It was easy to read the emotions on Shawn Kraft’s face Tuesday afternoon. Having spent a day in the kitchen preparing cheeseburgers, chili and more for customers, Kraft's face showed equal parts exhaustion and elation.
“I can’t believe this day has finally come,” said Kraft, co-owner of Casper’s. “It was fun having everybody back. The staff did really well, and the customers were great. We’re ready.”
A trial run Tuesday at Casper’s turned into a day of delight for customers. The restaurant hosted a group of invited guests to help prepare the staff for regular operating hours.
As the lunch session went on, however, Casper’s took walk-in customers who reacted with hunger to the sight of cars in the parking lot.
The restaurant will officially be open Thursday, July 13. It has been closed for months, ever since relocating from its quaint “Quonset Hut” at 601 W. Walnut St. to the former location of Anton’s at 937 S. Glenstone Ave.
Building again hosts history
Anton Tasich ran Anton’s for more than 46 years. The shop was a landmark for Queen City diners. It closed two months after Tasich’s death in 2020.
While the building’s parking lot was used as a used car lot for a few months, the building remained vacant until Kraft acquired it. A regular customer of Anton’s, Kraft said in 2022 that he planned to have tributes to Anton in the newly renovated space.
One of those tributes is in a place of honor, right where the dining bar meets the wall. A picture of the old Anton’s taken by server Heather Phipps hangs by an interactive display of iron skillets and lattice.
“Anton’s had lattice everywhere,” Phipps said. “When you move the cast iron skillets out of the way, you can see it. This is called ‘Light Through Lattice.’”
The new Casper’s has plenty of its own history inside, as well. The restaurant has been open since 1909.
Phipps decorated a large round table to resemble a circus tent, with a block printing style favored by Charles Lederer, the restaurant’s second owner who was also known for his wood-cut prints.
Above that is a caricature sculpture that will look familiar to customers, Phipps said — with a few tweaks.
“Artie is a character who used to hang above the register at Walnut Street, but from his age, I gather he was at the first Glenstone location, too,” Phipps said. “I gave him a complete makeover. I added a new arm with a cheeseburger and coney, and also a new wig. He’s a new man.”
Familiar foods, new treats
Not much has changed about Casper’s menu, Kraft said. A new addition is fried chicken, served as hand-breaded tenders or in a chicken sandwich. The menu still features many of the same foods that made it famous, from the cheeseburgers to the chili.
“Still the same favorites, cooked the same way, with the same paddles and pots,” Kraft said. “The story is that we save a little bit of chili every year, so that we can carry it over to the next so that it is always the same batch.”
Tuesday’s trial offered most of Casper's menu to a group of chosen customers. Co-owner Thomas Orr said they invited a networking group of about 50 or 60 in to be the reopened restaurant’s first rush.
“It felt like a lot more than that in the kitchen,” Kraft said, joking.
“They helped us find a list of kinks, so that we can get better as we go,” Orr said. “We also got some honest feedback.”
Long time coming
It took a year for business to resume for the restaurant. Kraft closed the old location in June because the Walnut hut didn’t offer enough space.
Initially, he hoped that the restaurant could reopen in October or November. But complications and challenges pushed the opening back for months.
Thursday will mark the first day of opening with regular hours. The restaurant will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
