Midtown Cafe staying put, for good

If someone were to order a couple dozen of Midtown Cafe’s signature pancakes at this very moment — considering how long it takes a single person with an average-sized stomach to eat the Newton restaurant’s two-inch-thick, bigger-than-your-plate flapjacks — they might be able to finish every bite by the time staff unveil their rehabilitated kitchen, dining room and furnishings in March.

After numerous attempts to find a new location for Midtown Cafe to move its 50-year-old business while construction crews remodel the former Hotel Maytag, the beloved diner has announced it is staying put and will be incorporated into the renovation project, owner Gary Sharpnack confirmed Thursday afternoon.

"Everything is going to be changed," Sharpnack said. "At first we were going to move, (and we looked) at a couple different places, but they decided that I'm good. So they're going to remodel everything. I'm kind of getting excited."

Midtown Cafe, he added, will remain open during regular business hours until Dec. 30, still serving up stacked plates of biscuits and gravy and hearty sandwiches to its loyal customers. The restaurant will then close for approximately two months for remodeling before reopening its doors March 1.

In addition to the new decor, Midtown Cafe will extend its services by remaining open five nights per week for dinner — 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday — as well as offer by-request catering work and a delivery service from 4 to 8 p.m., Sharpnack said.

The restaurant will maintain some of its current hours, staying open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays and 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays, giving Sharpnack, fellow co-owners Deanna Sharpnack and Marge Horstman and the other staff members a bit of a break.

Originally, Midtown Cafe was going to relocate to another building while contractors and crews renovated the former Hotel Maytag. A new restaurant was to take its place; however, developer Jack Hatch of Hotel Maytag Investors said a decision over what type of restaurant would be added to the project was never fully realized.

“In the end, we couldn’t really find a suitable place for Gary,” Hatch told the Newton Daily News Thursday. “Plus, nobody was interested in putting a small business man out of business. So, I went back to Gary and said, ‘OK, do you mind staying here?’ He loved that idea.”

The decision to keep Midtown Cafe at its current location was further reinforced by Newton Mayor Mike Hansen, who suggested Hatch consider keeping the local restaurant on the ground floor of the former Hotel Maytag building after efforts to secure a new site were unsuccessful.

Hansen said Hatch had sought out locations in downtown Newton, one site just off the town square and another near Highway 14, but none seemed to fit Midtown Cafe.

Long before Hatch Development Group’s rehabilitation work began on the historic building in downtown Newton, Hansen said one of Hatch’s ideas suggested to the city was to put in an upscale restaurant to complement the restoration.

It had occurred to Hansen that remodeling an area in the building for another restaurant to move in was not a sure thing.

“We have a sure thing there already,” Hansen said. “…We know Gary’s had success there. We know he will have continued success and then build upon that business once we get a facelift there and a new look and a remodeled restaurant.”

Although Midtown Cafe will maintain its food and character, the restaurant will be renovated to match a period closely resembling a cafe sometime between the 1930s and 1950s, much like Hatch had planned with his upscale restaurant idea.

“Can you imagine how that’s going to help (Sharpnack) with his continued success there?” Hansen added.

Sharpnack, who has owned the restaurant for about five years, is pleased to see what his diner will look like post-renovation. Remarking upon Midtown Cafe’s rapport with the community, Sharpnack said the reason for the diner’s strong following is simple:

“It’s the homemade food, it’s the good service and it’s the way we treat you like family,” he said.

Thankfully, those are things renovations can never change.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com