By Isabella Senno
Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama all walk into a restaurant.
This is not the beginning of a joke; it’s actually the history of Hamburg Inn No. 2, 214 N. Linn St., and soon many more individuals across the state, country, and world may find themselves entering through its doors in numerous new formats.
Hamburg Inn is an iconic Iowa City eatery that’s been around since the late 1940s. When Michael Lee acquired the restaurant last year from Dave Panther, he came ready with plans to expand the brand way beyond the single location.
“It’s a very good feeling that something that my dad created and my uncle continued for decades [is succeeding], and I think it can only get better,” Panther said. “It’s created a lot more opportunities for the people that work here, too.”
These plans are beginning to come to fruition as Lee will open a second location at 2221 Rochester Ave. in the spring, followed by 30 more locations across Iowa later this year, from Des Moines to Moline.
“The first group will be in the state of Iowa. I’m looking for a minimum of 30; we have to hire 10 or more [employees per restaurant],” Lee said. “We need to hire 600 full-time jobs in the state of Iowa. That will help the state of Iowa, that will help the University of Iowa, and that will help the international investors like in China. I call it the ‘win-win’ creation for everybody.”
Lee also has plans to expand outside of Iowa’s borders within a short period of time, first reaching other Midwestern states, then staking claims across the country. With several more locations in the works, some may be worried the brand is sacrificing quality for quantity.
“We don’t want to become a fast-food chain, we want to make sure we have good quality products and employees, so it might take a little bit longer but we want to do it right,” said Nathaniel Hayward, food and beverage director for ASA Global, Hamburg Inn’s parent company.
Seth Dudley, the general manager of Hamburg Inn, said there will be three different formats for the restaurant, with room to grow further if need be. There will be the traditional restaurant model, and larger locations like those planned for Ames and Mason City may allow for a new addition to the menu.
“We’re looking to open up stores like the one here on North Linn, full menu, all-day service,” Dudley said. “Some of those stores may serve alcohol … that’s something that would be new to the Hamburg Inn.”
There will also be a Hamburg Inn Express model, which is set to open in Coralville, North Liberty, Cedar Falls, Waterloo, and Moline.
“It’s going to be very similar to what we have here, except with a slightly slimmed down menu and a smaller location, so it’s going to be faster service and kind of focusing heavily on delivery and carry-out due to the limited seating,” Dudley said.
Hayward said work is also being done to capitalize on the pie shakes the restaurant is famous for. HI Pie Shake and Coffee locations will be serving specialty and gourmet coffees next to these shakes.
“I want to make us a retail so that people in California can buy [the pie shake],” Lee said. “I’m going to make it national.”
A team in China is also coordinating to open a location in Shanghai in the next two months. This location and others sprinkled over China will be called “American Presidents’ Diner,” a name chosen by Lee as a nod to the presidents and presidential hopefuls that have stopped by the restaurant on the campaign trail over the past years.
Lee hopes these international locations would change the stereotypes on the traditional American diet and correct the misunderstanding that everything Americans eat is fast food.