“Don’t be ordinary. Be legendary.”

Phillip Collins
Posted 1/29/25

LUSK - This is the guiding aphorism of Twila Barnette, Lisa Pischel, Amy West and Shawna Glendy. Together, these four women are the architects of Legends, a relatively new bar and grill that opened its doors on October 11. Since then, Legends has established itself as a formidable eatery among the various other dining experiences available in Lusk. According to co-owners Barnette and Glendy, the journey of the young restaurant to its present place of prominence has been a wild and gratifying ride. 

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“Don’t be ordinary. Be legendary.”

Posted

LUSK - This is the guiding aphorism of Twila Barnette, Lisa Pischel, Amy West and Shawna Glendy. Together, these four women are the architects of Legends, a relatively new bar and grill that opened its doors on October 11. Since then, Legends has established itself as a formidable eatery among the various other dining experiences available in Lusk. According to co-owners Barnette and Glendy, the journey of the young restaurant to its present place of prominence has been a wild and gratifying ride. 

“It’s been amazing,” Glendy said.

“We are super grateful and appreciative of all the local people who have supported us,” Barnette said. “We are continuing to expand. We just look forward to lots of events for the summertime. We have lots of things in the works.”

Among the things that the four female entrepreneurs are implementing is an increase in daily specials and hours. They also intend to add a patio and pergola to the restaurant’s exterior, thereby providing a space for potential musical acts in the summer.

Dubbed “Legends” as a tribute to the community’s hard-working ranchers and local heroes, the business began with the collision of two distinct visions. Barnette had always wanted to have a bar. Meanwhile, Glendy had always wanted to have a restaurant. These two long-held aspirations converged and amalgamated into the establishment that is now known as Legends. According to Barnette and Glendy, the bar and grill was created to fill a void left by the closure of local establishments like Spirits and Rough & Refined.

“As businesses started closing, we just felt the pulse of the community,” Glendy said. “People were saying, ‘We would really like a steakhouse.’”

Initially, the vision of Legends began with Barnette and Glendy. However, when the duo procured the property at 625 South Main Street, they quickly found that they were going to need more help in tangibly enacting their dream. Both Glendy and Barnette were working full-time jobs, which necessitated the division of responsibilities with other parties. Enter West and Pischel, who brought their own unique skills to the equation.

“We just decided that we would pool everything together with our other business partners,” said Glendy. “We really did it for the community and we are having a ton of fun with it. It’s so much more than we even expected.”

Each of the four women play a very specific role in the management of Legends. Barnette runs the bar. Glendy dishes up the cuisine in the restaurant. West pays the bills. Pischel handles the scheduling. Together, this eclectic collection of ladies makes the magic happen.

“It’s just worked out really well because we take turns working and helping,” Glendy said. “We each have our own duties that we take care of.”


“Everybody has something to do,” Barnette added.

At least two other businesses have filled the space that Legends now occupies. The establishment was formerly known as Young Ducks and, before that, Triangle Four. Upon procuring venue, Glendy and Barnette went to work with some sweeping renovations. These included the reconfiguration of the kitchen, the repainting of the interior, the cleaning of the storeroom, and the installation of new flooring and light fixtures. All of this remodeling was performed within the span of ten short days. Needless to say, the entire project was a daunting task.

“The beginning was overwhelming,” said Barnette.

“We may have lost our minds and almost our husbands,” Glendy chuckled. “It was the fear of the unknown. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. I’ve worked in restaurants before, but it’s a whole new ballgame when you’re running them all of sudden. You’re trying to figure out what you need to order and what your menu is going to be. We’ve already changed our menu twice in four months. We brought in a chef from Colorado. He worked in the kitchen with us for an entire weekend. He was like, ‘You need to pare down your menu.’ He gave us great suggestions.”

Barnette and Glendy narrowed their focus to homemade all-American food, including burgers, steaks, soups and salads. In addition, Legends offers specials like pastas, meatloaf, shepherd’s pie, and other creative dishes. This recalibrated culinary focus is proving to be a winner with most customers. Barnette stated that multiple parties are lining up to reserve the venue for various kinds of events.

“We’re having so much fun,” Barnette said. “We have a great time. We love meeting new people. We love hosting events. We’ve had numerous Christmas parties. We’ve had birthday parties, pitch tournaments, and just anything anyone wants. We’re going to host a poker tournament. We’ve been contacted by a class to host a reunion party here.” 

Barnette and her three partners are not the only ones having fun. Legends boasts a tightly knit team of people who believe in the collective vision of Barnette and Glendy. 

“We have phenomenal help,” Barnette said. “We employ about 18 people plus the four of us and a random husband or two. They’re our support staff.”

One of those staff members is Karla Hill, who has been serving up Legend’s own brand of homemade cookery since day one.

“The people I work for and the people that I work with are just fun,” Hill said. “We have so much fun. We joke around. We get stuff done. They [Barnette and her co-owners] appreciate us. They show and tell us that they appreciate us. You don’t get that at most jobs. I love these ladies. They’re fabulous. There’s nothing going on with me that I can’t go to them and tell them. On the job or at home, we have great communication. I think it’s awesome. We’re a family. We’re a legendary family.”

Indeed, Legends is a family… both figuratively and quite literally. Barnette also employs her son, Taylor. Before he was manning the bar at Legends, Taylor was serving up drinks at Spirits. With the end of that establishment drawing nigh, Taylor began contemplating working for his mother.

“We knew Spirits was going to be closing,” said Taylor. “So, we all started talking. People that were going to Spirits needed a place to go. They needed somewhere that they could call their bar. So, that’s what we wanted to do.”

As the old adage goes, where one door closes, another one opens. Spirits closed its doors and Legends eventually opened theirs. Once more, Taylor started mixing drinks and keeping the taps running for those patrons displaced by Spirits’ closure.

“I was bartending at Spirits because I liked to make fun drinks,” Taylor said. “This is the same thing.”

Legends Bar and Grill is open Wednesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The establishment maintains a Facebook page and can be reached telephonically at 307-216-0800 or via email at eatndrink@legendsinlusk.com.

“There were bumps in the road,” Glendy said. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but people have stuck it out with us, and it’s been amazing.”