Cranky Hank’s closing at Lindale Mall

CEDAR RAPIDS - The owners of a northeast Cedar Rapids restaurant plan to close the business Dec. 7 to spend more time with their family.

Keith and Angie Hazen have operated Cranky Hank's Pizza, Beer and Other Stuff on the lower level of Lindale Mall, 4444 First Ave. NE, since December 2006. The Hazens previously operated a smaller Cranky Hank's Pizza in southwest Cedar Rapids, which they opened in November 2005.

The couple decided not to renew the restaurant's licenses and lease for the coming year.

'It's a tough decision, one that me and my wife shed a few tears over, but it's the right thing to do at this stage of our life,” Keith Hazen said. 'I want to have dinner conversations that don't involve Cranky Hank's.

'I want to be able to go to a hockey game, watch it peacefully. I understand that's all part of ownership, but family is very important to me.”

Keith Hazen was working in management at a Cedar Rapids auto dealership when he opened the first Cranky Hank's. His father was the inspiration for the name of the business.

'My father was a drill instructor in the Marine Corps,” Hazen said. 'He ran his family the same way that he ran the Marine Corps. He was always cranky. I never heard my dad laugh out loud.”

The grumpy-looking man on Cranky Hank's sign is a caricature of the real-life Hank, who died in 1992. Cranky Hank's menu also reflected the elder Hazen's influence, including the Hot Head and the Bellyacher house specials.

Forrest Saunders of KCRG-TV9 contributed to this story.