What Happens Now?

Julia DeSpain

The Future of Restaurants

Where do we go from here? After a tumultuous period requiring nimble pivots and creative vision to survive, what’s next for Iowa’s food and dining establishments?

BY ZACH BERG

In 2019, the restaurant industry in Iowa was flying high. According to the Iowa Restaurant Association, there were close to 6,500 restaurants and bars across the state. Nearly 155,000 people worked in the restaurant and bar industry that year. Just over 100,000 were working in restaurants in Iowa in 2014.

“The food world was king,” Samuel Charles, head chef and co-owner of Rodina in Cedar Rapids said of 2019. “COVID destroyed that.”

By March of 2020, that growth was in a tailspin, thanks to the shattering effects of COVID-19. Roughly 70,000 Iowans working at restaurants were let go in hopes of getting unemployment benefits, according to Jessica Dunker, president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association.

Entire menus and business models were flipped on their heads in order to survive. Trumpet Blossom, Iowa City’s purveyor of beautifully complex vegan dishes and a beloved concert venue, made the decision many did and transitioned totally to takeout.

“This is not something I had ever anticipated doing,” said Katy Meyer, owner of Trumpet Blossom. “The small crew who had come back to work in person really rolled with all the punches.”

Though thousands of workers were hired back in the coming months and years, restaurateurs and leaders of the Iowa food industry know one thing for sure: getting back to pre-pandemic conditions is not on the menu anytime soon.

But what is next for the restaurants that survived COVID? Can the pandemic prove to be a pivot point that leads to something newer and better? It’s possible, but first, they have to fully recover.

“We don’t necessarily say we’re in the food business, but in the hospitality business. But how do you put hospitality in a box?”

––Samuel Charles, Rodina

Of those 155,000 working in restaurants in 2019, 20,000 never returned to the restaurant industry, Dunker said. Of those 6,500 restaurants across Iowa in 2019, 600 to 700 of them closed. Dunker estimates that $1.5 billion was lost in the Iowa bar and restaurant industry due to the pandemic.

“We’re like deer on wobbly legs,” Dunker said. “We’re going to run again, but we’ve got to get our footing again first.”

Is a pivot to takeout the future?

In March of 2020, New York City was becoming the epicenter of COVID-19 before it reached full force in Iowa. With family working in the NYC food industry, Charles realized what was to come in Iowa. He checked with his financial advisor and got the news: Rodina had 16 days cash-in-hand. Any closure longer than that would be cataclysmic.

“Mentally, I had accepted that the restaurant was closing down,” Charles said. Rodina had just opened in January of 2019 as a high-end casual restaurant where groups shared dishes family style. By the end of that year, they had hit their stride. Suddenly, his dream restaurant was going to fall victim to a pandemic.

“I just had the mindset that they’re going to have to drag me out of the building.”

On March 16, 2020, with COVID-19 spreading across Iowa, Dunker received the call from the governor’s office. They were going to close the bars for two weeks beginning at noon the following day, St. Patrick’s Day, the biggest bar holiday revenue-wise.

Her first question to Gov. Reynolds’ office was a simple one: “What is a bar?” Is it businesses that have a liquor license, or get 51% of their sales from alcohol?

To help the governor make a clear decision, the Restaurant Association held an emergency meeting of its board of directors.

“That board of directors, which included

Pizza Ranch and Culvers and places that don’t even have liquor licenses, they unanimously agreed: take all of us. If you’re going to shut down one portion of our industry, we’re going to stand together,” Dunker said. The State agreed to let them keep takeout, delivery, drivethrough. “That is the most defining moment for our industry because we chose to be a united voice and unified from day one.”

That unified front helped ensure the state would eventually get roughly $90 million in funds to about 1,200 restaurants in Iowa in 2020, Dunker said.

Suddenly, no matter what, Iowa restaurants were either closed or doing only drive-through or takeout service. For both Rodina and Trumpet Blossom, the transition to takeout was a brutal one. Trumpet Blossom was closed for five weeks. Rodina laid off its staff in order for them to get unemployment benefits.

“We don’t necessarily say we’re in the food business, but in the hospitality business. But how do you put hospitality in a box?” Charles said of Rodina. The early pandemic days at Rodina featured himself, his wife and business partner Phoebe Charles, and one or two other staff.

When Trumpet Blossom opened back up in May of 2020, they were 100% takeout and stayed as such until May 2021. Meyer credited the restaurant’s then-manager Jenni Cannella and her entire staff for making the transition sustainable for the business. Jenni was answering all the phone call orders and running all the orders out to the customers for pickup.

Some menu items at Trumpet Blossom transitioned perfectly to takeout: their vegan macaroni and cheese with coconut bacon bits could easily be reheated at home. Their housemade ice cream was another story. Her staff got busy turning ice cream to milkshakes with exciting flavors like blueberry-lavender, and a turmeric shake with lemon and dates. Due to their success in the carryout-only days, milkshakes remain on their menu.

“My kitchen staff worked hard to remain creative,” Meyer said. “Basically everyone, myself included, was willing to do whatever it took to keep us afloat while we operated under completely new circumstances.”

Though many restaurants were embracing carryout and delivery due to the pandemic, Dunker said the transition to more carryout was already happening across Iowa before COVID-19 made it a necessity.

“Prior to COVID, we were looking at data that said 37% of food and drink that is created in a restaurant or bar is consumed in a restaurant or bar. That means 63% was already carryout, pick-up or delivery,” Dunker said. “COVID was really a catalyst that propelled us forward in a direction we had to go to anyways because

consumer demand required it.”

This could potentially lead to other longterm changes for Iowa restaurants, Dunker said: smaller menus that can transition to carryout easier, less dining space so restaurants can focus on to-go orders, and higher prices.

In order to make carryout a more practical routine for all restaurants, the Iowa Restaurant Association is supporting House Study Bill 688, which would require an agreement between restaurants and third-party food delivery services. These food delivery services do not have to ask a restaurant to post their menu on their services. Since customers order food through a third party, and not the restaurant itself, things often go awry with what’s available and when items will be ready.

Becoming regional destinations

Carryout and delivery may be a new or growing lifeblood for restaurants, but there’s something inalienable at the core of businesses like Rodina and Trumpet Blossom: people coming together in a beautiful space with friends, family and restaurant regulars to experience food and a sense of community.

“People choose hospitality in the bars and restaurants because they love people. When you invite someone to your restaurant, it’s like inviting them into your home,” Dunker said.

In 2021, despite Charles saying he rarely felt comfortable, Rodina found its footing again as one of the premier dine-in destinations for elevated casual dining. After being voted the CRANDIC’s best chef by Little Village readers in 2019, Charles was named Iowa’s Chef of the Year by the Iowa Restaurant Association in 2021. In an interview with the Gazette, he said a large portion of his customers were travelers looking for Rodina’s take on Midwestern cuisine staples done with hyper-local ingredients.

“It is my absolute belief that the future of the food world lies in smaller communities that can actually sustain themselves on local farms,” Charles said. “Farm to table is not possible in New York City, or it’s not possible for the average person since prices would be too high.”

“In places like Iowa, there’s something that is very special, and it’s that good food is very, very accessible. I believe that there’s going to be this explosion of these really fun concepts in these smaller communities, and I think COVID actually sped that up.”

Since so many of the country’s biggest cities were hit hardest by COVID-19, Charles noted that many chefs at prestigious big-city restaurants moved back to their homes in smaller, more rural towns and brought with them their “massive talents.”

When dreaming of the future of Iowa restaurants, Charles also looks to the Michelin Guide. Starting in 1904, the now iconic food guide was first just a list of notable restaurants in the French countryside worthy of driving or biking to.

“That is what Iowa is. It’s a grouping of smaller communities within a drivable distance that have notable food establishments that are worthy of a trip,” Charles said.

Lincoln Cafe drove food tourism in Mount Vernon for 12 years. Big Grove Brewery’s success helped Solon’s Main Street rival any neighborhood in Iowa restaurant-wise. Charles hopes we see more and more of this.

“If we have all these great, unique, farm-totable restaurants across the region, that warrants individuals wanting to travel the state of Iowa for something they may not be able to get anywhere else,” Charles said.

Dunker knows that the state has to invest in those rural places to make sure restaurants stay long-term. “My biggest worry about 10 years from now is that we won’t find ways to attract and invest in the rural main streets,” Dunker said.

What happens when the longtime owners of the iconic small-town breakfast place retire or face a crisis like COVID again? Dunker hopes to see the state create initiatives to attract more people and more money into those rural communities.

With Trumpet Blossom as the only vegan restaurant in Iowa City, and quite possibly the only fully vegan restaurant in eastern Iowa, Meyer said that her restaurant routinely has travelers coming for food. But Trumpet Blossom has another point of attraction: it’s a concert venue.

For a decade now, Trumpet Blossom has hosted scores of concerts, both independent shows for touring and local acts, and as part of local, multi-location festivals like Mission Creek Festival or Witching Hour.

“The revenue and exposure that live events generate has helped the business immensely and has enabled us to feel more connected to our community,” Meyer said.

“As a small business owner, I need to be able to pivot more and be more willing to try things outside of what I’d originally envisioned.”

––Katy Meyer, Trumpet Blossom

Restaurants and customers: be more flexible

For Meyer and her near-decade-old restaurant, the most obvious lesson and change needed for restaurateurs is more flexibility and learning to “adapt in the environments we operate in.”

“The disruption of the pandemic has made us all question our foci in every aspect of our lives and as a small business owner, it has made me aware that I need to be able to pivot more and be more willing to try things outside of what I’d originally envisioned,” Meyer said.

Many restaurants had to pivot once again this past December and January as the Omicron variant spread. Due to more staff shortages, and people staying in instead of dining out, January 2022 proved to be worse for Iowa restaurants than pre-vaccine January 2021, Dunker said.

As reported by the Gazette, Rodina closed for New Year’s Eve 2021 due to staff shortages. The following day, the first of 2022, their two walkin coolers broke down and most of their food was lost.

Due to pandemic-related supply-chain issues, they pivoted again to something he and his business partner had been planning at another location: SureBurger, a concept that sourced fast food-like burgers and fries with local, better ingredients. The pivot to SureBurger lasted just over a month but ensured that loyal customers had fun food and that the business stayed open.

Not only will restaurants have to remain flexible in the future, but customers will, too. Dunker knows that restaurants are still struggling to get fully staffed.

“The hours are hard, and you can’t work from home,” she said.

She hopes customers can extend grace to staff when service is a bit slower than it was in 2019, or when menu items can’t be guaranteed because of supply-chain issues. Her idea: customers should be as loyal to the local restaurants in 2022 as they were at the beginning of the pandemic.

“Consumers were amazing in the beginning. They bought things to-go that they would never do previously just to support local,” Dunker said. She remembered customers buying loads of corned beef simply because restaurants and bars closed on St. Patrick’s Day 2020 and had heaps of it left unserved.

“We may be struggling to get the ingredients you need, but please be patient,” Dunker said. ”We’re still on the road to recovery. We will not see 2019 revenue numbers in 2022, but we’re on the upward track, and that’s what really matters.”

Just Wing it

Two bona fide connoisseurs dish on where to find the ultimate chicken wing.

BY BRIAN JOHANNESEN AND JEFF MANNIX

Since 2019, the original Iowa City Wingmen (Jeff Mannix and Brian Johannesen) have tirelessly scoured the Iowa City chicken wing scene in search of that perfect combination of flavor and texture with the intent of crowning the ultimate, most bodacious chicken wing in Iowa City. Well, that’s a bit dramatic. We mostly just like chicken wings and eat them frequently. Our rating criteria is simple: Would we eat them again? In most cases, the answer is yes.

However, we Wingmen have been bestowed the honor of ranking our top three choices in Iowa City, and we do not take that duty lightly. Listed below are our favorite wings in Iowa City (so far). For those who don’t venture to the Old Capitol City often, we have included a couple of our favorites in the greater CRANDIC region as well. Eat up, you wang dang doodles.

Disclaimer: The Wingmen do NOT support breaded wings. If you like that crunch in your munch, these rankings may not apply to you. Go to Shakespeare’s, though. We like them.

Zak Neumann / Little Village

1 Donnelly’s Pub 110 E College St, Iowa City, 319-338-7355, donnellyspub-ic.com The search for the greatest wing in all the land began because we wanted to see if anyone could beat the wings at Donnelly’s Pub. So far, no one has. Donnelly’s has mastered the sauce game, offering booze-infused lathers that balance tantalizing heat with luscious sweet. The Wingmen recommend trying the Jameson Buffalo and the Guinness Hot BBQ sauces. Saddle up and enjoy the ride.

2 Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack 1940 Lower Muscatine Rd, Iowa City, 319-354-7427, jimmyjacksribshack.com Smoked wings are often overlooked in the great wing debate, but when done properly, they can put traditional buffalo wings to shame. Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack applies their traditional barbeque techniques to their big, succulent wings, adding a smoky dimension unparallelled in the region. Their simple sauce offerings of medium, hot or barbeque are all winners in the Wingmen’s book. Choose your own adventure—there are no wrong turns. If you’re craving adventure from afar, turn to GoldBelly. Jimmy Jack’s wings are now available for speedy shipping across the country!

Wings Without Borders

RECOMMENDATIONS OUTSIDE IOWA CITY

3 Vine Tavern & Eatery 330 E Prentiss St, Iowa City, 319-354-8767, iowa-city.vinetavern.com 39 2nd Ave, Coralville, 319-338-7770, coralville.vinetavern.com There was much debate over this third slot, and it nearly went to the delectable grilled wings from Sun Cafe, but we felt we needed to give a nod to the heatseekers out there. The Vine has, by far, the largest sauce selection in Iowa City, and they are the only wing purveyor in town who offers sauces that can clear your sinuses and leave you mopping regret, errr, sweat from your forehead. The chicken itself leaves something to be desired and the wings are a wee bit small, but if you’re trying to dial it up, order the Superhot and purge those demons.

The Brass Fountain

122 E Main St, Solon, 319-624-6122, brassfountain.com The newest kid on the block in Solon does not douse your wings for you. You dip the wings in the sauces, allowing you to decide how wet you get while maintaining the fried crispiness of the wings throughout the meal. Don’t sleep on their “dust” options. We recommend trying the Pickley Dust for some extra tang on your wang.

Bushwood

350 Edgewood Rd NW, Cedar Rapids, 319-390-7140, bushwoodsportsbar.com This is your classic, old-school sports bar offering classic, old-school wings. No need to get fancy here, the Buffalo sauce is what you want. If you are one of those alternative wing types, the Teriyaki and Boom-Boom sauces are good as well.

If you want to follow along with the Original Iowa City Wingmen’s journey, we are on Instagram at @icwingmen. We promise to post more wing content, just as soon as we remember the password.

Pop’s BBQ Shakespeare’s Pub & Grill

30Hop

Tender is theLoin

Joensy’s

Zak Neumann / Little Village

The quest to find the CRANDIC’s most perfect version of a classic Iowa sandwich. BY CELINE ROBINS

The pork tenderloin sandwich ranks among Iowa’s most important culinary contributions, alongside Maid-Rites, puppy chow and Casey’s breakfast pizza. The formula is simple: A piece of pork loin is pounded thin, battered and deep fried, served on a bun which it humorously dwarfs in size and topped most typically with LTOP and mayo. For the uninitiated, the sandwich’s intimidating diameter can make it seem inaccessible. Fear not! I’m here to guide you.

I sampled some of the most renowned t-loins of the area to decide who’s serving the best take on the classic. To standardize the comparison, I broke things down into a few simple categories.

SIZE: The tenderloin patty of my dreams is larger than my own head. But if I can’t have that, then for God’s sake, make it larger than the bun.

BREADING: I like a delicate golden color to the fry, and of course, I’m looking for a satisfying crunch. I am not interested in grilled tenderloins. I’m just not.

PORK: That said, some tenderloins sacrifice pork quality on the altar of crunch. I exacted swift judgment on these pretenders.

FIXINS: This category is where a tenderloin may impress me with its toppings, bun or je-ne-sais-quoi. Since I am looking for a classic rendition of the sandwich, tenderloins that did not come with pre-specified toppings were ordered with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayo and mustard.

1 The Dark Horse

Pop’s BBQ

130 N Dubuque St, Iowa City, 319-354-7677, popsbbqia.com

SIZE: pretty good. The patty is maybe 150% of the size of the bun but definitely not head-sized.

BREADING: surprisingly deeply browned. The extra fry time gives it a little bitterness, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but definitely means it calls out for sauce. If you’re less of a traditionalist than me, one of Pop’s BBQ’s housemade sauces could really shine here. Crunch factor was a 4 out of 5.

PORK: The sandwich seems to have soaked up some innate barbeque-iness from the general atmosphere of Pop’s, almost a scent more than a flavor. Regardless, it’s giving a unique little somethin’-somethin’ because of it.

FIXINS: Pop’s serves it up with LTOP and your choice of BBQ sauces or standard condiments. The sides at Pop’s are hard to beat, and that bumps up the overall experience a notch. Ya know what? A bonus point for the mac and cheese. Because I make the rules.

VERDICT: a good pick, but the darkness of the fry isn’t my favorite. I can imagine it being to someone else’s taste, though. The vague smoky aroma sets this one apart. As of the time of ordering, this was my husband’s favorite, and that’s saying something given how many tenderloins we had eaten that week.

2 Hot Mama

30Hop

900 E 2nd Ave, Coralville, 319-351-3800 951 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids, 319-200-2010, 30hop.com

SIZE: larger than bun, smaller than head. “Meets Expectations.”

BREADING: 30Hop’s tenderloin is breaded with panko rather than the more traditional breadcrumbs. To my tooth, this gives a satisfying crunch, though it’s more fine textured than I’m used to. It’s like a lot of little crunches rather than one big one.

PORK: on the thick side and very juicy. The pork flavor is very present. This pork sure is … porky!

Zak Neumann

Thoma’s Meat Market

1331 Muscatine Ave, Iowa City, 319-338-0780, facebook.com/Thomas-Meat-Market

We’ve all heard the imprecation about the dangers of repeating history. But some history bears repeating and for Aaron Thoma the history of 1331 Muscatine Ave made it an ideal place to continue his family’s tradition of whole animal meat processing. He loved that it had once been the site of another meat shop and corner grocery store, Seaton’s Market, and that it was embedded in a historic neighborhood. In July 2020, history came full circle with the opening of Thoma’s Meat Market.

Aaron took the skills he learned working at his family’s meat locker in Durant, Iowa and built on them by attending programs at Iowa State and University of Wisconsin-Madison to further his knowledge of sausage making. Everything from cutting steaks to smoking bacon is done in-house. The market focuses on working with local farmers, sourcing their meats from farms in Iowa City and the Quad Cities.

Thoma’s is stocked with poultry, fish, beef, pork and deli meats as well as staple grocery items like milk, eggs and butter, much of it from local producers. There are shelves full of chips, buns and condiments, and if you’re not in the mood to cook, you can order a deli sandwich or soup.

What sets a shop like Thoma’s apart from a grocery store meat counter? “It’s really about customer relationships, knowing customers’ faces and preferences and being able to get those hard to find items.”

A stop into Thoma’s for a pound of Italian sausage or their signature brats is more than just the running of an errand; it’s supporting local producers and craftspeople, and it’s participating in a little bit of Iowa City history.

TIP: Daily sandwich and meat specials are available. Don’t sleep on the Monday night smoked chicken special. If you’re walking around the neighborhood in the afternoon, your nose will lead you right to it. The chicken is delightfully smoky and peppery and endlessly moist and juicy. FIXINS: The fixins are the main event with this one. 30Hop’s t-loin comes with a spicysweet, Asian-inspired slaw, pickled onion, sweet pickles, jalapenos and Dynamite sauce. The slaw is colorful and has good crunch but tends toward the sweet side, playing on the time-honored pairing of pork with sweet fruits. A bold and innovative move, tastily made but decidedly untraditional.

VERDICT: She’s a beaut, but she’s not The One. But for the tenderloin lover looking to spice things up, this is a creative sandwich when understood outside the cultural context of Iowa tenderloin. If I were to quabble, though, I don’t think it should be listed just as “Pork Tenderloin” on the menu, because it’s not really a pork tenderloin, at the end of the day. It’s a pretty dang good sandwich, though.

Zak Neumann

3 Miss Congeniality

Shakespeare’s Pub and Grill

819 S 1st Ave, Iowa City, 319-337-7275, shakespearespubandgrill.com

SIZE: surprisingly small; Shakespeare’s tenderloin is larger than the bun but not by much. Despite that, the sandwich still has that unmistakable, classic look, so in my book, it gets a pass.

BREADING: absolutely fabulous. It’s the sheet-like kind, golden in color and slightly sweet with satisfying crispiness and good adherence to the pork. Perfect execution.

PORK: looks a bit thick at first glance, but it’s a trick of the breading. This one’s pounded nicely thin but still plenty juicy. a beautiful rose, this tenderloin is made tastier by its proximity to Shakespeare’s excellent cheese nugs.

VERDICT: I wanna smother it on my body. If I had an out-of-state friend visiting who had never heard of a breaded tenderloin sandwich, this is one I’d pick for them to try; it ticks all the boxes. And with everything else Shakespeare’s has going for it—good beer selection, hometown bar atmosphere, tasty wings—it’s a respectable choice that will never let you down. I thought it was the ultimate winner, but then I had…

4 The G.O.A.T.

Joensy’s

2660 Wiley Blvd SW, Ste B, Cedar Rapids, 319-390-4288, facebook.com/joensysrestaurantcedarrapids

SIZE: absolutely insane. Three times the size of the bun, or maybe more. Joensy’s also offers a “small” version, but the bigg’un is in the spirit of the sandwich, if you ask me.

BREADING: a curiously variable texture that provides both big and little crunchies, which has the subjective effect of being totally addictive. Begging for mustard and pickles. Again, perfect.

PORK: paper thin and still somehow manages to be juicy. It’s kind of miraculous.

FIXINS: keeps it classic with toppings, but that’s what I came for. Joensy’s has legitimately the best french fries I’ve ever had— golden, gorgeous, delicately crispy on the outside and fluffy and snow-white inside.

VERDICT: The sign says “Iowa’s Biggest and Best Tenderloin,” and Joensy’s delivers on the promise. This place reminds me of the small town greasy spoons where I first fell in love with tenderloin. But if you want swank, if you want to feel cool and trendy, this place isn’t for you, and maybe neither is tenderloin. Joensy’s contribution to the tradition is in fact too good for my hypothetical out-of-state friend. They wouldn’t give it the due respect. It feels almost exotic in its authenticity. Absolutely full marks, and also SO CHEAP. As it turns out, the best t-loin comes from a place with wood-patterned formica booths, a NASCAR/Busch digital clock on the wall, and a pizza burger on the menu—which I should have expected all along.