Two weeks after they reopened the Dexter Lake Club, the funky roadhouse featured briefly in “Animal House,” Gregg and Shannon Stewart are still getting “the look” from locals.

It’s that skeptical, over-the-spectacles look that says: You think you’re going to revive the joint? What makes you so special?

For decades, people have been trying — and pretty much failing — to capitalize on the four minutes of fame that the 1978- era comedy starring John Belushi brought the cafe and bar.

Owners come and go. Sometimes they focus on reviving the cafe, sometimes on the bar. Once, back in 1997, new owners turned the place into a garden craft store.

But the Stewarts’ vision is neither “Animal House” revisited nor 180 degrees different.

They know that long before the club’s neon sign bedazzled movie location scouts, the Dexter Lake Club had a thriving life of its own.

It was a place a working stiff could go for a decent meal, the place a guy could take a date for some live music and dancing.

It was a classic American roadhouse on the highway between Eugene and Oakridge.

Dig into the newspaper archives and references to the club abound.

It’s where the Lane County Chamber of Commerce occasionally met in the 1950s, where advertising welcomed “all sportsmen and skiers, no cover charge!”

It’s where, in 1973, an incredulous barmaid called the sheriff ’s office to report a customer had just confessed he’d shot someone and where the deputy later arrested the man without any fuss.

It’s where the construction crews working on Dexter Dam in the 1950s could get out of the rain for a decent meal prepared by an excellent cook — Viola G. Phelps McCornack, who, according to her obituary, opened the club in the 1950s.

The club’s roots in the community and its roadhouse feel attracted the Stewarts, and they didn’t have to do a whole lot of research to learn it. The two grew up in the area.

The couple moved to Washington state for work 15 years ago, she in bars and restaurants, he in sales and marketing but with music gigs on the side.

When they came home on Memorial Day to lay wreaths on their fathers’ graves, they learned that the Dexter Lake Club was yet again on the market.

They’d been looking to open their own place for years, and the Dexter Lake Club met a lot of their criteria.

“We wanted something that felt intimate, not too big, where you could get to know your customers,” Shannon said. They also wanted a stand-alone building rather than something in a strip mall.

For Gregg, there was an added emotional tie. His first paying gig was at the Dexter Lake Club. He was just 13 years old and got called to fill in for an ailing bass player, back in 1977. It was his first taste of live performing, two weekends, $33 a show. He played the joint before the movie crew filmed the famous Otis Day and the Knights scene, which included a very young Robert Cray.

By June, the Stewarts knew they wanted to move ahead on the deal. By October, they had a lease with the current building owner, KGE Enterprises, Gregg said.

After weeks of 18-hour days, cleaning, painting and refurbishing, they opened in mid-December. The cafe looking out on the lake is an inviting airy space with warm golden walls and a wood floor.

The low-ceiling bar in the back, with its log posts, is cozy. It’s no movie replica — the Stewarts have moved the location of the stage — but film references remain.

The zebra print backdrop where the band once performed? They brought in an artist who recreated the look around a corner booth. It’s a place people can sit and have a picture taken by the back-lit “Animal House” sign, Gregg said.

But for the Stewarts, the present outweighs the past.

Gregg has put together a house band with old friends — local bass player Greg Hepner and drummer John Troute. They’ll be playing a mix of countryblues and ’70s-era rock, tunes that will work in an intimate space where audience members are so close to performers.

There will be a jam night on Sundays and a songwriters’ night on Wednesdays.

Meanwhile, over in the cafe, Shannon has organized a menu of from-scratch dishes, chicken cordon bleu, beef stew, prime rib.

The Stewarts say they didn’t think twice about taking on a challenge where many others have failed.

“We aren’t afraid of hard work,” Shannon said. “ We were already working hard for somebody else.”

“We’ve had this dream for as long as we can remember,” Gregg said.