By Shereen Siewert
A Wausau bar and grill that closed in September after nearly 50 years in business will reopen this month as Hiawatha Sports Bar, thanks to the efforts of three longtime friends who see enormous potential in the iconic spot.
Kris Mcmahon said he and his two best friends, Bobby Reed and Mike Moore, will close Wednesday on the property, at 713 Grant St., and will aim for a Dec. 16 opening.
Mcmahon, who moved to Wausau in July 2021, said Reed and Moore relocated to the area after the death of his wife to help him take care of his three children.
Then, they saw that Hiawatha was up for sale.
“We absolutely fell in love with the history of the Hiawatha building and we thought, let’s do it,” Mcmahon told Wausau Pilot & Review. All three have extensive bartending experience from their days working together in Nevada.
The Hiawatha Sports Bar added nine additional screens and now has the complete DirecTV sports package, which means they can air any game for football and other sports fans. The menu will include bar food like burgers, wings and pizza by the slice.
But longtime Hiawatha fans will be happy to know that the Jamgochian recipes were part of the package.
“We’ll have specials featuring some of their most popular recipes, and of course, we’ll have their traditional fish fry on Fridays,” Mcmahon said.
Hiawatha Restaurant & Lounge opened decades ago when the late Roger Jamgochain purchased the building. In 1994, the restaurant expanded by adding nearly 1,300 square feet of space – nearly doubling its size. Then, Jamgochian told the Wausau Daily Herald he made the decision to add additional areas for dining, private parties and live music because people were waiting up to an hour and a half to eat. The menu expanded as well, with food served Monday through Saturday. A Sunday brunch, enormously popular with patrons, was added years later, and the outdoor patio has been a popular gathering spot in the summer months.
Roger ran the restaurant for decades leading up to his death in 2013, after which his sons Adam and Bill Jamgochian took the reins with help from their sister, Stefanie. Bill took over leadership of Hiawatha in 2019 to allow Adam to focus on his new downtown restaurant, Ciao.
Two years later, Adam was back at the helm at Hiawatha with a new team and business partner. But this fall, Hiawatha announced its closure in a Facebook post, notifying customers that the restaurant would offer final service on Sept. 16.
Mcmahon said the Hiawatha Sports Bar will be open from 10 a.m. to close Monday through Saturday, with brunch available on Sundays. Now, he’s busy hiring staff and getting ready to open in the next several weeks.
“We are so looking forward to this,” Mcmahon said. “We just can’t wait to open the doors.”
