The final lunch menu at the Lincoln Cafe in Mount Vernon, Iowa, is shown on Dec. 21, 2013. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
MOUNT VERNON – Lincoln Cafe owner Matt Steigerwald appeared almost relaxed on the popular restaurant’s closing day.
Maybe because he knows the cafe will be in good hands for the foreseeable future.
Steigerwald, 47, just completed the sale of the restaurant to Rachel Sauter, a former employee who still has family in Mount Vernon.
The Lincoln cheddar burger with the cafe’s famous French fries, on Dec. 21. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
“It’s great,” he said as the final lunch at the Lincoln Cafe ended on closing day, Dec. 21. “It’s better when you can do that with someone you already know.”
Sauter was just in high school when she began working at the cafe when it opened in 2001 and has since been in the restaurant industry in Iowa City.
She won’t be able to keep the Lincoln Cafe name, but will reopen at the same site under a different name.
Potato leek soup, the final soup served at the Lincoln Cafe in Mount Vernon, Iowa, during lunch on closing day. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Steigerwald said he would take the next month or two transitioning the business to Sauter.
The Lincoln Wine Bar, which Steigerwald opened in 2007 at 125 W. First St., Mount Vernon, will remain open, specializing in wood-fired pizza, drinks and live music.
“For me, this was the best possible way to do it,” Steigerwald said. “This will be nice.”
The Lincoln Cafe’s final dinner is tonight – Dec. 21, 2013 – and all reservations are full.
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Final photos and food from the Lincoln Cafe… or maybe not?
Mourning the end of the Lincoln Cafe
Owner Matt Steigerwald is shown after lunch at the Lincoln Cafe on Dec. 10, 2013. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
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