Route 66 Motorheads Bar & Grill in Springfield, Illinois, which contains memorabilia from Route 66 sites in central Illinois, is slated to open in March.
The Springfield State Journal-Register reported the former Stuckey’s restaurant on Toronto Road on the west side of Interstate 55 will open its bar and gaming room in mid-March, its grill by spring and its museum by summer.
Owner Ron Metzger told the newspaper the establishment’s television sets will be turned to auto-racing events 90 percent of the time, hence its name.
Motorheads was designed with the car and race enthusiast in mind from the tap beer served from classic car trunks mounted behind the bar to walls decorated with local racing legends waving from grainy photos and decommissioned signs from area car dealerships.
The 3 1/2-acre site also is being outfitted to host weekly car events, complete with a trophy stage and a beer garden decorated like a retro Shell service station.
However, Motorheads’ fan base is likely to include Route 66 fans and Springfield history buffs, as well, with a free museum located in a building next to the grill. There the front entrance of Bill Shea’s Route 66 Gas Station Museum has been recreated with many items from the original museum, along with items Metzger has collected from other 1960- to 1970-era businesses that graced central Illinois.
Also spotted in Route 66 Motorheads were signs from Art’s Motel in Farmersville, Tops Big Boy restaurant in Springfield, and the Bel-Aire Motel in Springfield.
(Images from inside Route 66 Motorheads Bar & Grill in Springfield, Illinois, by Tom Gillespie via Facebook)
Love this! Can’t wait to go there!
Same here Becky. Sounds like it will be a nice place. Lots of land for cruise nights, not to mention the travel related history of the building itself.