The Lark Supper Club

EstronHawkKing

EstronHawkKing

Well-Known Member
Did any of you get a chance to dine there back in the day? It was the place to go after a home Iowa football games. It was located in Tiffin, IA. Best steaks around and the side salads were monstrous, like half a head of lettuce. It was the supper club for the Hawkeye high rollers after Hawkeye games. I think Jim Zable spent may Saturday nights there along with Bob Brooks. Sadly, it burned to the ground in 2000. They re-opend, but inside Iowa City and it just wasn't the same. I remember my dad took me there for my birthday and we were both really disappointed. Does anyone remember what caused the fire?

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<<Does anyone remember what caused the fire?>>

I assume, since it was after the Thompsons sold it, the fire was caused by "mysterious circumstances".

I saw Bobby Knight in there two different times back in the early 1980s. I used to cringe when I would go there with some moron who would order "surf and turf" or, rather than getting the "Famous Beef tenderloin", would opt for prime rib or other cut. Seriously?

For about two years solid I would go there once a month or every two months, get a half bottle of 1982 Pedroncelli Cabernet, Famous Beef tenderloin rare, Roquefort Wedge and, when in the mindset, a side of sauteed mushrooms.

Ah, Paradise, thy name was The Lark!

BTW, Bob and Shirley Thompson also owned a little gourmet market called Charmer's Market out on the Coralville Strip. We'd go there, grab a couple beef tenderloin steaks and a full bottle of the Pedroncelli Cab, grill those bad boys up and wind down with some brandy and cigars. Living! OK, I admit, it was NOT top-shelf brandy, usually E & J (from Gallo). But good stuff for a college kid trying to be a "mover".
 
Good little blog/article. Surprised to hear the Thompsons had divorced and that Bob had passed away. They were actually quite well-known and held in high regard in the California wine circles, as they featured many small/boutique/up-and-coming California wineries back in those days, before wine became "nouveau" and "popular" among the "social climber" set. Folks from several of the wineries used to talk about those types of restaurants being the unsung heroes for the industry's "lesser known" properties.
 
Definitely a 1990's menu as far as prices are concerned. The best steaks on that menu would top $30 today. I think I ate there once. My parents like Iowa River Power when they came to town. Or the Ox Yoke In in the Amanas.

Years ago we visited my sister in Omaha and my mom got it in her head that she wanted the buffet at one of the Council Bluffs casinos. Nothing wrong with buffets generally but not when your in freaking Omaha. You get a steak in that city. That would be like going to Bourbon Street and ordering spaghetti!
 
I remember going there several times in the mid to late 80's. The tenderloin was every bit as good as its reputation. Sad that such a landmark is not longer there, especially of that high quality. Some of the best food I've ever had. Makes me more than a bit suspicious when a restaurant burns down however. It's a shame that someone can't reopen it in Tiffin and reclaim its lost glory.
 
There's a famous story from around 1988 or 1989 about the Iowa wrestling team not doing well at a match in Ames and Gable not being too happy about it. He had the bus stop at The Lark. The coaches were hungry. The wrestlers may have been hungry too, but they weren't eating tenderloins. They were running the rest of the way back to Iowa City, a good five or six miles. At least it was straight and flat. No idea how cold it was.
 
Played host to some Buckeye guests one year for OSU / UI game and dined at The Lark. When their check came after eating they told the waiter there was a mistake as the bill was so small. They couldn’t believe it.

Hawks got beat the following day in the final seconds after controlling most of the game. Seems like I remember Merton Hanks tipping a pass that ended up in the hands of a Buckeye for a TD or some fluke ending.
 
ohhawk said:
Played host to some Buckeye guests one year for OSU / UI game and dined at The Lark. When their check came after eating they told the waiter there was a mistake as the bill was so small. They couldn’t believe it.

Hawks got beat the following day in the final seconds after controlling most of the game. Seems like I remember Merton Hanks tipping a pass that ended up in the hands of a Buckeye for a TD or some fluke ending.
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That was the 1990 game. Iowa was up like 24-0 and blew the lead. The week before we beat the crap out of a good Illinois team in Champaign and were in the drivers seat in the Big 10. How we blew that game vs OSU was baffling. The Buckeyes were not that good that year, at least we still went to the Rose Bowl only to get destroyed by Washington
 
Northside Hawk said:
There's a famous story from around 1988 or 1989 about the Iowa wrestling team not doing well at a match in Ames and Gable not being too happy about it. He had the bus stop at The Lark. The coaches were hungry. The wrestlers may have been hungry too, but they weren't eating tenderloins. They were running the rest of the way back to Iowa City, a good five or six miles. At least it was straight and flat. No idea how cold it was.
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Yes! I remember that story.
 
I ate there the first time my parents met my in-laws not long before it burnt down. Don't remember the steak but I remember the salad came out and it was basically a head of lettuce with the core cut out, The portions were big and the food good
 
I went a couple times as a kid. Those prices are amazing. I paid that for a smoked sausage dinner at the local BBQ joint last night.
 
Northside Hawk said:
Definitely a 1990's menu as far as prices are concerned. The best steaks on that menu would top $30 today. I think I ate there once. My parents like Iowa River Power when they came to town. Or the Ox Yoke In in the Amanas.

Years ago we visited my sister in Omaha and my mom got it in her head that she wanted the buffet at one of the Council Bluffs casinos. Nothing wrong with buffets generally but not when your in freaking Omaha. You get a steak in that city. That would be like going to Bourbon Street and ordering spaghetti!
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I also liked the prime rib at Iowa River Power, and a very stellar salad bar there. Great place for Happy Hour, and on balance, a much better "bar"/"drinking" spot than The Lark. But if you are going straight-up, best beef vs. best beef, The Lark blows most steak places away, be it Chicago, New York, Bern's (in Tampa, which is pretty much riding on reputation these days, if not for that awesome wine list), Shula's, Morton's, Del Frisco's, etc. It was THAT good.

As for the Amanas, I have always been a Ronneburg guy. Their sauerbraten should be a Sunday supper staple nationwide. The fact it isn't points up how prejudiced this country is against good Midwest eateries. :) In all seriousness, the Amanas, as a place to eat, are too overlooked.

And believe it or not, New Orleans has some incredible Italian food. It was, after all, an Italian haven in the late 19th/early 20th century period. Next time you go, try Mama Rosa's Pizza. In addition to incredible and a jukebox loaded with Sinatra, they have some awesome Italian dishes.
 
Rumor has it that the fire was caused when the Iowa quarterback called a pass play from an audible and the head chef was so shocked and surprised that he dropped his cigarette ligter into the trash and the whole place went up in flames. To avoid embarrassment the fire was called “SUSPICIOUS”. :cool: :D
 
hawkeyes87 said:
Yeah, IRP was very good as well (is it still there, or has it closed?)

But it was a step below The Lark. IRP is where I'd take a date for a nice dinner. But if I wasn't paying, it was The Lark.
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Yeah, taking a date to The Lark intimated too much, i.e., she thought you were going to "pop the question"...or you expected her to "pop" her clothes off! That, and, as college students, it made you look like you were trying to be Rob and Laura Petrie!

Frankly, if "Mad Men" characters ever visited Iowa City, they'd have gone to The Lark!

IRP was definitely "impress-the-date" material. The Lark was "Impress-My-Selfish-Frigging-Palate" material!
 
hawkeyes87 said:
Yeah, IRP was very good as well (is it still there, or has it closed?)

But it was a step below The Lark. IRP is where I'd take a date for a nice dinner. But if I wasn't paying, it was The Lark.
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FYI, I.R.P. IS still operating. Lute Olson used to take recruits there for brunch on football weekends. It was actually lower on my brunch list by virtue of the Amanas re-writing all the rules for Sunday dining, IMHO.
 
Motigerhawk said:
I went a couple times as a kid. Those prices are amazing. I paid that for a smoked sausage dinner at the local BBQ joint last night.
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Yeah, unfortunately, beef AND pork prices have made a significant jump. That, and BBQ joints, food trucks, et. al., have come to overvalue their products quite a bit, and succeeded with a less-than-discriminating public palate. WAY too much "dining out" is done in the name of "stature" instead of "quality dining", I'm afraid.

That said, I LOVE a good BBQ joint, and if they do brisket and sausage well--not typical of Florida and the Southeast, in general--they earn my loyalty. I have to explain to people in Florida that Iowa and the Midwest don't do BBQ the way they do in the South because the meat, in summary, is so damn good you don't need BBQ technique to mask shitty product. Breaded tenderloin sandwiches being an exception, of course!
 
hawkeyebob62 said:
<< I used to cringe when I would go there with some moron who would order "surf and turf" or, rather than getting the "Famous Beef tenderloin", would opt for prime rib or other cut. Seriously?

admit, it was NOT top-shelf brandy, usually E & J (from Gallo). But good stuff for a college kid trying to be a "mover".
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I LOL'd when you said you cringed about what others ordered, then admitted that you drank E&J (erk and jerk) Brandy.
 
Went there on a set-up first date not long after moving to Iowa City in the late 90s. Poor girl definitely had an eating disorder. She took down the half head of lettuce and then a steak. She then spent quite bit of time in the restroom.

I found out later that week that she had recently thrown a brick through her ex-boyfriend's car window. No second date.

The steak at the Lark was great, though.
 
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