AIRPORT RESTAURANT REOPENS AFTER TWO YEARS

When people first suggested the idea of opening a restaurant at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport to Dave McAllister, his response was simple.

"When pigs fly," he told them.

No sightings have been reported, but McAllister is running the airport restaurant, an endeavor several have attempted but none have been able to make profitable.

Since 1993, three private operators plus the city have run the restaurant. None had any success.

The last, Ron Woodard, the owner of Woodard's in Jackson, closed up shop after just two months.

The restaurant remained shuttered for almost two years before McAllister opened Mac's Smokehouse in November.

A winged pig is his logo.

"I had no trepidations about opening here," McAllister said. "We just have to put in a lot of hard work and be consistent."

The Airport Board had been looking for someone to run the restaurant since it closed. Last spring and summer, the board even considered asking the city to give running the facility another shot.

The city operated the restaurant from August 1994 to December 1995 and incurred heavy losses.

Airport Manager Bruce Loy said the board and the City Council were happy to find an acceptable private operator for the restaurant, since the city really didn't want to get involved again.

"Several people were interested, but we didn't want to just take anybody who came along," Loy said. "The last thing we need is another failure."

The council approved a five-year lease for Mac's Smokehouse Oct. 5. It opened for business a month later.

A full-service restaurant is needed at the airport, Loy said, because in addition to serving passengers waiting for flights it helps generate traffic.

"Once it becomes better known in the flying community, the airport will become known as a stopover for fuel where pilots can also get lunch," Loy said.

Fuel stops, he added, are plentiful. Facilities capable of satisfying hungry pilots are not.

"We think that it will be a major advantage," Loy said.

McAllister ran his original Mac's Smokehouse in Pocahontas from 1993 until June of last year.

While he said the business was highly profitable, it was taking too much of his time.

Although he sold the restaurant, he continued his catering operation, which is now based at the airport.

That facet of his business will give him an advantage the others located at the airport lacked, he said.

"That cash flow will help keep this running," McAllister said.

During the first three months of operation, the restaurant was open weekdays from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. and served breakfast and lunch. McAllister said the breakfast business has been a little slow, but the lunch crowd has been brisk.

Many of his loyal customers from the former location are coming to the new one, he added.

Starting today, Mac's will also be open for dinner Wednesday through Friday. Hours will be from 4 to 9 p.m., with the bar open until 10 p.m. Breakfast and lunch hours will remain the unchanged.

Ribs are the speciality, with catfish on Fridays.

"We're just building as we go along," McAllister said.