Deli returns to downtown

It’s the same Macri’s with bigger TVs.

That’s what the restaurant’s co-owner Troy Donovan jokingly tells employees and friends regarding the resurrection of the former beloved Bloomington hot spot.

Five years after the original Macri’s Deli closed its doors, the restaurant and sports bar is once again open for business. Although under a new roof with different ownership, Donovan said the new Macri’s at 301 N. Morton St. still harbors the same atmosphere Bloomington residents loved. With its new home in the old downtown train station, the owners decided to update the restaurant’s name to Macri’s at the Depot.

“I know everybody says this, but we want it to be like Cheers, where everybody knows your name,” Donovan said. “You get a piece of everybody’s life ... that’s the fun part, interacting with our customers.”

In 2007, the restaurant’s former owner decided to close the franchise when the eastside Kroger announced plans for expansion.

“When it closed, it was a big deal,” Donovan said. “People were still trying to go and eat there.”

A Bloomington native and Macri’s junkie himself, Donovan said he remembers wishing the restaurant would make a comeback. Now that it’s back, he said it seems surreal to think he is the owner.

After officially purchasing the rights to the name in February 2011 with his business partner Jerry Hinnefeld, Donovan said it was full steam ahead. After four-and-a-half months of construction on the former train depot, which was filled with offices, the new Macri’s team began restoring the restaurants originality while injecting its own personality as well.

“It’s all in the booths,” he said.

The high-backed booths were a staple of the original Macri’s. Donovan got his hands on one of the authentic wooden booths and solicited the help of his friend Bret Morris to replicate them for the restaurant. Donovan worked with Morris and his other employees to re-wire the building, install HDMI cables, build parts of the bar and mat photos and IU memorabilia scattered throughout the two-story restaurant.

“We did so much ourselves,” Donovan said. “It was neat because we weren’t sitting back and letting other people do everything. Plus you care about it more because it’s yours.”

Although all the original IU memorabilia from the former Macri’s was auctioned off after it closed, Donovan said he is beginning to compile his own collection.

“We want to gain stuff that’s relevant to Hoosiers over time,” he said.

Donovan said IU basketball star Jordan Hulls frequents the restaurant and that he hopes the team will find a home at Macri’s. His goal is to get Christian Watford to sign a photo from the big Kentucky game and Tom Crean to autograph a newspaper article he is anxious to hang on the wall.

“Our Facebook page said, ‘IU’s back and so is Macri’s. Coincidence? I think not,’” Donovan said.

The Hoosier hysteria isn’t the only authentic aspect of Macri’s. The menu is exactly the same with the exception of two items: The Donovan, a sandwich named after Donovan’s late father, and a special homemade ice cream that Hinnefeld makes himself.

Two months after their soft-opening in February of this year, Donovan said the staff has worked out the kinks but welcomes feedback from customers.

“At the beginning we had longer ticket times than we wanted, but that’s part of the process,” he said. “We want to be complimented and criticized. We want to hear both sides from our customers.”

They are planning to have a grand opening in mid-May with dinner and drink specials.