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Thoma Dairy Bar Café;
the classic Iowa Café
I’ve known Thoma’s to be a special place for more than a decade now. Even before we moved to Clayton County, Thoma’s reputation was something I felt I knew about. Over fifteen years ago, as we were returning to Dubuque from a Northeast Iowa hunting trip, Jim, my husband, suggested we check out Thoma’s in Garnivillo. So, we stopped for a hamburger and a malt. I remember laughing with him as we sat at the lunch counter and admired the old fashioned soda fountain. We chuckled because sitting on the cute blue lunch counter stools in Thoma’s; we were reminded of our separate childhood experiences of visiting Kresge’s Dime Store lunch counter, with our mothers in downtown Dubuque. Years later, we moved to Decorah and often drove through Garnivillo on our way back to Dubuque to visit relatives. During those years our oldest, daughter Jessica was a young toddler. Insistent parents that we were, we took her pacifier away from her at a young age and I’ll never forget both of us almost tearing our hair out until we could take a break at Thoma’s and get the screaming red head her own malt at Thoma’s. Thoma’s malts at this impressionable age may be just the reason why malts are still Jessica’s favorite dessert.
Possibly, the most influential testimonial for Thoma’s came just last spring when after an early morning fitness walk, a group of local residents agreed that maybe the next walk should be a walk from Elkader to Garnivillo. The idea being we would end up at Thoma’s for their “awesome breakfast.” I thought to myself, “That must be some breakfast to be incentive to walk quite that far.”
Thoma’s Dairy Bar and Café on Garnivillo’s Main St. (Hwy 52) is an Iowa tradition that started long ago in 1948 by Keith and Ilo Thoma. The Thoma’s began by operating a dairy at the current site, where they bottled and delivered milk and made and sold ice cream. Rory Thoma, their son has always been a part of that tradition. He and his two sisters Linda and LeeAnn grew up working at the restaurant. The girls waited on tables and Rory helped his dad cook. When Rory graduated from high school, he briefly moved to Cedar Rapids where he attended Kirkwood and participated in the food program. A year later he returned to the area and worked as a cook for a couple of years on a Mississippi River tugboat. By 1978, Rory returned to the side of his parents and began working at their restaurant full-time. Which is where he has been ever since. In 1993, Keith and Ilo turned over full operation of what had become successful café and ice cream business to their son Rory and his new wife Theresa.
Rory is an extremely dedicated restaurant operator. He arrives at the café every morning at 4:30 a.m. He says, “ I could never see myself farming or working as a laborer. I like the independence of operating my own business. I guess I like the chaos of cooking to order. ” Since 1948, Thoma’s has been the site for excellent ice cream and homemade food. Rory says, “While I learned a lot from my Dad, things are different now. We still always serve homemade foods and use local, fresh and quality and products. Though, I would say the fare is lighter now and people want food even faster.”
One thing at Thoma’s that has been the same since they opened, in 1948, is the way they serve their milkshakes and malts. They use hand-dipped ice cream and offer ten varieties of milkshakes and malts with chocolate, butterscotch and raspberry as area favorites. Customer favorites also include the daily lunch specials and the homemade American fries. Rory says a lot of the night crew’s work includes getting potatoes ready for either mashed or American fries.
When it comes to the Thoma work force, Rory really glows. He is so proud of the service they each provide. Rory is able to work during the day with a very dependable crew and then trustingly turns the operation over to his second shift for the evening meal. “I don’t worry too much about the business after I leave, I have really learned to trust these guys,” says Thoma. He says the high school kids that have worked at Thoma’s have been a great support, sometimes their parents have been reliable customers and then their children turn into reliable workers. When the pictured and Jared Funk and Kay Cherney are asked how long they have worked at Thoma’s they both proudly smiled and shared their years of service, 41/2 and 9 years respectively.
Thoma’s reputation really stands on it’s own, it seems everyone has a reference to Thoma’s from the customers that do not miss having breakfast at Thoma’s on opening hunting season days, to the customers who enjoy Thoma’s, Sunday buffet, to the local customers who knock at the back door to buy some potato salad or the groups of card clubs that never miss their monthly card parties in Thoma’s dining room.
Rory might say the best customer ever was his future wife Theresa. She was traveling to Guttenberg from Minneapolis one weekend in 1989, when her mother suggested they stop at Thoma’s for coffee. Rory served them. The admittedly, shy guy hoped they would stop again soon. Theresa did stop and this time she asked him out on date and they married a year later. Now the couple lives in Elkader with their thirteen-year-old son who is an eight grader at Central. Brandon could very well be a chip off the Thoma block because when he is not busy with other things he helps out at the restaurant, especially on weekends.
Joleen’s Final Review: Thoma’s is the place to go for a step back in time. The meals are well proportioned and very tasty. The homemade and quality food products are really apparent. Perhaps, the biggest attraction is the soda fountain and the traditional way they serve milkshakes and malts. The ice cream desserts are served in one size fit’s all fashion and presented in the stainless steel malt cups which can easily fill an eight ounce glass at least twice. Check out Thoma’s for a classic Iowa café experience.
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