Newton Maid-Rite partners with Midtown Cafe alum to serve breakfast as ‘Mid-Rite Cafe’

Is it too early to call this a Christmas miracle? For many longtime patrons of the beloved Midtown Cafe, there is no better way to describe it.

Yes, the rumors are true. Midtown Cafe, the downtown Newton diner that closed its doors in late 2021 after more than 50 years in business, is making its return by partnering with another legacy restaurant. Its famous, stick-to-your-bones breakfast menu will be available most mornings at the Newton Maid-Rite.

Known as “Mid-Rite Cafe,” the restaurant will be serving up platefuls of old favorites like biscuits and gravy, country-fried steak, customizable omelets and skillets and, of course, pancakes. It’s all made by James Webster, who manned the grill at Midtown and is the son of former Midtown owner Gary Sharpnack.

Fittingly, the Mid-Rite Cafe is opening for business on Nov. 29, the same day that Midtown Cafe closed three years ago. Located on the bottom floor of the Maytag Hotel, the restaurant was a town favorite, but for Webster it was home. When it closed, he found other cooking jobs in places like Okoboji Grill and Perkins.

Staying employed in kitchens has maintained his skills behind the flattop grill, flattening out a beaten egg into a perfect omelet, knowing just when to flip pancakes and ensuring his freshly cut potatoes cook evenly and with a nice crust. But Webster was just about to jump ship and look for a “real” job.

“But the owner came to me and said, ‘What if we can do this?’ I was like, well, let’s see what we can do,” Webster said to Newton News the day he began serving customers their breakfasts at a private soft opening inside the Newton Maid Rite. It was so secret that staff even covered the windows so passersby couldn’t see the action.

Midtown Cafe has been missed. Webster said he still gets people shouting their orders to him across grocery store aisles. Although he doesn’t remember his name, Webster said he continues to holler back at a regular who earned the nickname “Full Hot Turkey” for constantly ordering the same menu item.

“Every time I see him at Walmart I yell, ‘Full Hot Turkey!’ from across the way,” Webster said. “He’s all like, ‘Wassup, man!’ That is the stuff that I miss. So when the owner came to me and asked me about this I was like, ‘Damn right I’ll try this.’ We’re just going to roll with it.”

Newton Maid Rite is a staple restaurant in the downtown area, and Midtown Cafe was considered one as well. Lorie Ganoe, manager of the Newton Maid-Rite, knows what it is like to see a community back its local establishments. In 2023, the Maid-Rite was presumed to have closed. Within a week it was revived.

But it was a hard week for the community, which was in an uproar over losing another one of its favorite establishments. Ganoe said people felt the same way when Midtown Cafe closed too. With both now working together to provide a new-yet-nostalgic menu, she is confident it will be celebrated by the town.

“I am excited,” Ganoe said. “I think breakfast will go over really, really good.”

Also this does not mean donuts are going away again. The Newton Maid-Rite reintroduced the popular menu item in April 2024 after a three-year hiatus. In fact, donuts are even listed on the à la carte menu during breakfast hours at Mid-Rite Cafe. So even the ol’ Midtown Cafe regulars can enjoy the treat.

Invitations for the soft opening have given staff time to better prepare the menu and work out any kinks before breakfast is officially served. Webster said even the people who didn’t get invitations already know about it. They can barely contain their excitement when they raise a wily eyebrow to Webster.

“They’re coming up to me and are like, ‘We’ll see you in December.’ I just feel like this is going to blow up, especially once they realize it’s me.” Webster said. “Anybody can do an honor to whatever. But to see the actual people who were doing it at Midtown now do it here will help.”

For Webster, it’s a return to form. It’s stepping back into a comfy kitchen he was proud to call home and serve to his extended family of customers.

“I’m excited for the nostalgia it’ll bring back,” he said. “I grew up in that place. I came to work everyday knowing I wasn’t going to have a bad day.”

And the days are only going to get better.

Mid-Rite Cafe is open for breakfast 6 a.m.-noon on weekdays and 6 a.m.-1 p.m. on weekends. Breakfast will not be available on Tuesdays.

After breakfast, the restaurant will transition into Maid-Rite and serve up its eponymous sandwiches. Ordering from the drive-thru window is possible, but staff stressed the best way to get faster to-go orders is to call ahead of time at 641-792-4166 and then pick it up at the drive-thru when possible.