On his personal and professional Facebook pages, the restaurant’s owner, Rolly Danner, recently shared a screenshot of an email he received from Mall Manager Scott Wacha informing him that Mama DiGrado’s will be evicted from the facility effective March 15. Danner and previous owner Dave Hilsabeck, who founded the business with his wife Kim back in 2006, spoke to the T-R about the situation on Friday.

After taking over the restaurant, which has been housed in the former Diamond Dave’s and Aladdin’s Castle space for over a decade, back in 2021, Danner said things went relatively smoothly at first, with promises from the owners that more big box stores would be coming to fill vacancies created by the loss of former anchors like JCPenney’s and Younkers — promises similar to the ones made to the Hilsabecks under owners before the Kohan Retail Investment Group, which purchased the mall in 2020.

“I have been promised and told that they were gonna get these stores that have never come in the last four years. And I get it. It’s hard times. People are having hard times surviving, and so I get why these big companies don’t want to come to a small town because it’s hard to get business,” Danner said.

But as time went on, Hilsabeck and Danner said, “everything went south” as Kohan stopped investing in the mall, culminating in the power shutoff 15 months ago. From there, other tenants, including Mama DiGrados’ old neighbor Oliver Beene Designs (with whom Danner often worked together to provide discounts for shoppers who patronized both establishments), left for new buildings.

A sign at the main entrance to the mall near Mama DiGrado’s Pasta and Pizza informs passersby that it is temporarily closed. In November of 2023, power in the common areas was shut off after the previous owner, Kohan Retail Investment Group, continuously failed to pay its utility bill.

Although he began to scout new locations then — and despite offers from other communities, the MHS graduate said he fully intends to remain in Marshalltown one way or another — Danner was unable to find a satisfactory option, citing the impending Main Street reconstruction and lack of downtown parking as a deterrent to moving there.

“There’s nowhere in town to go. Not one place is there to go besides Calvin Rockett’s. I will be up front about it. That is the only building that can fit my entire restaurant there without spending $100,000 plus,” he said. “Main Street is out of the question… Our clientele is a special clientele. They want to come. They want to sit down for 30 to 40 minutes, have wine, have a couple beers, unwind, talk (and) enjoy themselves. So for them to be able to do that uptown, it’s just not feasible.”

On Nov. 14, 2024, Jeff Strong with Reserve Development Group first contacted Danner about a lease proposal, and they met in person on Dec. 16. Danner described the encounter as being told what he was going to do, including “jacking up” his rent 300 percent to $10,000 a month while also forcing him to relocate to a new space on the north side of the property. A formal contract, he said, was never presented.

“Here’s the deal. I was gonna get four months free (rent). They were gonna move me to the very end where the Big Lots building used to be — but not the whole building, not even close to the whole building. They were gonna give me 4,200 square feet. I’m at 5,200 now. I use every inch of this building,” he said. “Not only this, they were gonna put me at the very end where there’s a blind spot for the drive. What if a kid walked out? I have a lot of families coming in here with kids, so not only is that a liability on me, but I’m not gonna put my customers at risk. That’s the big thing right there.”

Additionally, Danner said Reserve only offered to move a quarter of his equipment, leaving him responsible for chairs, booths, sinks, make tables and water heaters along with the duty of designing and painting the new space.

“They weren’t real receptive. There’s no reason why they couldn’t have designed their drawings around Mama DiGrado’s, honestly. There’s no reason why that couldn’t have been incorporated into their design in the very beginning,” Hilsabeck said. “I understand capitalism, free enterprise… I understand the community wants good selection (and) places to shop. That may still happen when Reserve Development’s plan (is enacted), but it’s on the back of a solid, well known restaurant. And personally, I wouldn’t do business that way, to be honest with you. Restaurants, whether it’s a chain, franchise or Mom and Pops, are folding nationwide, and to literally send a solid, very successful and heavily patronized restaurant packing with a retaliatory eviction is ridiculous business sense.”

Danner also told the T-R he wished he would have been included in a meeting between Strong, Mayor Joel Greer and Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall, and Hilsabeck wondered why local economic development officials haven’t fought harder for Mama DiGrado’s.

“But they say that they care about small business. They could’ve easily invited me. I know that we’ve had differences and stuff, but at the end of the day, isn’t it about Marshalltown and growing our small community?” Danner asked.

He did, however, shower praise on City Fire Marshal Josh Warnell for “having his back” and working hard to help him keep Mama DiGrado’s operational after the power shutoff in 2023. Danner, who is in the process of taking over the American Legion restaurant and lounge with an entirely separate menu, continues to seek a new home for Mama DiGrado’s, and if it does close temporarily in March, he fully intends to reopen the business somewhere new.

“Every minute, every day I wake up, this is what I do. I’ve bought a shipping container, so even if I have to take all this stuff and put it away, you better bet your a** I’ll be back in a year,” he said. “If they think that I’m gonna go away just because they gave me a bump in the road, get over it. It’s coming back, 100 percent, no doubt in my mind. They messed with the wrong person. I’m not backing down.”

With tax incentives and abatements for Reserve Development looming and the city’s code violation lawsuit against Kohan dropped, Danner and Hilsabeck expressed frustration about what they characterized as a lack of accountability for the situation the now former owners created.

“If they’re gonna give $400,000 (in incentives) to Reserve Development, then why wouldn’t the taxpayers give Rolly money? I understand that that’s not feasible. I get it, but why would it be feasible to give a new mall owner, another new mall owner, another $400,000 tax abatement?” Hilsabeck asked. “Citizens of the community of Marshalltown should be pissed to be giving that kind of money away.”

Developer offers his side of the story

Strong said he spent a few hours with Danner during his five or six-hour visit, and was “blown away” by how everything worked out.

“We looked at Mama DiGrado’s and saw it would be a challenge,” he said. “I met with Rolly. I liked him and honestly wanted to make it work.”

They wanted to help ensure Mama DiGrado’s would continue at the mall, Strong added, even though it would not make financial sense for Reserve Development. With the planned interior development in the main part of the building, he said they need the space in Mama DiGrado’s. They had a plan to move the restaurant so there would only be two weeks of time during which the business would be closed.

The space in mind would have been redeveloped with new features, such as a bar and outdoor seating. An email from Public Works Director Heather Thomas to Greer, City Administrator Carol Webb, the city council and city department heads summarized a virtual meeting with the developers regarding plans for Mama’s, which was shared with the T-R, indicated that the proposed size of the new restaurant was 4,800 square feet. Strong had a team of contractors and an architect prepared to not only work on it, but also review any unused space.

“We were going to pay for everything, which was going to cost us $1 million,” he said. “We were going to give free rent for one year, and then a rate of $20 per square foot, which is manageable for rent. [Other spaces] might be $28 per square foot after one year. We were going to set aside any savings.”

Strong felt the meeting with Danner went well, and there seemed to be excitement about the project. Then he learned about negative social media posts the night after he left Marshalltown.

“I am dumbfounded,” Strong said. “I think he was scared we were going to kick him out, and we told him ‘No. We want to keep you.'”

After the social media activity, the eviction notice was sent by Wacha.

“I’m sad to see it. He hasn’t paid rent in 15 months and has been given a 60 days eviction notice,” Strong said. “We could have given him 30 days, but he’s getting 60. We want to work with people. Even if he’s not out in those 60 days, we will still work with him. There is no animosity. I’m just disappointed.”