HASKINS, Ohio — Connor Brown moved to Colorado more than a decade ago, playing music and working in bars. He recently returned to northwest Ohio a few years ago and saw an opportunity in Haskins.
"Everybody really wanted this place open," Brown said of the Mail Pouch Saloon restaurant. "It was our job to make it happen."
Since it opened earlier this spring, the Mail Pouch Saloon has been a busy place. The kitchen actually ran out of food one day during its soft opening in May.
"We sold a lot of food the first couple weeks," Brown said. "We got eaten out of house and home. It was crazy."
When the restaurant closed just over a year ago, it left the Haskins community without any place to sit down, eat, and drink. Brown says a place like this is a must for any small village.
"It's just nice to get out, there's no bars here that are doing that, so it's nice to get out and have some beers," Brown said.
Perrysburg resident Mike Corcoran said the saloon is a great place to eat, and some, like Corcoran, even come from out of town to enjoy it.
"The food is awesome, the drinks are great. It's just convenient on the way home. We pass right by it," Corcoran said.
Brown said the spot on Haskins Road has a history of failure as a restaurant, and he plans to keep it going for the long run.
It originally opened as the Mail Pouch Saloon in 1977. The building changed ownership, names and concepts over the years until it became Mail Pouch again in the 2010s, before closing again in 2022.
"I think it means a lot to [Haskins]," Brown said. "I think seeing it over the years come and go has been frustrating. We're here to stay and we're here to do a good job. Hopefully, they can give us a chance that we deserve and embrace us, and work together to create some nightlife in Haskins."
The Mail Pouch Saloon has an additional location in Swanton which opened in 2017. It is the site of the former Shucker's Seafood and Pasta.