Just before lunchtime, BRU Burger Bar celebrated its grand opening in Evansville’s historic Greyhound bus station at 222 Sycamore Street after having a soft opening over the weekend.
Mayor Lloyd Winnecke along with Cunningham Restaurant Group (CRG) President and CEO Mike Cunningham and other local officials cut the red ribbon marking the opening of BRU Burger Bar. Indiana Landmarks, the owner of the iconic building, recruited CRG, owner of BRU Burger Bar, to partner in restoring the former Greyhound bus station to complement the city’s downtown revitalization. While Indiana Landmarks restored the metal-paneled exterior of the building, CRG updated the interior.
“We are very excited to enter the Evansville market and thankful to the Indiana Landmarks for presenting this opportunity,” said CRG President and CEO Mike Cunningham.
After the ribbon was cut, locals filed into the restaurant for lunch while admiring the restoration including Cathy Nurrenbern who remembers catching a bus at the former station.
“Back in ’77 I was going to go into the delayed program at the Army and I had to catch a bus to go to Louisville and I sat in here and waited for the bus,” said Nurrenbern. “Put my money in to watch the TV and you had to pay a nickel to go potty. Hope they took those stalls out now,” she chuckles.
Something Cunningham wanted to keep in mind when renovating the building.
“A lot of the stuff was found in the building so it’s just a part of the history of this building,” says Cunningham. “And the things that we found interesting and we just had framed so people could walk around and look at it.”
And the results did not disappoint Nurrenbern who remarked, “It’s beautiful; they did a great fantastic job.”
The real test was the food though. When her Mushroom and Swiss burger arrived she took a bite, gave two thumbs up and said, “Oh yeah!”
She’s already planning to come back and try the lamb burger next time.
The Indianapolis-based company owns and operates 20 restaurants in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Evansville is the fifth location for the BRU Burger Bar’s chain.