The school pennants, Hawkeye and Cyclone games on TV and my favorite foods make the miles (and the years) seem to disappear.

Ruth Cavendar formerly of Mount Ayr, Iowa, established the Iowa Cafe in 1985. Ruth’s home style cooking set the standard for the Café that still lives on today. Ruth’s love of cooking and her recipes are still the heart and soul of our café.

Ruth and her sister Shirley would arrive at the café at 5 o’clock every morning to make their incredible pies from scratch – a tradition we keep alive today. All the work and love that goes into our pies – and all our dishes - have made us thousands of fans from the local community, Iowa visitors and folks from all over the country. C’mon in and stick a pin in your home-town on our big map on the wall near the entrance.

Over the years, Ruth’s presence has been that of a mother to the friends and employee’s of the Iowa Café. In 1999, when she and Shirley got a bit too old to keep to their own demanding schedule, they sold The Iowa Café to Dani, a waitress at the Café for 10 years. Dani’s hard work, ready smile and will-do attitude helped make the Café even more of a “go-to” gathering place for locals and winter visitors alike.  Then, in 2005, Dani passed the Iowa Café on to another long-time employee, Pam Ohsman who moved the café to its beautiful new building near the SE corner of Recker and Brown.

Pam is another “True Blue Iowa Gal”. She was born in Cedar Rapids, moving to Mesa with husband Mike in 1995. Pam, just like Ruth and Dani before her, is keeping that home style cooking and down to earth atmosphere alive while starting some traditions of her own.