Highway 169 American Cafe and Watering Hole served its last meals Sunday, bringing a permanent end to a restaurant that had opened in Minburn in summer 2024. KCCI reported that regulars returned for the cafe’s final service.
The closure followed a difficult period for the business. The cafe had shut for seven weeks last spring while owner Keith Leslie underwent neurosurgery, then reopened; KCCI reported that the restaurant struggled afterward. An earlier KCCI report on the reopening described customers’ support during the shutdown. That account documented a community-backed return, but did not establish what would happen to the business in the longer term.
A local gathering place, with an uncertain next chapter
Minburn is also a stop on the Raccoon River Valley Trail: Dallas County lists the trail stop at the restored depot on Highway 169 and Chestnut Street, with water, restrooms and shelter. The listing provides useful context for the town’s trail infrastructure, but does not show that trail users were customers of the cafe or explain its closure.
The cafe is not the only Minburn restaurant whose future has drawn attention, though the circumstances differ. Axios Des Moines reported in July 2022 that The Nineteen14, a separate restaurant in the depot, faced a possible closure amid a lease dispute with the city. That earlier case concerned a lease; KCCI’s account of Highway 169 American Cafe describes struggles after reopening. Two distinct cases do not establish a broader pattern or a common cause.
Highway 169 American Cafe will be open in the coming days for people interested in buying equipment, KCCI reported. No public details have been reported about who owns or may take over the space.
