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Encyclopedia Dubuque

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"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.




BISHOP'S BUFFET

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Rod Crowe

BISHOP'S BUFFET. In 2010 Bishop's Buffet, a company started by Benjamin Franklin Bishop, was celebrating ninety years in business. Bishop opened his first restaurant in the former Ellis Hotel Waterloo, Iowa in 1920. The chain eventually had 35 restaurants in 7 mid-western states. (1)

Rod Crowe and his wife, Mary, worked for the Bishop's Buffet chain through high school and college. Rod was a manager in training and Mary was a checker. After being transferred around the Midwest, they arrived in Dubuque where Bishop's was located at the front entrance to KENNEDY MALL.

Bishopscard.jpg

The Crowes and Curt Pooley of Solon, Iowa purchased the restaurant in 2006 after Furr's Cafeterias, which owned the chain at the time, went bankrupt.

Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

In 2010, Bishop's had been at Kennedy Mall for forty years. There were forty-seven employees with many having a dozen or more years of employment.

On January 1, 2012 Bishop's closed.

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Source:

1. Jim Johnson, email, March 12, 2024