“Ten of us were doing on-site work and as time passed, several people had to re-join society again and go back to their jobs,” said Black.īlack eventually realized he would have to either go back to work or quit his job after his leave was up. The cave was originally purchased to be turned into a bunker/safe haven if the time came for it. “A group of us guys came to Lanagan and I stayed with the guy who already lived here, and the cave presented itself as an opportunity to purchase, so I bought it within a few weeks of moving here,” said Black.

He had joined an online chatroom before coming to Lanagan and connected with several survivalists, one of whom already lived in Lanagan. “I noticed that the United States was in a financial crisis and I took all my leave I had saved up and came here,” said Black. “I was a high school principal in Indianapolis and Chris was an IT specialist for the Department of Defense,” said Ezell.īlack moved to Lanagan first, and Ezell moved down in 2013. In 2004 it was closed again and put up for sale until it was purchased in 2011 by Black and his wife.īefore purchasing the cave, Black and Ezell lived very different lives in Indianapolis. It was also advertised as a “cave restaurant of yesteryear” and mentioned in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” at some point in time.Īccording to it was later opened for free picnics then closed in 2000, sold to Debbie and Byron Stewart in 2002 and reopened.

It was opened to the public in 1938 and reportedly used as a restaurant during the 1940s.

Truitt’s Cave was discovered in 1929 and named after John Truitt, who was called the “Caveman of the Ozarks.” Truitt discovered and developed six caves in the area as show caves. Restaurant guests have the option to sit outside under the cliff or inside the cave. This is a place I definitely want to come back to and stay longer.Caves are pretty cool to look at and walk through, but have you ever eaten in one? Folks in Lanagan, Mo., get to enjoy that experience all the time.Ĭhris Black and his wife, Teresa Ezell, own and operate The Cave Bar & Grill, originally the home of Truitt’s Cave. (Actually there may be more than one, I just saw the one in the last photo below.) There’s an awesome goat that lives here too, with a feed dispenser nearby if you want to hand-feed it. In-between is a transition zone where water drips on you. The bar and the main dining room are literally inside a cave in the cliff, while outside is a sprawling seating area with your choice of sitting out among the trees or under the cliff overhang behind the vines. The building seen in the photo is the kitchen and the restrooms. I was here in the dead zone between lunch and dinner, so it was just me and a handful of bikers… though it sounded like quite a few more were on their way but hadn’t arrived before I left. So to get back on schedule (I wanted to be home in time for the season premiere of The Walking Dead, I decided to just have a beer here (Guinness) and also scratch the dive bar in Carthage I’d planned to visit on my way back. My original plan was to eat lunch here, but I’d already lost an hour due to backtracking out of my way to Saddlebock Brewery down in Springdale. How’s this for something different, a biker bar that’s actually in a cave! Scooter’s 1408th bar, first visited in 2019.

The cave bar and grill lanagan