One of the many unique features at the Mountaintop Pub and Eatery: a family booth featuring toys, a chalkboard and a board game created by Carrie Kline set right into the table.
                                 Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

One of the many unique features at the Mountaintop Pub and Eatery: a family booth featuring toys, a chalkboard and a board game created by Carrie Kline set right into the table.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

Restaurant blessed as Saturday debut approaches

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<p>Dean Kline II poses behind the bar of his new business, the Mountaintop Pub and Eatery. Dean and his wife Carrie bought the old Shalimar Motel on South Mountain Boulevard a few months ago with the eye of turning their new pub into a place that captured the energy and atmosphere of the Shalimar.</p>
                                 <p>Kevin Carroll | Times Leader</p>

Dean Kline II poses behind the bar of his new business, the Mountaintop Pub and Eatery. Dean and his wife Carrie bought the old Shalimar Motel on South Mountain Boulevard a few months ago with the eye of turning their new pub into a place that captured the energy and atmosphere of the Shalimar.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

<p>Christ United Methodist Church pastor JP Bohanan blessed the pub Monday night before its grand opening on Saturday.</p>
                                 <p>Kevin Carroll | Times Leader</p>

Christ United Methodist Church pastor JP Bohanan blessed the pub Monday night before its grand opening on Saturday.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

WRIGHT TWP. — With a blessing and an “Amen,” Mountain Top’s newest hot spot is just about ready to open its doors to the public.

The Mountaintop Pub and Eatery will hold their grand opening on Saturday, but owner Dean Kline II welcomed Christ United Methodist Church pastor JP Bohanan to bless the new establishment and its employees ahead of the pub’s grand opening.

The new pub is opening its doors on the spot of the former Shalimar Motel and Lounge, a popular area establishment for a number of years.

“The Shalimar was THE hot spot around here,” said Carrie Kline, Dean’s wife. “That’s our goal, to keep that same energy and be a place for the community to come together.”

The Klines just bought the bar a few months ago, but the Shalimar has been a part of their lives for much longer. In fact, the old bar holds a very special place in the hearts of Carrie and Dean.

“It’s where my husband and I fell in love,” Carrie said. “We met at the Evergreen Raceway, but we would come here to dance.”

With a small group of employees, friends and family members gathered around the bar, the blessing began with a short prayer and a rendition of “Amazing Grace” before Bohanan passed out wafers and what appeared to be grape juice to everyone to serve Communion.

A final prayer sealed the blessing, and everyone came together for a group photo to showcase the Mountaintop Pub and Eatery family.

Among the guests at Monday’s blessing was local artist Danny Wall, who will have a number of his pieces showcased inside the pub as the Klines aim to shine a spotlight on local artists and their work.

“I’m excited, I’ve never really done anything like this before,” Wall said. “It’s so great, too. … There are plenty of great artists around here, they just need a place to display their art.”

Also on tap at the Mountaintop Pub: a number of local musicians who will be playing live sets on the weekends, starting with Kartune on Saturday.

The pub will also feature a monthly “round-up” program designed to help give back to the Mountain Top community.

When it comes time for patrons to pay their bill, they will have an option to round up their bill to the nearest dollar amount.

The extra cents will be donated to a designated charity or a cause, with a new cause chosen each month.

For February, the Klines have chosen to feature Crestwood football player Mayson Girton, who recently underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his leg. The extra funds collected from the pub’s round-up program will help Mayson’s family with their medical bills.

Doors will open at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon, as the Kline family, and the Mountain Top community, celebrate something that’s been brewing in Dean’s mind for a long time now, as alluded to by Bohanan before he began his blessing.

“I know that this has been on Dean’s mind for a while,” he said. “It’s always a gift to see someone’s dreams come true.”