No more will the laughter and conversations of its loyal Fort Dodge customers fill the restaurant as they gathered for breakfast, lunch – or maybe just stopping in for a cinnamon roll or a piece of homemade pie or a cup of coffee.

“We were the last family-owned diner left in Fort Dodge,” said owner Tommy Zakeer, “a place where you could get a homecooked meal, breakfast served all day, waitresses who came to your table to take your order, homemade pies and pastries.”

Zakeer, 55, whose parents Marie and Bob Zakeer started the restaurant in 1961, closed it last Sunday and has sold the property to a bank next door that plans to turn it into a parking lot. But not before a strong turnout of loyal customers showed up one more time to say farewell.

“We were packed, we had to stop a little early when we ran short of eggs,” Zakeer said. “We were completely full where people had to wait for a table – lots of family groups and of course, the regulars. For me, it was a little bittersweet and a little relief – we’re just been super busy for the past few weeks and there were just three of us left. There were many well-wishers, telling us ‘We’re going to miss you.'”

-Submitted photo
This is an image of a plaque featuring Marie and Bob Zakeer.

Normally, his wife Tara said, Tommy would have liked to be out in the restaurant more that day to greet and interact with customers. But with it being a cook short, he had to be on the preparation line.

The decision to close the restaurant – open for business six days a week – 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays – was not easy, but in a way inevitable, Zakeer said.

“I just got tired of looking for help,” he said. “It has been that way since COVID. When you’re doing everything yourself, bookwork, shopping, orders for your trucks, everything, it gets overwhelming sometimes. I still plan to find a job, but I don’t want to be the boss. Just get a paycheck and go home.”

He and Tara plan to move to Hampton, which is her hometown. She now works for Head Start in Fort Dodge. Tommy plans to work in the cafeteria at Hampton-Dumont High School starting this fall.

“I thought I would give it a try,” he said.

Back in the early days of the restaurant, “mom and dad had a huge crew when they had their business,” Zakeer said. “When I posted my last payroll, we were down to three employees – Shelly Young, our waitress, and Dave McVicker, our cook, and me.”

When Marie and Bob Zakeer purchased the restaurant from Bob’s aunt Thelma Saigh, it was first called the Country Kitchen. Bob had been an employee of his uncle’s Zakeer’s Appliance and Furniture and Marie was an employee of Iowa Electric. Then Marie helped Elaine and Denny Huss open a restaurant by that name in the Crossroads Mall. When the Country Kitchen chain came to Fort Dodge in early 1976, Tommy Zakeer said, both had to change their names: “We became Zakeers and they became D’Laneys.”

Zakeer’s Kitchen at First Avenue South and Eighth Street became known for Lebanese dinners and was a popular lunch spot for people who worked downtown. Bob Zakeer managed the dining room, while Marie presided over the kitchen. The two were members of Corpus Christi Catholic Church and for years, Marie hosted a Sunday dinner in the Parish Hall featuring her Swiss steak recipe.

The Zakeers sold the business in 1992 and retired. But they returned to the restaurant seven years later after the new owners unsuccessfully tried to sell it. It was renamed Zakeer’s and Tommy returned from Texas to join them and operate the family business. The restaurant moved to its current location in 2003 after the city government bought the building and demolished it to make room for future development.

Bob Zakeer died in 2015 and Marie died three years later. Both were 91 at the time of their deaths and lived at home until entering hospice shortly before they died. Bob and Marie once served as grand marshals of Fort Dodge’s Frontier Days.

John Daniel, the owner of Daniel Pharmacy, said he has known the Zakeer family his entire life.

“Marie and Bob worked hard and worked together well,” he said. “Bobby was the goodwill ambassador at their restaurant and he always had a few upbeat, friendly words for everyone. Marie seemed to be the visionary and was a very successful businessperson.

“Marie had unconditional love for her family, friends, and faith. She always gave much more than she received. That was just the way she was. There are many warm memories in the hearts of all the people she touched.

“Tommy became very good at the trade. He was well known for his baked goods, especially his pies.”

Roger Natte, Fort Dodge’s premier historian and retired Iowa Central Community College instructor, dropped by Zakeer’s before it closed to obtain one of the restaurant’s menus to preserve for posterity at the Webster County Historical Society.

“When I came to Fort Dodge, I lived at the Warden Hotel and had my breakfast there a lot,” he recalled. “It was a pretty busy place. Zakeer’s was known for their pies. Their cinnamon rolls were also a hit. The Zakeers did right by me. When my first wife became ill, Marie would always make sure she had soup for me to take home. Who does that? No one does that! It really meant a lot to me. I remember Bob always had a betting pool going when it was World Series time.”

The diner was a popular lunch stop for many Fort Dodge attorneys through the years, recalled Thomas Bice, senior district court judge and longtime Fort Dodge attorney.

“The diner was like a magnet at noontime,” Bice said. “A lot of legal business between lawyers quietly got done over a plate of the daily special. Marie’s pies were the best. And Bob always had a kind word for his guests. The hometown atmosphere of this family restaurant will be sorely missed.”

Former Fort Dodge businessman and state senator Daryl Beall recalled that when he managed Furniture World, “some of us would walk a block to Zakeer’s on First Avenue South. They had delicious food, including Lebanese Night. When we were first married, I tried to steal something off Jo Ann’s plate and she poked with her fork. I didn’t do that again. The main thing I remember about Bob and Marie Zakeer is the delicious pies they made.”

Fort Dodge native Mark Mittelstadt called Zakeer’s “a gastronomic gem in Fort Dodge.”

“Growing up we lived next to Bob and Marie for a number of years. They had an old white and black gas stove/oven, the kind that didn’t have round knobs but the white tear-drop or lever type controls, as I recall. Every so often Marie and her sister would bake a Syrian flat bread. It was almost like a large tortilla and very delicious. You could rip off a piece and eat it wrapped around a piece of marinated lamb or simply eat it warm with butter and sugar or sugar/cinnamon on top. Delicious. Always a treat.”

Tommy Zakeer said he still has the oven “but I never mastered the bread.”

A number of church groups met regularly at Zakeers – the Gideons, St. Paul Lutheran and First Covenant among them.

“Marie was active in the Catholic church and she would give pastors and priests free meals,” Tara said.

What will its customers miss the most? A sampling from Zakeers’ Facebook page about the restaurant closing:

Maggie Magennis: Only place with good liver and onions, pie, and hot meatloaf sandwiches. Melody Boitnott-Sorenson: I went this morning and had my last Monte Cristo for breakfast. Nancy Strait: Best hot beef sandwich and apple pie.

Maralyn Schulze: Always great, fresh homemade from scratch food.

Kathy Lewis Streit: I love their sticky rolls. I have yet to find a recipe that comes close to theirs.

From John Hale, viewing a photo of Bob and Marie Zakeer on the menu: “Wonderful! They were so young then. A unique, lovely couple. I spent countless noon hours at the front room counter, along with (Messenger editor) Walt Stevens and so many other ‘regulars.'”

And from Christine Johnson Ahrens: “I had her bread, but unfortunately, I didn’t get that recipe, have all her others, loved Bob and Marie best people! I’m gonna miss this restaurant, it’s part of me and history of this town!”

Tommy Zakeer said he has been asked often about sharing some of the restaurant’s prize recipes, many of which go back to his parents’ days, but for now is holding them close to the vest.

“Mom had her taco salad dressing, we named it Mama Sauce a long time ago. Her Lebanese salad dressing was unique. We made all our dressings, tartar sauce, shrimp sauce. We may market some of them later on.”