Rustic Tap opens bar, in addition to antique shop

Walk through the door inside the grain bin on the northwest corner of the Fontanelle square and you will find yourself inside Fontanelle’s newest bar.

The five owners of Rustic Tap, who opened an antique store two years ago in the space right next door, realized their dream of also having a bar as part of their business when they held a soft opening of their new bar Saturday night, July 1.

Family and friends were glad to come out and give the new bar a test drive.

Owners are Jeff and Tiffany Johnson, Josh and Juree Christensen and Jade Zimmerline.

This building has had various functions through the years, but two of them were an antique shop and bar, so returning the building to these functions made a lot of sense.

“We just started tearing into it to fix it up, then it turned into people asking us what was going on, then we threw in a little antique shop, then someone suggested a bar, or somewhere to eat,” Josh said.

Getting all the construction done was a big learning experience, as the owners did a large part of it themselves.

On the business side, it was figuring out liquor licenses, insurance,” Tiffany Johnson added. “It’s a lot more than just opening the door. It’s a process to get through everything.”

In developing the concept of the bar, the owners wanted to stick with the rustic or antique theme. The bathrooms give a nod to that with an old hand pump serving as a vanity in one and an old bicycle serving as a vanity in the other.

A pool table gives patrons an added piece of recreation in the back half of the bar.

The owners purchased a new point of sale system that makes doing business a breeze.

Kaitlyn Wilson was hired as the bar manager, and several others will be bartending.

The store next door has been doing well since its inception. It is open in pop up fashion periodically.

“The bar will be open mainly on weekends for now, and we’ll see how that goes,” Zimmerline said. Hours are 3-10 p.m. Thursdays, 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays.

“We wanted a nice, fun environment,” Jeff Johnson said. He thinks that was achieved.

To see the antique shop and bar flourishing meant a lot to Juree because she and her brother Jade’s dad, Barney Zimmerline, is the one who had the antique shop and bar in this building previously.

“I’m super stoked,” Juree said. “My brother owns the building now, after he bought it from our dad. We fixed it up and it has become the Rustic Tap.”