Case Study · Historic Tavern · Henderson, KY
The Second-Oldest Liquor License in Kentucky — and a Homepage Showing a Wix Error Banner
Metzger's Tavern — Henderson, KY · Founded 1870
Founded 1870. HuffPost Top 25. 4.7 stars. The first thing their homepage shows visitors is a broken Wix banner reading “This app is no longer available.”
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The Evidence
The very first element visitors see — above the header, above the logo, above anything — is a broken Wix error banner reading 'This app is no longer available.' Not the 155-year history. Not the HuffPost Top 25 ranking. The error banner.
The menu page is two PNG images of a printed paper menu. No searchable text, no item names Google can read. If someone in Evansville searches 'best burger near me,' Metzger's doesn't rank — their menu is invisible to every search engine.
The Business
The first thing you see when you visit Metzger's Tavern's website is a banner at the very top of the page. It says: “This app is no longer available.” Not the hero image. Not the 155-year-old history. Not the fact that Huffington Post ranked them one of the 25 best dive bars in America. The first thing — above the header, above the logo, above anything — is a broken Wix error banner that no one has noticed, or noticed and left alone, long enough for it to become the face of the restaurant.
Metzger's Tavern has been open in Henderson, Kentucky since 1870. They hold the second-oldest active liquor license in the state. During Prohibition, they sold moonshine in prescription bottles out of what was technically a pharmacy. Their bean soup recipe is 87 years old. Their burger placed second in Kentucky. Huffington Post put them on a national best-of list. And their website greets you with an error message.
What the Site Is Actually Doing
The website is four Wix pages. The menu page — the page that 80% of restaurant visitors come to see — is two PNG images of a printed menu. No text. No prices Google can read. No item names that show up in search. If someone in Evansville searches “best burger near me” or “Henderson KY bar food,” Metzger's doesn't exist. Not on page one, not on page five. They're invisible.
The homepage has a slideshow of food photos with no captions. The awards — national recognition, state titles, magazine rankings — appear nowhere on the homepage. The Instagram feed section shows “Loading...” because the Wix widget stopped working and nobody fixed it. There's no Google Maps embed, no click-to-call button, no visible phone number on the contact page.
A restaurant with a genuine national reputation is running a website that would embarrass a first-year web design student.
What We'd Build
We designed a complete spec for what Metzger's Tavern's website should look like — and it's not complicated. It's honest.
Homepage
Leads with the truth: “The Second-Oldest Liquor License in Kentucky. The Best Burger You Haven't Had Yet.” Above the fold: a hero photo of the burger, three CTAs (Order Online, Get Directions, Call Us), and a strip of their actual awards — not generic placeholder text.
Menu Page
Every item has a name, a one-line description, and a price. Google can index all of it. Mobile users can read it without pinch-zooming. No more PNG images of a printed menu. No more invisible content.
History Page
Tells the real story — from The Swing Door Saloon in 1870, through selling moonshine in prescription bottles during Prohibition, to the Metzger family, to Moriah Hobgood's revival in 2018. It's a story worth telling. We tell it.
“Visiting from Evansville?” Section
Targets the 300,000-person market sitting 12 minutes across the river that currently has no reason to find Metzger's online. Driving directions, parking, hours — everything a first-time visitor from across the bridge needs.
SEO Foundations
Searches like “best burger Henderson KY,” “bar near Evansville Indiana,” and “historic bars Kentucky” collectively pull hundreds of searches per month in this market. Metzger's doesn't rank for a single one. With a properly structured site and six months of SEO maintenance, those are winnable. Low-competition market, strong domain story, legitimate accolades to build authority around.
What They're Leaving on the Table
The broken error banner alone is costing them first-time visitors. Anyone who finds the site from a review or a social share, sees that banner, and bounces — that's a customer who drove 12 minutes from Evansville and turned around before they ordered.
They have everything — the story, the accolades, the loyal customer base, the photogenic product. What they don't have is a website that reflects any of it. This is as clear-cut as it gets.
The Pitch
Pitchcraft Agency builds spec redesigns for local businesses whose websites don't match the quality of their work. We spotted Metzger's — founded 1870, HuffPost Top 25, second-oldest liquor license in Kentucky — and built the concept ourselves. Our offer: a full website rebuild, Google Business Profile management, monthly SEO maintenance, and monthly content updates at $549/month. No contracts. If we don't perform, you cancel.
See What We'd Build
We built the full spec redesign for Metzger's Tavern. Book a free 30-minute call to see it.
See What We'd BuildSee what we'd fix on your site
We'll review your website top to bottom, record a 10-minute Loom walkthrough of exactly what's broken, and deliver a PDF report with prioritized fixes — in 48 hours.
No commitment. No pitch deck.