Blog

Aug 22, 2023

Hamburg Inn purchased by Nate Kaeding, Gold Cap Hospitality

The iconic Hamburg Inn is alive but will soon operate under new ownership. Gold Cap Hospitality, headed by former NFL kicker and Iowa Hawkeye Nate Kaeding, will take over control of the 90-year-old

The iconic Hamburg Inn is alive but will soon operate under new ownership.

Gold Cap Hospitality, headed by former NFL kicker and Iowa Hawkeye Nate Kaeding, will take over control of the 90-year-old Iowa City staple with plans to reopen in October.

Gold Cap owns Pullman Bar & Diner and St. Burch Tavern in downtown Iowa City. Kaeding said he plans to operate the Hamburg Inn like normal, continuing a tradition that dates back nearly 100 years.

“We believe The Burg matters because it became a place for everyone in Iowa City,” Kaeding wrote in a statement on the restaurant’s website and social media that began appearing Monday alongside a redesigned site.

“We want to keep it that way,” he continued.

A redesign of Hamburg Inn's website was also recently unveiled, departing from the traditional black and gold, a staple of the building’s signage for decades, to a more red-orange color scheme. The site still features the long-running, well-known logo.

Gold Cap and Kaeding plan to sprinkle in a few updates, though what exactly was not detailed in the company's statement Monday.

“After almost 90 years, The Burg needs some fixing up,” Kaeding wrote. “We’re taking stock of the things that are broken along with the things that aren’t. The Burg doesn’t need new ideas. At least, we don’t think it does. It just needs to remember who it was.”

Michael Lee, a University of Iowa graduate and businessman, owned Hamburg and its building at 214 N. Linn St. since 2016. Lee purchased it from David Panther, whose father, Joe, originally founded the diner in 1935. Lee was the first owner outside of the Panther family.

Hamburg Inn No. 2 was a key destination for presidential candidates on their trips through Iowa, beginning with former president Ronald Reagan’s stop in 1992. The establishment also played host to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in addition to Mitt Romney.

More:Hamburg Inn No. 2 is temporarily closed again, marking third shutdown of turbulent year

Hamburg Inn grew notoriety thanks to its Coffee Bean Caucus, allowing visitors to caucus for presidential candidates with coffee beans. The Hamburg even appeared on an episode of NBC’s hit 1990s political show, “The West Wing.”

Hamburg Inn has also faced its fair share of challenges, outlasting a pair of fires and a global pandemic in addition to sudden closures within the last year.

Kaeding, a Coralville native, recalled his childhood venturing throughout Iowa City and stopping for a Hamburg staple − the pie shake. He's continued to shop local, regularly visiting several of the neighborhood's long-standing businesses.

“I’m just as excited today for my family to be part of this neighborhood as I’ve ever been. We buy our beer at John’s, shop at Artifacts, grab lunch at Oasis, spend the evening at George’s, and now we’ll help lead The ‘Burg [through] this next chapter,” Kaeding wrote in a release. “With some luck, we’ll be able to write a successful next chapter or two in the restaurant’s story, and then it’ll be our time to pass it along to the next group."

Gold Cap’s purchase of the diner, finalized Monday, continues a turbulent last nine months for the Hamburg Inn, which was periodically closed throughout the year due to staffing issues and other controversy.

News broke in December that Hamburg would be closing in 2023, which was quickly refuted by an attorney representing Lee, the then-owner. Staff said they had been informed the restaurant would not continue operations into 2023, while the lawyer representing Lee said the closure would only be temporary while maintenance and renovations took place.

A pipe had burst inside the restaurant during Christmas week and required repairs. That was about all that was clear in the situation.

Rumors also swirled that employees and managers had not been paid in December, though Lee said that any unpaid wages resulted from accounting errors, not intentional malice.

Uncertainty brewed as the restaurant closed for maintenance in the first week of 2023.

The Press-Citizen reported that Joseph Mulvihill stepped into the role of “corporate facilitator” and revealed that Lee had been stuck in China due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restaurant was closed for nearly two months at the start of the year, reopening with nearly entirely new stuff. General manager Briana Dawson spoke with the Press-Citizen at the time, saying the restaurant had 12 people on staff. She had worked at the restaurant for a few years before helping lead the reopening.

"Same good quality, same great service," she told the Press-Citizen in February. "We're going to keep with the tradition as we bring back that family vibe that we've been missing in here for awhile."

However, staffing did not persist through the summer, and the Hamburg closed briefly in June. It reopened for a few weeks, then again shut down in mid-July and has been closed ever since.

More:Iowa City's Hamburg Inn No. 2 to close in 2023 after 85 years in business, manager says. Not so, lawyer says

When the Hamburg Inn No. 2 reopens in October, as Gold Cap and Kaeding projected, the diner will have been closed for five full months in 2023.

“Sure, we might try a new thing or two. We’re still figuring that out. A little change can be good,” Kaeding wrote on Monday. “But just know we’ll be open first thing in the morning, serving breakfast all day like we always have. See you in the neighborhood.”

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.