What’s old is new again at the Hamburg Inn No. 2.
Laying claim to being one of the oldest Iowa City restaurants still in operation, the iconic Linn Street staple is getting a second chance under new ownership, 88 years after it was first started.
With a remodeled interior and a recalibrated menu, new owner Gold Cap Hospitality hopes to deliver a heaping helping of the same stuff that earned it a cult following for decades.
Details: An honest take on simple but quality diner classics is served through a heavy focus on Americana breakfast alongside burgers, hot sandwiches and The Hamburg’s famous pieshakes. A new selection of canned beer, cocktails and specialties like fried chicken will join the menu soon. Most entrees cost $9 to $15.
When Gold Cap Hospitality purchased the Hamburg from former owner Michael Lee, the most frequent inquiry it heard from lifelong customers was whether the menu would change.
It’s a natural question for the owning partners, who have a hand in Pullman Bar & Diner, St. Burch Tavern and Big Grove Brewery. After decades building a sentimental foundation, The Hamburg’s troubled management over the last couple years posed a couple key questions for the new ownership group.
First, how to help the Hamburg remember who it is.
Second, how to set up the institution for success while balancing the craving for consistent classics with the need to adapt to evolving consumer taste.
After poring over decades of menus and photos, taking advice from regulars and incorporating feedback from the Hamburg’s former longtime owner Dave Panther, they’ve found a balance that feels authentic — neither recycled nor stagnant, with changes that don’t feel out of character.
“We wanted it to feel very familiar,” said Ben Smart, executive chef for Big Grove Brewery who helped revise the menu. “We wanted to distill it down to the bones — that simplicity, honest food and little quirky nods to the neighborhood.”
Smart said the new, three-page menu preserves the core of what has made the diner great: Americana.
Here, tried-and-true simplicity shines through not by embellishment or eye-catching details, but by honing an honest quality about what it’s serving on beige plates.
Omelets and skillets feature classics like the Denver alongside new selections gleaned from past menus, like the Goosetown made with kielbasa, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Across the menu, The Presidential Breakfast makes a meal out of the same combinations on breakfast plates 100 years ago.
In some cases, honesty means shunning the modern shortcuts — used by many restaurants to save time and money — that have interfered with what made the classics great.
Biscuits are soaked with gravy made with milk, not a powder mix. Hollandaise is made from scratch.
The patty melt delivers their own corned beef on fresh rye, and the Oklahoma-style fried onion burger adds variety with thinly-sliced onions seared into crisp, caramelized bites on a smash burger.
Soon, the Hamburg will bring on a fried chicken still being tested in its kitchens, alongside Blue Plate specials like meat loaf and chicken-fried steak.
“We knew we wanted to be an all-day (diner), not just breakfast. We wanted to grow into dinner,” Smart said.
Plates like apple fritter French toast and oatmeal pancakes hope to become new classics with fun, novel qualities.
If you’re already salivating for dessert, don’t worry. The award-winning pieshakes are still on the menu in four varieties made with Dan & Debbie’s vanilla ice cream: Dutch apple with produce from Wilson’s Orchard, maple pecan, French silk and blueberry.
Say “cheers” to friends with new canned beer and cocktail options like Irish coffee and mimosas, or sober up with bottomless coffee that “knows no bounds” for $3.
After slimming down a bloated menu, Smart hopes to later pepper new specialties among old staples to embrace fresh, light and bold flavors for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
With the same layout and seating arrangement as before, the Hamburg still centers on a counter in the middle of the dining room. The space, remodeled in the style it had around the 1970s and 1980s, pays homage to the era when politicians started to make the diner a hot spot for politicos of all stripes.
“We have a beautiful view out front looking on Linn Street historical buildings. We wanted to lean on that from a design perspective, as well as keeping older artifacts intact,” said Nate Kaeding, founding partner and lead strategist at Gold Cap Hospitality. “When you think about what makes the Hamburg, the Hamburg, it’s (that) what you see is what you get.”
Original wainscoting bordering the restaurant is complemented by vintage-style wallpaper and color selections that brighten the room during the day and offer a warm glow under incandescent sconce lighting at night. The original tin ceiling, now painted a lighter color, balances the old, dark tile floor that anchors the space.
All of it yields to the essence of the space documented through history — newspaper articles, photos and campaign memorabilia galore.
“It was a trip down memory land,” Kaeding said.
With decor in place, a new level of consistency in service and high food quality, the new opening shows promise to restore the Hamburg to the place patrons knew and loved in its heyday.
www.thegazette.com
Laying claim to being one of the oldest Iowa City restaurants still in operation, the iconic Linn Street staple is getting a second chance under new ownership, 88 years after it was first started.
With a remodeled interior and a recalibrated menu, new owner Gold Cap Hospitality hopes to deliver a heaping helping of the same stuff that earned it a cult following for decades.
Details: An honest take on simple but quality diner classics is served through a heavy focus on Americana breakfast alongside burgers, hot sandwiches and The Hamburg’s famous pieshakes. A new selection of canned beer, cocktails and specialties like fried chicken will join the menu soon. Most entrees cost $9 to $15.
What’s new on the menu?
When Gold Cap Hospitality purchased the Hamburg from former owner Michael Lee, the most frequent inquiry it heard from lifelong customers was whether the menu would change.
It’s a natural question for the owning partners, who have a hand in Pullman Bar & Diner, St. Burch Tavern and Big Grove Brewery. After decades building a sentimental foundation, The Hamburg’s troubled management over the last couple years posed a couple key questions for the new ownership group.
First, how to help the Hamburg remember who it is.
Second, how to set up the institution for success while balancing the craving for consistent classics with the need to adapt to evolving consumer taste.
After poring over decades of menus and photos, taking advice from regulars and incorporating feedback from the Hamburg’s former longtime owner Dave Panther, they’ve found a balance that feels authentic — neither recycled nor stagnant, with changes that don’t feel out of character.
“We wanted it to feel very familiar,” said Ben Smart, executive chef for Big Grove Brewery who helped revise the menu. “We wanted to distill it down to the bones — that simplicity, honest food and little quirky nods to the neighborhood.”
Smart said the new, three-page menu preserves the core of what has made the diner great: Americana.
Here, tried-and-true simplicity shines through not by embellishment or eye-catching details, but by honing an honest quality about what it’s serving on beige plates.
Omelets and skillets feature classics like the Denver alongside new selections gleaned from past menus, like the Goosetown made with kielbasa, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Across the menu, The Presidential Breakfast makes a meal out of the same combinations on breakfast plates 100 years ago.
In some cases, honesty means shunning the modern shortcuts — used by many restaurants to save time and money — that have interfered with what made the classics great.
Biscuits are soaked with gravy made with milk, not a powder mix. Hollandaise is made from scratch.
The patty melt delivers their own corned beef on fresh rye, and the Oklahoma-style fried onion burger adds variety with thinly-sliced onions seared into crisp, caramelized bites on a smash burger.
Soon, the Hamburg will bring on a fried chicken still being tested in its kitchens, alongside Blue Plate specials like meat loaf and chicken-fried steak.
“We knew we wanted to be an all-day (diner), not just breakfast. We wanted to grow into dinner,” Smart said.
Plates like apple fritter French toast and oatmeal pancakes hope to become new classics with fun, novel qualities.
If you’re already salivating for dessert, don’t worry. The award-winning pieshakes are still on the menu in four varieties made with Dan & Debbie’s vanilla ice cream: Dutch apple with produce from Wilson’s Orchard, maple pecan, French silk and blueberry.
Say “cheers” to friends with new canned beer and cocktail options like Irish coffee and mimosas, or sober up with bottomless coffee that “knows no bounds” for $3.
After slimming down a bloated menu, Smart hopes to later pepper new specialties among old staples to embrace fresh, light and bold flavors for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
What does it look like now?
With the same layout and seating arrangement as before, the Hamburg still centers on a counter in the middle of the dining room. The space, remodeled in the style it had around the 1970s and 1980s, pays homage to the era when politicians started to make the diner a hot spot for politicos of all stripes.
“We have a beautiful view out front looking on Linn Street historical buildings. We wanted to lean on that from a design perspective, as well as keeping older artifacts intact,” said Nate Kaeding, founding partner and lead strategist at Gold Cap Hospitality. “When you think about what makes the Hamburg, the Hamburg, it’s (that) what you see is what you get.”
Original wainscoting bordering the restaurant is complemented by vintage-style wallpaper and color selections that brighten the room during the day and offer a warm glow under incandescent sconce lighting at night. The original tin ceiling, now painted a lighter color, balances the old, dark tile floor that anchors the space.
All of it yields to the essence of the space documented through history — newspaper articles, photos and campaign memorabilia galore.
“It was a trip down memory land,” Kaeding said.
With decor in place, a new level of consistency in service and high food quality, the new opening shows promise to restore the Hamburg to the place patrons knew and loved in its heyday.
Hamburg No. 2 gets a makeover under new ownership
From the decor to the menu, see what’s new in one of Iowa City’s oldest diners.
www.thegazette.com
