Van & Bev Becker send word from Iowa that the Lincoln Cafe in Belle Plaine is set to reopen in September. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported today that Gzim “Jimmy” Limani, owner of the likewise famous King’s Tower Café (also along the Lincoln Highway in nearby Tama) is working to rehab the shuttered cafe. When it opens in September, Limani promises home-style cooking every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“My customers from Belle Plaine told me I should buy it, so I did,” Limani, who’s originally from Albania, said. “It’s a historical building and the people in town are really excited about it. They have been very supportive.”
The previous owner of the Lincoln Café, Curtis Bailey, of Marengo, was murdered in his home last summer and the café closed….
Limani, his son Arijan, 14, and another worker have almost gutted the inside of the building…. “The place is old and needs cleaning and we’ve ripped it down to the bones, to the bricks. It’s down to the bricks in the kitchen….”
Limani said almost everything like the floors, ceiling and lights will be replaced or repaired and there will be new tables and booths. The outside of the café will also get updated with the help of KB Construction in Belle Plaine.
“I want to keep the original sign and it will stay the Lincoln Café,” Limani said smiling. “I don’t want to change that.”
Tags: Belle Plaine IA, cafe, highway history, historic highway, Iowa, Lincoln Highway, restaurant, restoration
Lincoln Highway News 
July 14, 2010 at 12:26 pm |
Good news about the cafe in Belle Plaine! Thanks to Jimmy, whose King Tower Cafe in Tama is a historic and classic LH icon. I stop there whenever I travel the Lincoln in Iowa – most recently just before this year’s conference in Dixon, Illinois. Try the pork tenderloin sandwich!
August 12, 2010 at 3:04 am |
I loved the Lincoln Highway when I was growing up. My grandparents Henry and Alvena Bross owned Cozy Corner gas station, restaurant, and cabins. My mom, Ethel helped cook and my dad, Vernon was a mechanic. They owned a huge house and bought the one room school across the road which is still there.
November 5, 2010 at 3:26 pm |
[…] LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO Van & Bev Becker send good news from Iowa that the Lincoln Cafe in Belle Plaine is about to reopen. The landmark eatery closed a year and a ahlf ago after the owner was murdered as part of a family dispute. Click the image below to watch a video report from KGAN-TV, Cedar Rapids. Check out my previous entries such as this and this. […]