Welcome to the Hamburg Inn Website!  Our menu is loaded with great food suggestions like our fresh ground hamburgers, hand breaded tenderloins, sweet potato pancakes, garden omelet or our pie shakes.  We will be glad to mix them the way you want them, from a double bacon cheeseburger with pepper cheese to a mozzarella, black olive and ham omelet.  So order straight off the menu or create your own "Burg Inn" taste experience.

The Hamburg Inn story began in the mid 1930's when Joe Panther started Hamburg Inn on Iowa Avenue.  His brother Adrian eventually joined Joe.  Hamburgers sold for a nickel, there were 10 burgers to the pound and they gained the nickname "grease spots".  Adrian eventually bought the restaurant from Joe.  In 1948, Mrs. Van's Restaurant on N. Linn Street cam up for sale and was bought by another brother, Fritz Panther and his wife, Fran.  Adrian and Fritz formed a partnership and over the years had Hamburg Inn #1 and #2, Big Ten Inn on Riverside Drive and the Airport Inn in Iowa City.  They also had Hamburg Inn #3 in Cedar Rapids on Center Point Road.  Hamburg Inn No. 2 is the only remaining location.  Dave Panther, Fritz and Fran's son, bought the restaurant in 1979 from his parents and has continued the tradition of "Comfort Food in a Fifties Time Capsule".  For over 15 years, Dave has also been a professional clown and storyteller. 

Hawkeyes travel from coast to coast to visit us.  Hamburg Inn No. 2, one of Iowa's most famous restaurants, was featured in the Washington Post's "Great American Hamburger Debate", national public radio's program "All Things Considered" and Susan Stramburg's "Every Night at Five".  It was a film location for Duck's Breath movie, Zadar, Cow from Hell".  The Quad City Times states "it's a piece of Americana"...Former President Ronald Reagan visited "The Burg" in 1992 and former President Bill Clinton was our guest in 2003.  We have been visited by many politicians and candidates and are a must "Meet the People Stop" for all campaigns.  The Burg is the host of the original and only Official Iowa Coffee Bean Caucus and Iowa Coffee Bean Ballot, helping to attract local, state, national and international interest to Iowa politics. 
                                                       The Coffee Bean Caucus was featured on episode 13 "King Corn" on the tv show, "The West Wing" on January 26, 2005.  We have been featured in "Mid-west Living" for our Reuben Omelet.  The New York Times and the book "Apple Pie, An American Story" featured our pie shakes.  "The Burg" was also selected as a  "Best Restaurant" in the dining guide, "Where the Locals Eat".  Hamburg Inn is also a featured restaurant for the most divine burgers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa in The Dining Guide, "Searching for the Holy Grill".  We have been rated BEST in Icon's "Best Of" surveys for diner food, hamburgers, breakfasts, wait staff and affordability.

According to Jane and Michael Stern's coast to coast restaurant guide, "Road Food and Good Food" "The Pieces De Resistance were the American fried potatoes..big chunky spuds heaped on the gill and fried until crusty. Delicious!  They also stated, "Egg Aficionados can wallow in a repertoire of sixty omelets." Iowa's Fifties Time Capsule of Good Eating" was also featured as a mid west stop for the pork tenderloin in the restaurant guide.

Welcome to Hamburg Inn!  Dave & Roma Panther, Liz Sanders  & The "Burg Inn" Crew.