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Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from the tri-state area. In addition to this update from Manchester, Iowa, we will share other developments in Tuesday’s edition.
After eight months of closure, a Manchester restaurant has reopened at a new location.
The Bread Basket reopened at
101 S. Franklin St. in mid-March. Owner Jackie Mormann said the restaurant, which used to be located at 113 E. Main St., was closed for eight months as the new space underwent a complete renovation.
“I’ve lived here my whole life,” Mormann said of Manchester. “It makes me happy when I see people come in the door and say, ‘Oh, I’ve been waiting,’ and they give you a big hug. I’m really proud of what we accomplished.”
The Franklin Street location is also the oldest building in Manchester, built in 1855. Mormann said both the main and lower levels of the building were gutted to create the new restaurant space.
“I knew it was going to be a fixer-upper, but I didn’t know it was going to take this long,” Mormann said with a laugh. “But I wanted to do it right and get it done the way it should be done.”
The restaurant is on the main level of the building, with room to easily seat 55 to 60 people, she said. The menu is still the same, with soups, salads, sandwiches and a hot-meal special each day. The restaurant also serves a rotating menu of desserts, though the white chocolate banana cream pie remains a staple.
Mormann added that the business also sells gift items, including candles, jewelry, coffee and greeting cards.
The lower level of the building was remodeled into a conference room, which Mormann said people have been booking out into November already.
“There was a need in the community,” she said. “There’s no place to really have a meeting room. We also do a lot of business catering. For us to just have food here and take it to the lower level is nice, rather than cart it up and take it to a different location.”
The new location comes as Mormann also approaches a milestone. This October, she will mark 10 years as the restaurant’s owner.
“We just kind of poured our heart and soul into it,” she said of the new space. “It was just a big labor of love trying to get it all done. I’m so thankful to be where we’re at with it today. When I look out and see tables full of people, I think, ‘OK, it was worth it.’”
The Bread Basket is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The restaurant can be reached at 563-927-4611, and it can be found online at thebreadbasketmanchester.com and on Facebook.