Formerly: Balltown Tavern
Balltown, Iowa · Founded 1852 · Building: 2009 (current building)
A Balltown restaurant and bar operating since 1852, rebuilt twice after fires with extraordinary local support.
Breitbach's Country Dining has operated in Balltown, Iowa, since 1852 and has been associated with the Breitbach family since 1862. Its historic building was destroyed in a 2007 fire, a replacement burned in 2008, and the present restaurant opened in 2009. The restaurant uses a Sherrill mailing address but is physically located in Balltown.
Breitbach's traces its business history in Balltown to 1852; independent reporting and the James Beard Foundation both describe it as having been in business since that year.
Source: Des Moines Register, "Did you know that Iowa's oldest bar predates Civil War?," October 15, 2021; James Beard Foundation, "America's Classic: Breitbach's Country Dining," June 11, 2009
Jacob Breitbach purchased the business, according to the Des Moines Register; the restaurant has since been passed through Breitbach family generations.
Source: Des Moines Register, "Did you know that Iowa's oldest bar predates Civil War?," October 15, 2021
A fire destroyed the restaurant's original building on Christmas Eve.
Source: James Beard Foundation, "America's Classic: Breitbach's Country Dining," June 11, 2009; Breitbach's Country Dining, "About"
Community volunteers helped rebuild the restaurant in 69 days after the 2007 fire.
Source: James Beard Foundation, "America's Classic: Breitbach's Country Dining," June 11, 2009
A second fire destroyed the replacement restaurant building.
Source: Des Moines Register, "Did you know that Iowa's oldest bar predates Civil War?," October 15, 2021; Breitbach's Country Dining, "About"
The present, third restaurant building opened in August after a second community-backed rebuild.
Source: Des Moines Register, "Did you know that Iowa's oldest bar predates Civil War?," October 15, 2021; Breitbach's Country Dining, "About"
The James Beard Foundation named Breitbach's Country Dining an America's Classic.
Source: James Beard Foundation, "America's Classic: Breitbach's Country Dining," June 11, 2009
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The restaurant, Travel Iowa, the Des Moines Register, and the James Beard Foundation all describe Breitbach's as Iowa's oldest restaurant, bar, or food-and-drink establishment and place its start in 1852. Those sources make the claim credible, but the source set reviewed for this entry does not independently establish a complete statewide comparison or the claimed original permit record.
The Des Moines Register reports that Jacob Breitbach bought the business in 1862 and that it has passed through six family generations. Breitbach's current site identifies Mike and Cindy Breitbach as sixth-generation owners. The reviewed record supports the long family lineage, though original transfer documents were not independently examined here.
This is a long-repeated local and family story, but no contemporary record establishing Jesse James's visit to this specific tavern was verified for this entry. It should be presented as lore, not as established history.
Breitbach's says it continued activity from The Gathering Place across the parking lot during reconstruction, and the Des Moines Register repeated that the business never stopped operating. The reviewed evidence does not establish uninterrupted ordinary restaurant operations or prove that no business day was missed, so the stronger continuity formulation remains unverified.
The original building was destroyed in 2007, its replacement burned in 2008, and the current building opened in 2009. The business occupies the historic site, not its original building.
Breitbach's Country Dining operates in its original 19th-century building.
The original restaurant building was destroyed in 2007, a replacement burned in 2008, and the current building opened in 2009. The business remains on the historic site, but the building is modern.
Source: Breitbach's Country Dining, "About"; Des Moines Register, October 15, 2021; James Beard Foundation, June 11, 2009
Breitbach's is located in Sherrill, Iowa.
The restaurant is physically located in Balltown, Iowa, while using a Sherrill mailing/postal address at 563 Balltown Road.
Source: Breitbach's Country Dining, "About"; Des Moines Register, October 15, 2021
Breitbach's opened on August 23, 1852, based on verified federal permit records.
The reviewed sources consistently report a 1852 start and repeat the federal-permit story, but this fact-check did not independently verify the underlying permit or confirm the precise August 23 opening date.
Source: Des Moines Register, October 15, 2021; Breitbach's Country Dining, "About"; James Beard Foundation, June 11, 2009
Breitbach's survived two devastating fires because its family operators and the Balltown community chose to rebuild rather than close. The first replacement rose in 69 days with volunteer help, and after the second fire the family rebuilt again; during reconstruction, a small building across the parking lot known as The Gathering Place housed the bar, office, worker lunches, and local card games. Its long family stewardship, community loyalty, comfort-food identity, and Mississippi River Valley setting have made the restaurant more than a historic claim.
Breitbach's Country Dining has operated in Balltown, Iowa, since 1852. The Des Moines Register reports that Jacob Breitbach bought the business in 1862, beginning the family lineage that now reaches six generations; the James Beard Foundation also identified the restaurant as a long-running family operation when it honored it in 2009. Fires destroyed the original building in 2007 and a replacement in 2008, but the current restaurant reopened in a third building in August 2009.
Breitbach's is widely described as Iowa's oldest restaurant and bar or food-and-drink establishment, and major sources place its start in 1852. However, the full statewide comparative record and the original permit documentation were not independently reviewed for this entry, so the statewide title is best treated as plausible rather than conclusively settled.
Breitbach's suffered two destructive restaurant fires. The original building was destroyed on December 24, 2007; a replacement later burned on October 24, 2008. After a second rebuild supported by the Balltown community, the present building opened in August 2009.
The restaurant is physically in Balltown, Iowa, near Dubuque, but it uses a Sherrill postal address: 563 Balltown Road, Sherrill, IA 52073. Both the restaurant's site and independent reporting identify Balltown as the location.
563 Balltown Rd, Sherrill, IA 52073
(563) 552-2220
The restaurant is in Balltown despite its Sherrill postal address; allow time for the nearby Mississippi River Valley overlooks.