Breitbach's Country Dining
Balltown, Iowa · Westward Expansion · Est. 1852 · Open today
Since 1852
Breitbach's opened on August 23, 1852 by federal permit issued during President Millard Fillmore's administration, and over the decades served as a stagecoach stop, personal residence, hotel, grocery store, tavern, and restaurant. Jacob Breitbach purchased the business in 1862, and six generations of the family have run it since. The original building was destroyed by a gas-explosion fire on Christmas Eve 2007; its replacement burned down in October 2008, just ten months after reopening, and a third building opened in August 2009 with strong community support. The restaurant was featured in the 2012 documentary 'Spinning Plates' alongside Chicago's Alinea, and its walls display memorabilia including a blanket left by Frank James in 1876.
A blanket left behind by Frank James when the James gang stayed in Balltown in 1876 still hangs in the restaurant.
What to order: All-you-can-eat country buffet famous for broasted fried chicken and homemade pies (flavors like walnut, black raspberry, and rhubarb custard), plus a popular Friday fish buffet.
How solid is the claim?
Iowa’s oldest bar — the evidence
Breitbach's Country Dining in Balltown is our featured pick for the oldest bar in Iowa, with a claimed founding year of 1852. Universally cited as Iowa's oldest bar and restaurant — open since August 23, 1852 under a federal permit issued during Millard Fillmore's presidency — with no rival claimant found. The building was destroyed by fires in 2007 and 2008 and rebuilt twice, and sources differ on minor dates (1852 vs. 1853 opening; family purchase in 1862 vs. 1891), which keeps it just short of fully verified continuity.