Our Daily Show Interview! Mac’s on Main Ready for Grand Opening in Belleville
BELLEVILLE – The newest Mac’s location will open in Belleville next week.
Mac’s on Main, located at 4204 West Main Street in Belleville, will welcome customers starting next Wednesday or Thursday, June 10 or 11, 2026, said owner Rob Lenhardt. He is eager to introduce the Mac’s brand to St. Clair County, with an identical menu to the downtown Alton location, including Olga’s products. He hopes the new restaurant is a positive experience for diners.
“There’s obviously going to be things that we need to fix after the first week and change and look at it 30 days into it and change some more things and get it right,” he said. “You’ve got to take the first step first. We don’t want to overdo it.”
Lenhardt explained that the inside of the restaurant seats about 300, and there are 300 seats in their outdoor space as well. There are three bars and about 100 TVs.
They also have half an acre of property behind the building, which will be used as an event space. Lenhardt looks forward to welcoming community members for wedding receptions or other community events like “Party in the Park.”
“In Belleville, there’s 56,000 people. It’s probably more than double what Alton’s is, or right at twice the population of Alton,” he said. “There’s a big need for venues in Belleville to have large gatherings for 200, 300, maybe even up to 400 people for weddings and whatnot. I think that is kind of the beauty of the whole thing.”
Lenhardt acquired the building in late December and started rehabbing it in early January. The 12,000-square-foot property required some major renovations, which most Lenhardt did himself. He remembers working on the copper pipes in January, with the kitchen’s heat lamps on to keep him warm.
As they near opening, Lenhardt shared that they received about 180 applications and ultimately hired around 50 employees to start, bringing the total number of people working under the Mac’s umbrella to 200.
He is excited to welcome people to the new location in Belleville, but he noted that the team is constantly working to improve all of their locations across the Riverbend area. As the Mac’s brand has grown, Lenhardt is determined to provide quality service and food.
“The first few years were mostly more so getting things right downtown,” he said. “That’s still a work in progress. That never stops. You’ve got to get what you have right before you go do something else. And like I said, it’s a work in progress. I think it gets better every year, but you never want to stop growing, either.”
They recently received a sidewalk permit for Mac’s Downtown in Alton, and their sidewalk will be open to 30–40 diners seven days a week starting next week. Lenhardt can’t wait to host big events out on the sidewalk. He added that the sidewalk area will be dog-friendly.
St. Clair County is currently in the process of building a racetrack, and Mac’s will be their official concessions provider once the track opens in about six weeks. Lenhardt plans to start hiring in late July.
“It’ll be a good thing for everybody, the city, the county. I’ll be doing concessions, the food and beverage inside and outside,” he said. “We’ll be adding some jobs out there as well whenever we get started. We’re shooting for the end of July to get going on that. So we’ve kind of been bouncing back and forth in Belleville, trying to get both of those things up and going.”
Though it’s been busy, Lenhardt is excited to engage with his new customers and employees to make sure Belleville has a positive Mac’s experience. He encourages people to visit the official Mac’s on Main website for more information and their full menu.
