Every
small town has that corner café. It’s where the local
men come in for their morning coffee and toast and to talk about
the crops or the football team. It’s where the local women
meet for lunch. It’s where the servers already know how you
take your coffee and what you want on your hamburger.
A place that locals can
call their own, the corner cafe is a fixture of Small Town, USA.
Muscatine, Iowa, has
a place like that – sort of. The friendliness is there. The
comfort and familiarity are there. But you’d probably order
a glass of pinot noir to go with lunch instead of a milk shake.
Instead of a cheeseburger and fries, you may go with the bourbon
glazed salmon.
The Button Factory Woodfire
Grille may have restored the original brick walls. The menu may
feature thick Iowa chops and fresh seafood. The bar menu may feature
41 wines, 15 tap beers and a list of premium martinis. The servers
may all be clean cut and dressed in pressed black pants and shirts,
but if you’re a regular customer, they probably know your
name and your favorite wine. Regardless of an extensive menu and
restored decor, the Woodfire Grille operates like a small town corner
café.
Bar manager Leo Loos
says he sees the same clientele on a regular basis. They stop in
for a sandwich over lunch, a beer after work or a cocktail at night.
They sit in the same places, talk to the same servers.
“Muscatine is a
small-enough town that you’re always going to have someone
you know in here,” says Loos. “We have a lot of business
travelers. A lot of them are here weekly. They just like to hang
out, talk with us and have a couple drinks.”
It’s no surprise
that the Woodfire Grille, which opened a year ago, has rapidly become
a fixture of Muscatine. The premise, which used to house a button
factory, already was. In 1914, Muscatine was dubbed the Pearl Button
Center of the United States because of the quality buttons made
of shells taken from the neighboring Mississippi River. Today, the
building’s location overlooking the river, its nostalgic renovated-warehouse
feel and its loyal customer base make it an ideal place for a restaurant.
The establishment has
an upscale feel. The bar area is raised off the main floor and the
bar and back bar are made of solid oak supported by the building’s
original brick and wood pillars. The back bar also offers patrons
a view of the Woodfire Grille’s premium spirits, wines and
its full line of single malt Scotch whisky.
The dining area is wide
open with high ceilings, yet the acoustics are echo-free. The original
brick walls are broken up by two stories of large windows looking
out over the Mississippi, giving the restaurant sufficient ambient
light during the day. At night, the window light is replaced by
directional halogen track lighting, giving the restaurant a dark
feel that doesn’t hamper the room’s overall visibility.
The restaurant menu features
a wide range of American fare from salads to steak to seafood cooked
over a hickory fire – hence the name Woodfire Grill. Loos
regards the menu as “Applebees-plus.” The bar features
the traditionals – margaritas, bloody marries and Long Island
Iced Teas all made with premium spirits – and unique recipes
such as the Clam Digger, bloody mary with special seasonings, and
the Mississippi Mud martini, a concoction of chocolate and coffee
liqueurs.
Regardless, Loos guarantees
them to arrive at your table promptly and perfectly.
“When I came here,
my biggest focus was getting drinks to the tables as quickly as
possible,” Loos says. “People don’t want to wait
20 minutes for a drink. Even when we get busy, we don’t skimp
on anything. It’s the small things – chilling the martini
glasses, garnishes, and other things that matter. No matter how
busy we are, a chocolate martini will never go out of here without
a chocolate swirl in the glass.”
Just because it’s
a nice bar and restaurant, Loos says, doesn’t mean it’s
a stuffy one. You don’t have to show up and order a flatiron
steak and a Grey Goose martini. It’s not uncommon to see guys
in work jeans and work boots enjoying a beer after a hard day.
“You have your
Busch Light guys. But you also have the people who are coming here
to make a night out of it and have a martini,” he says. “They
come here because it’s a nice place. It’s a nice atmosphere.
They want a place with a nice atmosphere but they want a comfortable
atmosphere at the same time.”
It’s that hometown
comfort that makes the Button Factory Woodfire Grille the corner
café of Muscatine, Iowa. They know your name and they know
how you like your steak cooked – or if you like your beer
in a bottle or from the tap.
“It’s a local
restaurant that everybody calls their own,” General Manager
Derek Collins says. “It’s nice to see the ownership
that the locals have here.”
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