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By Jay P. Wagner / Posted January 9, 2007
Maid-Rite is an Iowa institution and one of the country’s first franchise restaurants. Founded as a single restaurant by Fred Angell in 1926, four franchises were granted in the 1920s and today there are more than 70 locations in Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio.
A Maid-Rite is, in essence, a loose-meat sandwich served on a bun with pickles and onions. Purists insist that ketchup should never be added to the sandwich and many Maid-Rite stores, including Taylor’s Maid-Rites in Marshalltown, refuse to offer the condiment on the counter.
Angell was a butcher in Muscatine who combined a special cut and grind of meat with a selected set of spices and created the Maid-Rite sandwich. After a customer sampled the food, he commented that the sandwich was "made right." Angell modified the "made" to "maid," reflecting the wholesomeness of the sandwich. Angell opened his first stand in Muscatine, which was a walk-up restaurant. Later, a new eat-in building was opened. Along with his son Francis Angell, a second restaurant was opened that featured a "car hop" or drive-in service. This was the first such service of this kind in the United States, with A&W Restaurants and White Castle Restaurants following shortly thereafter.
Theories about the ingredients that give the Maid-Rite its unique flavor abound, particularly on the Internet. One popular theory is that cola syrup is added to the meat, although franchise owners deny this. (Click here for three sample recipes for the loose meat.)
The first franchise was opened in Durant, Iowa. Maid-Rite began to grow in the number of franchises throughout the United States under the direction of William Angell, the grandson of the founder. The Angell family sold the partnership to a group of investors in 1984 that planned to take the chain international. However, after financial problems and court battles, the company was sold in 2002 to Bradley Burt, a Des Moines man, who streamlined operations and opened a special training facility to teach franchisees how to properly prepare the sandwich.
An Iowa Food Icon
Former Iowans crave the unique flavor of Maid-Rites
More Information:
Maid-Rite's corporate
web site with a variety
of information.
(This is a bit confusting.
Note the absence of the
dash between the words
"maid" and "rite"). This is the site for Taylor's Maid-Rite, perhaps the best known loose meat sandwich purveyor in the state. A fascinating site with lots of terrific pictures.
Finding a Maid-Rite:
Maid-Rite has locations around Iowa and across the United States. New restaurants are
listed on the Maid-Rite web site, but there is no comprehensive list of locations available online. A member of the Maid-Rite staff will assist hungry travelers locate a nearby Maid-Rite franchise. For contact information, please visit the web site.
Menu: In addition to the famous loose meats (sandwiches, $2.89; baskets, including French fries and a soft drink, $5.79), Maid-Rite offers several other versions of the sandwich, including a Cheese-Rite ($3.29; $6.19); MEGA-Rite ($3.89; $6.79); Junior-Rite ($1.89; $4.79); and Taco-Rite, which is served in a hard shell ($1.99; $4.89). Cheese, bacon and chili can be added to any sandwich for an additional fee.
Pork tenderloin lovers are often equally fanatical about the deep-fried sandwiches ($3.99; $6.89) that Maid-Rite offers. The restaurants also offer chicken and fish sandwiches, chicken strips, corn dogs, hot dogs, and a bunless cup of Maid-Rite meat for people on low-carb diets.
Taylor's Maid-Rite in Marshalltown will ship sandwiches anywhere. Orders can be placed over the telephone or on the Internet. The Maid-Rites are frozen with pickles and onions packaged seperately then shipped via two-day air.
MAID-RITE SANDWICHES
EATINGIowa
