If you want to have a good debate with friends, discuss your favorite restaurants. That’s a topic — a non-political one — that could create conversation for hours. Everyone has an opinion about who has the best food whether it’s steaks, pasta or dessert.

And here’s a pro tip: Don’t discuss it when you’re hungry.

A good restaurant — especially a local one — becomes a meeting place for business, a home away from home for families and a place to relax after a long day. We all have our go to places, and if any of them ever close, it’s a somber moment.

That’s why we, like many other locals, were happy to hear that the Cart Barn Grill reopened last week on Jefferson Street. 

Owner Tony Bishop always said the restaurant would open again after closing in December, but you just never know.

The restaurant had closed because it was on property Selig Enterprises is using for a development near Great Wolf Lodge. Selig had offered to work out a new building with Bishop, but he declined and found the location on Jefferson Street. 

There are many restaurants in LaGrange — many great ones — and the Cart Barn Grill is a longtime favorite for many.  Back in September, we did a feature on the restaurant for LaGrange Living. 

“We talked about moving it and getting it set up so my son can do it, so he can have a way of life, and I plan on retiring,” Bishop said then.

Of course, when we checked in last week, Bishop was behind the grill, cooking up burgers and seafood like always.

At some point, Bishop will retire and move on to other things. For now, longtime customers are glad to see him back in the kitchen of the reopened Cart Barn.