The Livery (aka Cowtown Saloon) restaurant and bar was once known as Oleson’s Livery, a business that rented out horses to city dwellers for short trips.

Point to something at The Livery, and it probably has a story behind it. It is also quite possibly very old. 

The restaurant and bar (aka Cowtown Saloon), is a long-awaited project that required careful restoration of a rare building. Co-owner John Mogenson says they worked on transforming the historic livery “on and off for about two years.”

On April 29, it was finally ready. “We had a quiet opening,” says co-owner Lisa Aspenson, who also co-owns Stella Blues, Mona Lisa’s, The Red Room, and Mogie’s Pub with Mogenson. “Many people downtown were already familiar with the project.”

The two-floor restaurant and bar was once known as Oleson’s Livery, a business that rented out horses to city dwellers for short trips. Demand for this kind of transportation peaked in 1890, when 13 liveries existed in Eau Claire. Merely a decade afterward, when automobiles were already ubiquitous, liveries (if they didn’t shut down) were forced to become chameleons, blending into the new auto-dominated culture by providing car maintenance. There are only 19 intact livery buildings on the National Register. 

Today, as you approach the brick façade, you’ll likely hear modern country music piping out into the street. Through the modern glass door, you’ll be greeted by a modern server, who will escort you to one of many modern, elevated tables, or straight to the bar, which is also modern … or so it would seem. The smooth, matte-black surface where you set your Spotted Cow is constructed from blackboards salvaged from Boyd School. I’m told the bartender may use chalk to jot down your name so he or she remembers it. 

Local antiquities such as these represent different layers of history, but their combination creates a new whole. For instance, an ancient-looking tabletop bowling game feels “settled” in its new role as a dining table. Behind the bar, a working garage door (an indicator of the building’s auto-era) separates indoor seating from the patio. Depending on the whims of the waiters (and the weather) the garage door may remain wide open, affording a view of the huge square fire pit and bright red chairs and tables.  

    Explore the first floor further and you’ll meet an old wooden phone booth installed near the restrooms. “We’re hoping people will step in there to make cell phone calls,” Mogenson explains, indicating another merger of past and present. A large, separate “game room” also exists on the first floor, where you can play everything from traditional pool to virtual bag toss.

The building’s 116-year-old skeleton is mostly intact. On the second floor, rough beams rise diagonally from a restored wooden floor. The space has the presence of a hayloft. This was, after all, where the horses were kept.  In the corner, a crank-and-pulley platform elevator still stands. 

Even after an eyeful of antiquities, you may find the menu a bit of a curiosity.

“It’s not another restaurant with burgers, and that’s the point. We’ve had people come in every night and try something new,” says Aspenson.

The kitchen whips up a variety of dinner plates, sandwiches, appetizers, and desserts. Calamari, mussels, quail, quinoa salad, funnel cakes, and rabbit caught my eye. “Braised Rabbit on a Raft” stacks up avocado and grilled peppers and onions atop a “raft” of polenta. 

Mogenson praises the Friday special, which is posted on the blackboard as “Friday’s Flippin’ Frenzy Feeds Famished Fish and Chicken Fanatics.” Quite a mouthful. You can choose from beer-battered grouper or beer-battered chicken. Mogenson also says they cut their own French fries daily.

The Livery will be serving lunch starting June 7, according to Aspenson. In the fall, the upstairs section will open, likely for private parties or extra seating. 

The Livery (aka Cowtown Saloon) • 316 Wisconsin St., Eau Claire • entrees $8-$20 • outdoor seating, open late, and free Wi-Fi.