By Mary Harrington | The Daily Iowan | August 26, 2008

Gert MacQueen sips coffee at a booth in the Hamburg Inn No. 2 with her daughter, Jennifer Hamilton.

She points above her head to framed photos of former President Clinton on the wall as she describes the restaurant as an institution of the Democratic Party. She has been talking politics here for 60 years now.

"Today is such a treat," MacQueen said with an infectious grin on her face. "It's a day to celebrate."

The Hamburg Inn No. 2 celebrated its 60th anniversary on Monday, serving roughly 300 free burgers for lunch to more than 200 people, spilling out in front of the restaurant.

Gary Sanders, a 30-year employee at Hamburg, said the restaurant succeeds because of its food, service, and ambiance.

"This is the kind of place I seek out everywhere I travel," he said. "And this place is the best of its kind."

Politicians have sought it out as well. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have both made stops at the famous diner, along with Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Obama's running mate.

"Candidates see this place as a piece of Americana," Sanders said.

And as MacQueen said, the "Hamburg stop" has become very important on every politician's itinerary.

Photos of political figures from past and current elections demonstrate the restaurant's political past, mixing together with more modest photos of the regulars that have been a part of the Hamburg Inn's history.

Sanders pointed to a 1978 photo of himself waiting tables at the restaurant, describing a feeling of camaraderie he said workers and guests have always felt at the Iowa City diner. Sanders came to Iowa City in the 1970s, and decided to stay permanently when he was offered a waiting job at the Hamburg Inn.

"Getting a job here kept me here," he said.

And Sanders is one of many who have grown attached to the Iowa City staple.

"I think we represent the unchain, the alternative" Hamburg owner Dave Panther said, eating a burger on a bench outside of his restaurant. "This place represents small time, independent America."

Panther said the diner owes much of its success to the people who continuously return.

MacQueen has been eating at the restaurant since 1948, and her daughter has frequented it since she was a kid.

"They haven't tried to spruce it up beyond what it is, which makes it endearing," MacQueen said.

The Monday event brought in more people than were initially expected, and Panther said the restaurant ran out of the first 300 burgers in an hour.

"For a second there, we almost had to go into crisis mode," employee Chris Borders said.

As for the future, longtime customer Hamilton hopes to see the diner in operation for a long time.

"If the grease doesn't take it down, it'll be here for another 60 years," she said.

Originally published online here: http://media.www.dailyiowan.com/media/storage/paper599/news/2008/08/26/Metro/Local.Fixture.Hamburg.Inn.Celebrates.60.Years-3404556.shtml