New Downtown Business Opens as Paper Mill Situation Might be Resolved

New Bar and Eatery Not Alone in Downtown Expansions During Unknown Fate of Major Employer

Chillicothe — A new business opened downtown, a second bar and eatery for the owners – as news about the sale and probable reopening of the paper mill circulated, on Wednesday.

The “Rooftop Bar & Bistro” had their ribbon-cutting by the Chillicothe-Ross Chamber of Commerce – four years to the day after the opening of the owners’ previous adventure, the “Wobbly Ghost Tavern” – on October 8th, 2025. Chamber leader Mike Throne livestreamed the ribbon-cutting with the couple who owns both businesses and their staff.

I asked Throne about the timing of the apparent confidence of the downtown during the economic and employment unknowns of the paper mill shutdown. Hear his opinion in a related story.

Tara Robertson gave me a tour of the comfortably tiny place of the Rooftop Bar & Bistro at 36 West Water Street, a former bank drive-through. She and husband Brian started the Wobbly Ghost Tavern on Main Street just East of Bridge Street, across from Ewing Street – which got its ribbon-cutting in 2021.

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Robertson said they have had the new location for a year, but did not want to do a ribbon cutting until they felt ready for it. As it was, she said they opened it for business half an hour before the event.

I asker her about creating a new business during the paper mill unknowns. She said she felt awful for the mill employees, but agreed that she had enough confidence about Chillicothe to open a second business.

Watch the ribbon-cutting below, as well as take a whirlwind tour of the location, in the below videos.

Find Facebook pages for the Rooftop Bar & Bistro and Wobbly Ghost Tavern, as well as the Chamber and their livestreamed ribbon-cutting – and other recent business activities.