2024
The fire
It started at night and moved fast. By morning the original Old Main — the bar, the dining room, a century of walls — was gone to the foundation. Nobody was hurt. The town showed up with coffee before the smoke cleared.
Our Story
It burned down. We built it back.
A fire took the original building in 2024. Twenty-two months later the bell rang again on Main Ave — with better woodwork, our own beef, and two floors where there used to be one.
What’s on
What’s on at Old Main
2024–26
Twenty-two months
The decision to rebuild took a day. The rebuild took 22 months — new structure, new kitchen, and a second floor the old building never had. Twice, finished work came back out because it wasn’t right. That’s the standard everything else here is held to.
Twenty-two months of this.
The herd
Our own beef
Somewhere in those months the family made the call that changed the menu: stop buying beef and serve their own. The cattle operation now supplies the kitchen directly. A dry-aging cabinet went in by the front door — the first thing you see, on purpose.
The wood
Built by hand
The bar top, the booths, the stair rail — milled and finished by the owners themselves. Along the staircase hangs a wall of Crete history photographs, gathered from families around town.
May 2026
The bell rings again
Old Main reopened with two floors and one idea: fine dining below, a social floor above, a beer garden out back. The first weekend, the wait was two hours and nobody seemed to mind.
Come see it
Come see what twenty-two months built.
Two floors, a beer garden, and a dry-ager by the front door. Book a table downstairs, or just walk up.
Or call (402) 418-7101