At 10:53 a.m. on Aug. 13, the Corner Restaurant was back in business after it was closed for four years.

Now, owners Jimmy and Carol Lampkin hope the Rhineland restaurant remains open for a long time.

“Hopefully, after a year, we can make this thing go,” Jimmy said.

The Corner was shut down on May 22, 2022 after it was burned in a fire that morning. Jimmy Lampkin said the Rhineland community was quiet for years after it was closed.

“When a place like this in any town dries up, the town dries up,” he said. “You don’t have a gathering place anymore.”

The Corner is open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. In its reopening on Aug. 13, the business drew 15 customers after the first hour.

Jimmy said the restaurant has changed from the last time it was open. That was May 21, 2022.

“A lot of our old customers are long gone,” Jimmy said.

Three years ago, the Lampkins’ son, Brett, attempted to bring the restaurant back to life after buying the business from previous owners Kelly Wideman and Andrea Brantley. He, his wife and a friend fixed up the place for several weeks. They tore down one part of the building and used the other part to build a temporary kitchen. During that time, they were looking for someone to buy the restaurant.

Jimmy and Carol Lampkin decided to take over the Corner for the second time. Over 50 years ago, they bought it from a person who owned a bank in Rhineland.

“Why am I doing this? I like people,” Jimmy said. “I like to have something to do. God knows there will be plenty to do in a place like this.”

Before the Lampkins bought the Corner in 1973, the restaurant was owned by the Gosen family for nearly 75 years. Ben Gosen and his mother operated the business before a heart condition forced Gosen to sell the place to the Lampkins.

Jimmy Lampkin remembered the Corner was the first place where community residents talked about bringing a fire department to town. After finding a fire truck for sale in Springfield, residents decided to hold a fundraiser to buy the truck so it could be used for the fire department in Rhineland. The Rhineland Area Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1975.

“It was all done because of right here in this bar,” Jimmy said. “It wasn’t because we needed it, but we needed somebody to maybe push them a little to get it done. Now, they have a really good fire department and a good playground here. But it takes community involvement. That’s part of it.”

Jimmy said for many years, the Corner was a place where it was attended by different kinds of people.

“We had people propose in here,” he said. “We had people coming and celebrating divorces here. The one thing about a tavern, you get to see people in every walk of life. You’ll see them when they’re happy and you’ll see them when they’re sad. You’ll see when they’re making money and you’ll see them when they’re losing money. You’ll see them when they’re fighting with their wives. You’ll see it all.”

The restaurant has old pictures of the Corner Restaurant, including one of the Lampkins back in the 1970s. It even has the bar that’s been around since the late 19th century and survived from the fire four years ago.

Besides the Lampkins, the staff also includes three waitresses and a cook. Jimmy said it was hard to find somebody to come work at the restaurant.

“I think I’ll be able to support it,” he said. “The biggest thing is not only me, but people not getting any help. You can’t find help. In any normal restaurant business, you can talk to anybody in Montgomery County or any county. You can’t get help. Nobody needs the work.”

Jimmy said Katie Lampkin, one of the employees, has been helpful in getting the restaurant return to business.

“If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t be doing it,” he said. “I never grew up in electronics and all that stuff. If you don’t do it on a computer, you just won’t get it done.”

Before it closed in 2022, the Corner was known for its fried chicken and Sunday breakfast buffet. It has attracted plenty of residents in Montgomery and Gasconade counties as well as out-of-town residents.

The Corner still has fried chicken on its menu. It also sells sandwiches, salads, appetizers and has a kids’ menu.

But it doesn’t serve breakfast.

“That’s like hiring a whole new set of people,” Carol Lampkin said. “We have the 11-7 group, but to have breakfast, we have to hire another bunch of people.”

Now that the Corner has reopened, the Lampkins – who have been married since 1961 – have set a simple goal.

“I would like to see somebody in a year or two to follow in my footsteps, taking it over,” said Jimmy, who will be 85 years old in November. “The community needs it.”