Mollie's Cafe and Bar

In the mid 19th century the Prescott House Hotel in Cape Girardeau boasted a beautifully hand-carved cherry wood bar. After many years of tolerating condensation rings and cigarette bums, the bar still provides the patrons of Mollie's Cafe' & Bar with a beautiftil backdrop for socializing with friends over a deliciously mixed cocktail.

The first drink was poured circa 1860 and was probably a "martinez" (a concoction similar to a martini). The 1890's saw the development of a taste for "Old Tom Gin" and the dawn of the martini. However the age of fun-filled evenings of enjoying a martini with friends at the Prescott House would be short lived. In 1919 the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed, plunging America into a fourteen-year period of alcoholic darkness. During this time many bars were destroyed, but it is rumored that the Prescott House Hotel bar was cleverly stored behind a wall of hay bales in an Illinois bam.

When Prohibition ended, the bar that lay still for so many years returned to Cape Girardeau where it resided on Good Hope Street in a blue collar establishment called the Union Bar. It remained on Good Hope Street for almost sixty years where the Union Bar was succeeded by Al's Midtown and eventually Mollie's Cafe' & Bar. Mollie's moved to it's current location at I I South Spanish Street in 1992 and the fabulous bar moved with it. The bar maintains the traditions of old in a restaurant that is now a destination place for tourists, anniversary dinners, birthdays, and special occasions.

For over 140 years drinks have been poured at the old Prescott House Hotel bar. Today Mollie's bartenders are skilled in the mixing of traditional cocktails, while also utilizing their creativity. They are masters of existing martinis and inventing new and infusing spirits with anything from pineapples to espresso beans. Mollie's Cafe' & Bar boasts one of the best selections of beer, wine, and liquor between St. Louis and Memphis. Drop in to experience part of Cape Girardeau's living history.