The Grill

I wrestled for Postville High School which is located in the small town of Postville in northeast Iowa. This town had few restaurants and some of these establishments came and went while others changed owners and names. But, one restaurant that was always a constant while I was growing up in the Postville area was a little place called The Grill. The Grill had a counter with stools, tables, and extra seating in the back room.

My family used to go to the Grill every now and then on a Sunday after church. My favorite item on the menu was the pork fritter. I think The Pork Fritter Plate or The Pork Fritter Dinner featured two pork fritters and an order of french fries.

You could buy very good malts and shakes at The Grill. They had good hamburgers too. My friend Wade took me there one morning after I spent the night at his house and we each had a fried egg sandwich.

The Grill became a popular place for wrestlers to have breakfast after making weight on competition days. We weighed in early and still had time to eat breakfast before school started.

My mom took me to The Grill after I made weight the first time. I had two eggs, toast, and sausage. I also had two bakery rolls and two large glasses of orange juice. My mom must have thought I was crazy when I ordered all of that food. But, I ate it all.

Some mornings local business owners would be in there for breakfast too. One banker liked to have a hamburger patty with his eggs sometimes instead of sausage or bacon. One of the doctor's wives often ordered a bowl of cereal. You could get many things for breakfast at The Grill.

The Grill had pancakes, french toast, eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, ham, and even cereal. They always had some donuts and rolls on hand that they must have picked up fresh each morning from the local bakery.

I really liked the french toast and especially pancakes. I guess I'm a carbohydrate kind of guy. I didn't like eggs quite as much. The owner's name was Jack and at some point during my high school years he added a new breakfast item to the menu called Jack's Omelet. Or, it might have been called Jack's Four Egg Ham and Cheese Omelet. I don't need to explain the ingredients it contained. I can't recall if I ever tackled Jack's Omelet or not.

A few times during my senior year I had pancakes and toast with no butter or syrup because I wanted to watch the calories. I just asked for a few small containers of jelly.

Every now and then I took the pleasure of having a chocolate malt along with my breakfast. That might not sound good to you but to a dehydrated and hungry wrestler it was wonderful.

The Grill, unfortunately, no longer exists except in people's memories. It was a wonderful place. It was a nice haven for a hungry wrestler to get a good meal so he'd be strong for his competition. Thank you to The Grill.