Feb. 17, 2023

MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill & Pub will be closed for several weeks for renovation work.

The popular restaurant at 236 S. Main Ave. will be closed Sunday through March 19.

“We’re estimating four weeks, but we hope to only do three weeks,” general manager Rachael Donelan said. “But you know how that goes.”

The restaurant needs to replace the flooring in the kitchen and behind the bar and will update the bathrooms, she said.

“This building is really old, and the subflooring started sinking,” Donelan said. “That affects our drains, our floors. The kitchen stands at kind of a slant, and there’s a divot where the bartenders stand and make the drinks.”

The bathrooms will get updated stalls and walls, and a fresh coat of paint.

“It has been seven years since they were updated,” she said. The Montana-based chain opened here in November 2015.

The signature look inside the restaurant won’t change.

“We’ll update a few things, maybe the older fake plants,” Donelan said. “It’s going to have the same atmosphere. Most of the restaurants are based off what ours looks like. They’ve based them off ours because the atmosphere is so great.”

While the restaurant is shut down, MacKenzie River will pay employees for two weeks, and they can file for unemployment related to remodeling after that, Donelan said.

The restaurant has a staff of 52.

Updates on the reopening date will be posted on its Facebook page.

Restaurant Roundup: New Sunday brunch buffet, downtown restaurant temporary closures