Hamburg Inn No. 2

It’s ok. Half the reason I’d suggest you come here is just all the history on the walls. For decades, Presidential candidates have made stops at Hamburg Inn No. 2 as they campaign in the Iowa caucuses. It’s pretty neat to sit where Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan sat.
The food is standard fare for a college area diner. Not bad, not great, nothing terribly memorable aside from some above par milkshakes.
If you’re hungover after a night of hard drinking in Hawkeye country, or a big political nerd check it out.

Great food! Friendly staff and fair pricing. My grandma use to love this place when she was young and the love passed on to generations!

2 years later and happy to report Hamburg has upped their game. In the name of thoroughness and the unstoppable force that is my stomach, I decided to gently test the waters with 2 slices of Classic French Toast, the Eggs Florentine with hash browns, and a ChEgg Tortilla Wrap with sausage gravy. Polished breakfast off with a cup of coffee and an Apple Pie Shake. Just avoid the 9 AM and Noon church rushes on Saturdays and Sundays. You should be able to successfully navigate the crowds.

The five star review is purely based on a pie shake. We were on a road trip and a friend recommend we stop for one. We rolled into town shortly before close and the almost didn’t seat us. I am so thankful they did. Pie shakes are a food of the gods. Totally worth a weird late night detour.

An incredibly busy establishment, I stopped and just to get something to go. I was promptly informed that they do not do to-​go options. The person at the counter went on to explain that they were way too busy to entertain to-​go orders and they were very sorry but there were no exceptions.
I am very glad that they are so busy but saddened that potential customers who read the wonderful reviews could not enjoy part of the offering — even if it was only while through traveling through Iowa city.
They did have an extensive menu which I had asked to review.

Best place in town to eat! I love the Iowa omelet — serving size is awesome for price. Their Mac and cheese is pretty great too! Nice little café and the service is always spot on. You have to try the pie shakes — to die for!

Very mediocre and run if the mill breakfast place. The portions in the pancakes are HUGE and two is going to be enough for most people. The prices are very reasonable as well. However, the food just wasn’t good enough to merit above three stars.

The food is pretty good, the décor is interesting… Some of the prices are a bit high for what you get. But over all I had a good experience.

A must visit political stop for all presidential hopefuls in the town. Iowa being the first caucus and the first primary place, this place gets its fair share of famous visitors.
I visited this place with a couple of friends, especially for their famous pie shakes. We were disappointed that the machine had broken and they were not able to make any shakes that day. I ordered their cali burger with vegetarian burger and it was not bad. I will not give it five star but definitely better than most frozen veg burger patties I have had. The fries with burger were okay and overall the food was mediocre. Our waiter was nice and friendly. I have taken one star away because of lack of cleanliness.
It’s a unique Iowa City tradition for everyone to visit, especially you are travelling through Iowa City and wondering where to go. For a delicious food there are plenty other options on the same street!

I was really excited to try the Hamburg Inn because I had heard so much about it. I was pretty let down. It was average at best. We were seated right away, which was a plus. But it took quite awhile before a waitress finally came to take our drink orders. After we ordered, I got the «Hamburg’s own breaded pork tenderloin» and that was pretty disappointing. It was a very thin chop, not to mention the coleslaw on the side was flavorless. Once we finished, once again it took quite awhile for the waitress to bring us our checks. By that time, we were ready to leave and couldn’t get out quick enough. At least the staff was polite. I don’t know if I’ll be returning.

I eat here about once a month just because of the proximity to my apartment and the price of the food. Also, the food here is pretty good.
I think this place is a lot less pretentious than Blue Bird Diner (the quality really isn’t THAT much different for MOST items in my opinion), and you pay for what you get. They have your typical American fare from breakfast to burgers and everything in between. The portions are pretty huge and a pretty good value (you can get a super filling meal for under $ 10). My favorite things to order here are the sandwiches and burgers and their MASSIVE pancakes, but I’ve never had a ‘bad’ thing off the menu. Another thing they have is shakes/​malts. I’m not really a fan of ice cream drinks but theirs are HUGE and they also have pie/​cake shakes!
One really nice thing is that they do serve breakfast all day and they’re open until 11pm every day of the week. Sometimes you just need a chicken fried steak at 10pm on a Tuesday during finals week. Trust me, you really do.
The service here can be a little hit or miss. Usually you don’t have to wait for a table (unless you try eating here on Sunday morning after church hours) and the food moves from the kitchen pretty quick. I can’t tell what the turnover is for waitstaff, but it always seems like there’s at least a few new people working every couple of months (sometimes every month) or so. Usually the servers I’ve had here are super friendly and attentive, but there have been a few who just seem like they REALLY don’t want to be there.
Overall, I think this is a great place to eat and definitely somewhere you have to go while you’re in Iowa City.

I have yet to have a bad experience here. Every time I find more and more items I want to try. The food is delicious and the service is always on point. The political history of the place gives it a fun vibe. It’s an Iowa City staple you can’t miss out on!

Pie shakes to write home about. I had the chocolate bourbon pecan pie shake blended with vanilla ice cream… absolutely amazing! This place embodies the spirit of Iowa City, and offers wonderful service.

Had breakfast here on a Sunday morning. Was amazing as usual. Hadn’t been there since college but still great! No wait and the and service was quick. We got lucky since we’d gotten there early. I got the Iowa breakfast of chicken fried steak, 2 over medium eggs, hashbrowns, and the mini pancakes. Somehow I managed to eat it all in one sitting it was so good. Will definitely be back again someday when I’m in town!

Came here because I was told there were lots of visiting politicians’ photos on the wall. Not really. The current governor, plus Bill Clinton, a few others less well known.
Never mind; the hamburgers were good and the wait not too long on a summer Sunday noon.

Really great food. Can’t go wrong with the Hawkeye Hog Omlet, highlighted on the first page. Great mix of cheese, meet, and not overwhelming gravy on the omelet. Nice, crispy hash browns, and you can’t really go wrong with buttered toast made by someone else.
The atmosphere is fun, diner-​y, but with a little political twist.
I’d definitely take any visiting friends/​family there. Knowing how busy it gets on the weekend with limited seating, I don’t know that I’d just go there by myself.

I’m visiting IC for an interview, and to be honest I wasn’t getting good vibes from the city… Until I had a friggin’ pie shake! I mean come on, pie shakes? I’m starting to understand the Midwest. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would pie again

A place of great tradition if you are coming or living around these parts. You can see the pictures on the wall of who has came to eat here for a meal or two. Nice, fun place to have where it is deemed a must stop on the list.
The food is just okay, I’ve had breakfast and dinner here. Had the burger with fries, not the best in town but it will do if this is your lunch/​dinner. The breakfast had a lot of different choices, I didn’t try any real signature item so can’t speak too much to this. Would like to try some of them though. Did have a slice of pie for desert, it was decent enough.
Overall this is a place with rich tradition and is worth a stop in for that if nothing else.

Slow, unenthusiastic service. Very kitschy and cute but food is bad. Had an all meat omelet with a thin layer of eggs. Ordered more «scrambled eggs» and received flat eggs that I just left there.
This was Thurs, Aug 28^th around 7 p.m.

I spent most of my time in Iowa City avoiding the Hamburg Inn because I’m a curmudgeon.
Weekend breakfast/​brunch is always guaranteed to be crowded; there will be a wait. But I went back to Hamburg while in town last weekend and must admit that even I have a soft spot for this place. It’s iconic, they serve breakfast all day and there are pie shakes. This helps even out the ratio of things to love: how much I hate crowds.
Hamburg Inn is a diner and a political hot spot (thanks, Iowa Caucuses!), which adds to the intrigue, and eggs florentine are solid. It’s worth the wait to grab breakfast here at least once in your life. Or, better yet, hit it up on a weekday while everyone else is still in bed.