Hot Spots on the Campaign Trail
Harold Ross never acquired a taste for politics.
The founder of the Bettendorf Maid-Rite got so fed up with the campaigns in 1950 that he added baloney to the menu on Election Day because he said politicians were “full of it,” according to his daughter, Cynthia Freidhof.
“He would give speeches every day and tell folks ‘If you don’t like it, get out and go eat up the street,’” she recalled with a laugh. “He was a real character and people loved him. They still talk about him and he’s been gone since 1980.”
It’s hard to say what Ross would think of today’s crop of candidates, but his eatery — now called Ross’ Restaurant — has become one of the almost-mandatory stops on the campaign trail to the Iowa Caucuses. Joe Biden, Newt Gingrich, Amy Klobuchar, Rand Paul, Ron Paul and Michael Bennet have all paid their dues.
But Barack Obama’s visit in 2011 may have been the most memorable. The president tried two of the restaurant’s signature dishes, the Magic Mountain (grilled Texas toast with loose-ground beef and cheese sauce) and the Volcano (same thing, topped with chili).
“The Secret Service guys stood by the cook and watched the food being made,” said Freidhof, who co-owns the place. “MSNBC called later on and wanted the recipe. But we said no, so they invited us onto ‘The Rachel Maddow Show.’ It’s serious business, but it can be a lot of fun.”
Candidates have visited countless eateries across the state and have helped turn a few into legends. Places like the Hamburg Inn #2 in Iowa City, the Canteen Lunch in the Alley in Ottumwa and Cronk’s Cafe in Denison have all basked in the media spotlights.
Many of these sites are featured in a caucus-themed exhibit called “First in the Nation” at the State Historical Museum of Iowa in Des Moines.
The exhibit includes a nod to Mike Huckabee, who famously traveled the “Pizza Ranch circuit” in 2008, renting out the chain’s party rooms for little more than the cost of a few pepperoni and mushroom pies. The company’s faith-based mission is popular with evangelical Christians but has served customers of all religious traditions and political stripes, from Huckabee and Rick Santorum to Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.
“It gets really busy when we have a candidate come in, and we treat all of them equally,” said Teresa Van Voorst, the guest services manager at the Orange City restaurant, where the company is based.
In Denison, Cronk’s has hosted Pete Buttigieg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tim Ryan and Beto O’Rourke during the current cycle, as well as Donald Trump, John Kerry, Bob Dole, Obama, Jesse Jackson, George and Barbara Bush, Mitt Romney and Bill Richardson in the past. As far as anyone can remember, George McGovern was the first candidate to visit more than 40 years ago.
Ever the gracious host, owner Eric Skoog once got to switch roles as a guest at the White House. A Secret Service agent he’d met at Cronk’s gave him a behind-the-scenes tour during a trip to Washington, D.C., back in the ‘90s.
“That was the best benefit I ever got from these things,” Skoog said.
So which part of the White House did he want to see first? The Oval Office? The Lincoln Bedroom?
“Nope, I wanted to see the kitchen,” he said. “The Secret Service guy thought it was the weirdest thing, but I wanted to see where they made all the food for the big events they have there. It was a lot easier to get in back in those days.”
— Jeff Morgan, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
