combined with three shrimp.”

The owners enlisted a team of local talent to complete the work.  Dino Loux, from Loux Construction, and Kurt Hanson, from Hanson Countertops, did all the walls, painted the ceiling in Rookies, the new tables and booth dividers in Sevens, and a new table in Rookies.  Melissa and Nicole from Painter Girls painted both inside and out of Rookies and Sevens and sanded and stained all the wood tables and woodwork around the bar. Ron Pope, through Floor to Ceiling, laid down the new floor in Rookies and Shineway put the finish on it.  Mr. Sandless resurrected the old floor in Sevens. Robin Wolfram helped with the new color scheme for the businesses and design.  Kyle Hejna and Justin Tarr handled the tear down and Amelia Jondle cleaned up a couple hundred beer signs and other wall fixtures.

The challenge of conducting business at this time is not lost on the Hejna’s.  They say they are making the needed adjustments to be able to serve the public.

“Right now, only restaurants are open and not bars. We are treating Rookies like a restaurant as much as we can. We aren’t promoting it like a bar and a late night hangout as in the past,”: explained Al.  “We have a full menu on both sides and since bars aren’t open we aren’t doing any alcohol promotions or specials and Rookies closes when the kitchen does.  And as hard as it is to not get up and mingle in Rookies, we try to stress to people they need to stay at their table and keep distance from party to party.  There is no sitting at the bar and we’ve added tables against the wall across from the bar to utilize the space.  Hopefully we get to get back to normal soon and a have a ‘Clear Lake Summer’!”

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