Restaurant planned for historic Cohen building

The Cohen building was most recently the site of Shandies restaurant, which closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shandies had opened for business roughly 11 years ago, not too long after the closure of C.C. Cohen Restaurant and Bar, which was a downtown Paducah staple for many years.

“It’s one of the most historic, most beautiful buildings in Paducah and they were aware of that and they were looking to grow, and we think that place is going to be the perfect opportunity,” Johnson told The Sun on Friday.

Over/Under, located at 314 Broadway, opened in March 2021 and marked a restaurant venture for Calhoun and Hardin, who own CIRCO Construction.

“It’s gone really, really well,” Johnson said, on Over/Under.

“We met all of our expectations, and then exceeded them. We set ourselves a number financially that we wanted to hit, and we set certain expectations behind the scenes, and we nailed all of those.”

Johnson, who will be general manager for the new restaurant, said they are looking to have a “fine dining establishment.” He estimated there will be an official announcement coming in the next few weeks with the name, cuisine and atmosphere. Tentatively, they want to open it by early this summer.

As for the building itself, he said it has some “standard repair stuff” to be done. It dates back to the 1800s and housed members of the Cohen family and different businesses over the years. It’s said to be haunted — if one believes in that — by the late Stella Cohen Peine, who died in July 1980.

There’s been claims of people seeing the figure of Stella looking out of a second-floor window, and other types of occurrences at the building, such as flickering lights, electronic interference, turned over salt and pepper shakers, and drinks moving around, according to Sun archives.

“It looks really good. It’s in a good state,” Johnson said, on the building.

“Behind the scenes is what we’re working on right now — exactly what kind of menu we want to build, what we want that atmosphere to look like, and then overall, what kind of experience we want the guests to have there.”

Over/Under posted an announcement earlier this week on Facebook about plans for the C.C. Cohen building, garnering excitement from people around the community. The post’s response was “extraordinary,” Johnson said.

“We knew that that building was important and a great location to Paducah, but even more so than I realized, I think,” he said. “Everyone seems to be extremely excited to bring that building back to life.”

The Sun also reached out to Paducah Main Street Director Katie Axt this week about the restaurant plans. She described it as a “wonderful opportunity to reactivate” this building and to have a new dining experience.

“It is a prime location right in the center of our historic downtown, and the new owners and restaurant developers have been great partners with our downtown business community and the city,” Axt said.

She added that having a new restaurant helps with generating activity, noting the downtown entertainment venues and that people like to come downtown to walk, shop at stores and eat at restaurants. She said all of the businesses and activities “link together.”

“They support one another, and they generate growth and revenue by being in close proximity with one another, and so, another business in that building at that location, that’s providing a new dining option — just continues to make our downtown stronger and more vibrant,” Axt added.

Follow Kelly Farrell on Twitter, @KellyAFarrell11