Shakespeare’s bar in Iowa City coming back ‘bigger and better’

IOWA CITY - It's been two months since a kitchen fire closed down Shakespeare's Pub and Grill in East Iowa City.

That will change in about half a month, as Shakespeare's owner Susan Spalj said she plans to reopen the bar on April 15.

Spalj said she's lost count of the number of people who have asked her when she would reopen the 819 S. First Ave. bar, which was damaged in an late January fire that originated in the kitchen.

'I'll be at Hy-Vee shopping and people will be like, ‘When is Shakespeare's opening?'” Spalj said. 'It's coming, I promise you it will be bigger and better.”

Spalj, who also owns Iowa City bars IC Ugly's Saloon and The Club Car, said she took the fire as an opportunity to make a few renovations and updates to the building, which was built in 1971.

After the fire, crews stripped the building down to the bare studs. Spalj and area architect Thomas McInerney began planning renovations that would make Shakespeare's better for staff and customers, while preserving the local eatery's atmosphere - which is a blend of sports bar and neighborhood pub.

'Everything was ripped to the bones, basically,” McInerney said. 'This is still Shakespeare's, but they definitely remodeled. It basically got a much-needed refresh.”

In addition to updating the plumbing and electrical systems and bringing the building up to code, including reconfiguring the bathrooms to be ADA compliant, renovations were made to build a new custom front and back bar and expand the kitchen - both in size and equipment.

'I figured since we were closed, I wanted to expand my kitchen,” Spalj said. 'Quite frankly, I was already looking at remodeling the building, this kind of helped push it to what we're doing now.”

As for the menu, Spalj said she hopes to add new options while keeping fan favorites like Shakespeare's tenderloin and Buffalo wings.

With a larger cooler and freezer, Shakespeare's beer on tap will expand from eight brews to 20.

By mid-May, customers will be able to sit outside in Shakespeare's first beer garden, which will sit around 40-50 people.

But it's not all about making the new Shakespeare's better, Spalj said. Special care was taken to bring back some of the elements that gave the bar its personality, including the dark wall paneling and high back booths.

'Some of the old touches will be back, all the cool things that made it neat will be back,” she said.