Casper's back in business following fire

The deck where a fire raged last fall is gone.

But Casper's Cherokee of Eagan, the familiar barn-shaped restaurant and bar on Nicols Road, is on its way back.

The restaurant opens Monday, completely refurnished and with some tweaks to the menu. Among them: A Blazin' Barn Burger -- proof that owner Rick Casper has a sense of humor -- and Eagan's Firehouse No. 5 Burger -- named in honor of the department that responded to the blaze Oct. 9.

That's when a cigarette discarded in a flower pot on the deck sparked the fire that, coupled with the water used to extinguish it, caused more than $1 million in damage and closed the restaurant for more than six months.

An open house from 2-6 p.m. Sunday, featuring a cash bar and some appetizers, will be a fundraiser for the Eagan Fire Department.

"This is a volunteer fire department," Casper said. "It's our small way of saying thank you. They came in and did a fabulous job to contain [the fire]."

Fire Chief Mike Scott said, "When Mr. Casper called me, I thanked him for the idea but told him it wasn't necessary because we're doing our job."

As for the burger names, Scott said, he heard about those when some firefighters went to dinner at the Cherokee in West St. Paul, Casper's other restaurant, and saw the Station No. 5 moniker already on its menu.

"That was kind of neat," Scott said. "The firefighters at Station 5 are pretty excited about it."

But the fire department isn't the only Eagan tie the remade restaurant plans to emphasize.

Given the replica barn that houses the bar, manager Cyndy Shackelford said, they decided to run with the theme of Eagan's history as onion capital of the United States.

She went to the Dakota County Historical Society and started searching for onion farming photos to adorn the walls. The kitchen has cooked up a carmelized onion side dish that will be offered to those who want it with any meal.

As the staff prepared for reopening last week, there were still lots of details to pin down. Chairs had not yet been delivered. A cement patio soon will be added where the deck once stood.

There was a flurry of staff training, initiating 50 new crew members and refreshing the roughly 20 people who waited for Casper's to reopen, even though there wasn't money to pay them past December.

"That's what was painful for me," Casper said. Even though the fire was mostly confined to the deck and part of the bar, the damage turned out to be much more severe than originally thought. It was February before the contractor could start reconstruction by gutting the remaining structure. "I would much rather have opened sooner."

But when activity started to pick up, longtime customers saw cars in the parking lot and started stopping by. Former staff members offered to help with cleanup. A customer even drops in with brownies for workers occasionally.

"People have been very curious, calling a lot, asking when we'll be open," Shackelford said. "That makes us feel good."