New Restaurant Opening in Bethel

By Marlana Smith

  “Kick It Pub and Grub” owned by Charlisa Wilkerson and Larry Marxen will have a grand opening on Saturday, April 4. The restaurant is located at 136 North Main Street in Bethel. 

  Wilkerson explained how the name of the restaurant was created.

  “When you come in and order a steak you have option to kick it. We have three different levels of kick. The first level is going to be a mild chili pepper type. The second jalapeno and the third would be habanero. You can kick it anything on the menu that you want, too. Our steaks are marinated. They will be in rub all day. I will come in every morning and marinate and hand-cut them,” she said. 

  Wilkerson said, “The logo was made by me, Chris Jones and Brandy Uhlmeyer. We all pitched in together. Chris came up with something that wouldn’t work on the shirts, so Brandy tweaked it to make it work on the shirts.” 

    Wilkerson and Marxen have a combined 20 years experience working in restaurants. Wilkerson used to waitress and bartend at Willey’s Family Restaurant in Shelbyville. Marxen has cooked at Loose Brick Bar in Shelbina.

  “We are not going to do a lot of the normal frozen appetizers that everybody else has,” Wilkerson said. 

  Wilkerson and Marxen said they have a lot of special recipes that they are going to use that other restaurants don’t have. 

  “I’ve always wanted to own a restaurant and so did Larry, along with some family members. I sent out a text to my family and within an hour we decided we were buying. The opportunity arose with a dream we already had. 

  “Along with our hand-breaded green peppers rings, we are also planning on doing beer-breaded food, as well. 

  “When customers come in and sit down, they will get the beer bread as they would going into a Mexican restaurant getting chips and salsa. It won’t be an endless basket because it’s just a timely process,” said Wilkerson. 

  “We want to provide service and quality to people. We want them to come in here and know that each time they come, it’s going to be just as good as it was the last time,” Wilkerson said.

  Marxen added, “I feel like our atmosphere is going to be a good place to kick it.”  

  Wilkerson said, as of right now, they have enough family that they won’t be hiring outside help.

  Kick It Pub and Grub will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The bar will open at 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and close at 1:30 a.m.