Hamburg Inn closes again in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — After a rocky start to 2023, Hamburg Inn No. 2 in Iowa City has again closed temporarily.

A sign noting the closure is now taped to the front of the restaurant’s door at 214 N. Linn St., and Google results now list the restaurant as “temporarily closed.”

Citing staffing issues, the undated sign says the diner will be closed “until further notice,” with “hope to reopen again real soon.”

It is unclear when the restaurant closed again. A representative for Hamburg Inn could not be reached.

Hamburg Inn reopened Feb. 22 with limited hours, after several weeks of closure starting in early January.

Announcement of the initial closure was made by local management late last year when they said they were unable to contact the restaurant’s owner for substantial building maintenance and repairs in the older structure. Some staff members claimed unpaid wages toward the end of 2022.

An attorney for the owner subsequently disputed the unpaid wage claims, in conjunction with announcing the hiring of a new manager.

Owner Michael Lee, a University of Iowa graduate who purchased the restaurant in 2016, lives in Taiwan. Former owner Dave Panther’s family had owned the Linn Street restaurant since 1948. It first opened in 1935.

Over the past several decades, the restaurant became a landmark for visiting politicians across the spectrum, particularly during Iowa’s era with the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

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