After Barrel House’s rapid Iowa expansion, burger restaurant pursues franchising

First in Marion, then in Cedar Rapids, soon in Coralville. Next: across the country.

With rapid expansions still happening across the Corridor, Barrel House’s Davenport-based burger and taphouse concept has planted firm roots in Iowa since the pandemic started to subside.

Barrel House first entered the Corridor with its Marion location in December 2021, followed by a downtown Cedar Rapids location in May 2022. Now, it’s ready to bloom elsewhere.

With an upscale twist to tavern food, including burgers and fries, signature sauces, sandwiches, wraps and locally-brewed beers, the Corridor’s third site in Coralville is expected to open this month.

The new company-owned locations are a preview for what the rest of the country may enjoy before long. With a new franchise model, the Iowa brand will soon begin a phase of rapid growth in up to 37 states.

What’s on the menu?

Upscale, elevation is what Barrel House leaders think sets their tavern food concept apart from Iowa’s restaurant scene dominated by burgers and American food.

With truffle fries, lobster rangoon dip, jalapeno popper dip and hand-cut boneless wings, they’re always trying to do bar food better.

Black Angus beef is never frozen and products are hand breaded or hand cut before being fried to order — in defiance of industry trends hoping to increase efficiency and cut costs against mounting economic pressures, said Chris Posey, marketing and franchise sales director.

With 13 varieties, burgers are the star of the menu. Locally produced beer — a focus Barrel House intends to keep, no matter where a franchise is located — has a natural fit in sharing the spotlight. In addition to beer produced exclusively with their brand, each location’s general manager is tasked with finding local breweries that customers love.

But if you’re not in the mood for a signature burger, trending sandwiches like the Nashville Hot Chicken and the Firecracker Fish offer more variety.

Regular rotations on the tap keep it fresh, with different beers every few weeks.

The atmosphere

“We tell franchisees that we want every Barrel House to have that neighborhood grill and bar atmosphere and vibe,” Posey said.

What takes it a step further than their playful menu is their fun culture that remains family-friendly.

“There’s been a lot of places in different communities we looked at where you’re not sure if it’s more of a bar, more of a restaurant, or family friendly,” Posey said. “Our thing is (ensuring) anybody, families or not, feels welcomed. That’s been a focus for us.”

Part of that means rethinking restaurant industry norms with staffing and employment practices, too. Fostering a culture that brings customers back means creating a space where employees want to work.

“We want you to work at a Barrel House because you want to, not because you need to,” Posey said.

With benefits like company-matching 401(k) retirement plans, profit-sharing and paid time off, Barrel House has managed to expand quickly in the wake of a pandemic that has exasperated restaurants trying to return to full staffing levels or pre-pandemic hours.

“A lot of service industry people have never seen those benefits before,” said Jen Plate, director of operations for Barrel House.

Why all the sudden growth?

With six corporate-owned Iowa locations, Barrel House’s growth spurt across the Corridor follows the foundation set with its original two Davenport locations and a subsequent Dubuque opening.

Most of its growth has been after the pandemic, including an opening in Des Moines and its first franchise in Bloomington, Ill.

“We really took advantage after COVID with some great real estate deals,” Plate said. “With other businesses, we were able to go in, make renovations and turn it into our own brand. We were able to add on three locations in the last year — really rapid growth.”

As they turn their eyes to their new franchise model for future growth, the Barrel House representatives don’t foresee any more corporate-owned locations. They credit their success so far to one-at-a-time location construction and technology, like their robots that help servers deliver big orders, or the early adoption of handheld ordering systems.

With a steady pace of growth of a few franchises each year, the brand would like to reach about 20 in the next several years, and perhaps 50 in the next 10 years. Posey said initial growth likely will be predominantly from the Upper Midwest to Texas before growing east and west, from Ohio to Colorado.

The franchise model allows the brand, established in 2011, to tap into other markets with like-minded people they wouldn’t have been able to work with otherwise — multiplying their growth ability in ways that corporate ownership and management can’t.

“It lets us broaden the scope of where Barrel House could go,” Posey said. “It’s one thing for us to have a corporate store under construction, but there’s only so many of those the team feels like we’d want to manage at once.”

Replicating the culture through training at each store is one part of what will go into ensuring sustainable success with their growth. For now, the brand is focusing on choosing the right franchise partners with a compatible vision and long-term relationship.

“We want a restaurant where everybody feels like family,” Plate said.

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