Stephen Montoya
One block west off of the Glen Rose town square butted up against a hill near the town’s water tower, two historic structures are currently undergoing renovations to become two new eating establishments. On one side of this acre-wide property, basking in a new coat of yellow paint, is what will soon be an Airbnb/casual dining restaurant called Maddie’s Place. On the right side of the property tucked away in the shade of the hill that rests behind it, is the newly renovated WhiskyWoods Steakhouse at 101 NE Vine.
Open since last August, this new high-end steakhouse/speakeasy meets casual dining, is the brainchild of native New Mexican and Dallas-Fort Worth real estate broker Stephen LaMure. Over the past five years, LaMure and his wife Dana have gone through the process of revamping this over 100-year-old piece of rural Texas history into the fine dining establishment it is today. In fact, LaMure says he knew the town of Glen Rose was in need of a spot like this the very first week he and his family moved to this quiet hamlet.
“When we moved here, we didn't have our TV set up and I didn't know anybody in town,” LaMure says. “So, I called the only guy I knew, and I said, ‘Hey, the Cowboys are playing tonight. Where's the local watering hole to watch the Cowboys game?’ He told me, ‘Well, we really don't have one.’”
To top that off, the only spot in the area where the game was on, closed at 9 p.m., which if you’ve ever watched a Monday night football game, means the restaurant closes around halftime.
Stephen Montoya
A view of WhiskyWoods' newly remodeled main dining area.
“I went straight home, and I said, ‘Honey, I think we're going to have to open a bar in town that stays open at least to the end of the Cowboys game.’”
Soon after he had this idea, LaMure says he spotted an old building that was once the now closed Hollywood and Vine restaurant located near the Glen Rose town square.
“We kept looking at it because we liked the location right on the side of the hill. And the building was really cool, needed a lot of work, but it was really cool, and we felt like we could make an addition and offer some more fine dining in the area,” he says. Not long after looking everything over, LaMure says he was able to acquire the property, thus, beginning what would amount to five years’ worth of renovations.
The property originally had three structures on it, but with so much work and materials needed to revitalize the two over 100-year-old structures on both sides of the property, LaMure verified that the third structure, which was already falling down, had to be demolished. After this middle structure was taken out, construction promptly began on the main building, which is now the WhiskyWoods Steakhouse. Extra care had to be taken by work crews, so as to not destroy any of the original planks, flooring, and other materials. What was broken or missing would eventually be replaced with materials matching the era LaMure and his wife were trying to bring back — the roaring twenties.
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WhiskyWoods owner Stephen LaMure.
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The name WhiskyWoods itself hails from the days of prohibition, which is what the town of Glen Rose was called by G-men and bootleggers from that era. To keep up with this theme, the restaurant itself was opened on August 25, of last year, the same day the town was raided by the Texas Rangers during prohibition. There’s also an homage to the famous bank robbing couple know as Bonnie (Elizabeth Parker) and Clyde (Barrow) in the back-bar area. A picture of the two outlaws is reverently placed under two real Tommy guns that rest near a high back table. But the homages to the roaring 20s don’t end there. Just around the corner from this shrine of sorts is a classic gun cabinet that doubles as a door to one of the restaurant’s most unique features — a hidden speakeasy. This section of the restaurant boasts a 20s style leather sofa, period appropriate lighting, and several ornate chairs, and side tables.
And no two details were too precious for LaMure and his wife, who painstakingly found every bit of the period appropriate artwork, lighting, and furniture that adorns this newly remodeled eatery from a slew of antique stores over the years. The walls were also done with what LaMure calls a “Museum Finish” thus adding to the feel of an authentic 20s style interior. In the back, instead of the metal building that doubled as a bar in the former Hollywood and Vine eatery, LaMure has added a giant open seating space, equipped with a full-service bar, and a pool table for good measure. This is where the Bonnie and Clyde shrine is located.
“We had to excavate a little bit of the hill back here to get enough room to build this part, but I think it was well worth it,” LaMure says. “We built this section of the building to also be a place where everyone can see each other. We'll watch some people walk in and they're about to sit down and then all of a sudden they see somebody across the room, and they go over and stand there at their table for 15 minutes or pull a table together and join them.”
Besides wanting to build a local meeting spot, LaMure and his head chef Scott Halverson have also devised a menu of high-quality fare usually only found in the city. The WhiskyWoods menu boasts such offerings as a grilled certified Angus beef ribeye, grilled turkey paillard, and scallop au poivre to name a few.
But if you think this is fancy, LaMure and Halverson are also completing a new menu for the front section of the house, which is WhiskyWoods’ new fine dining area.
“We are going to do a couple of pastas, some seafood, and a variety of refined steaks,” LaMure says.
Stephen Montoya
In between the two restaurants, LaMure is building a stage to host live outdoor performances that can be scene best from the second floor of the WhiskyWoods’ structure, still under construction. However, the first floor of this building has a large enough footprint to host almost any size party already. In fact, LaMure verified he took the original 2,500 square foot layout of this 1870s building and pushed it out to an even 6,000 square feet nearly doubling the original building’s footprint. When the second floor of this space is completed, LaMure says he would like to rent the spot out as an event space.
He can even see having a few ghost hunters swing by and check out the property given, there’s been a few reports of spirits roaming the halls, especially the second floor of the much smaller Maddie’s Place south of WhiskyWoods. This roughly 1,400 square foot structure is still under construction, so all you ghost aficionados will have to wait to check it out until later on this year.
“We salvaged everything we could from the original house and then took our time trying to find pieces that would fit in with our idea of the décor,” he says. “We are pleased with how everything turned out. And even though we have several other projects to consider, this is a big part of that. The restaurant side of WhiskyWoods is ready to fill in that void we felt when we first moved here a few years ago.”
