From dairy farmers to restauranteurs

EPWORTH, Iowa — Imagine operating a dairy farm, running a restaurant, raising children and organizing registered cattle sales — all at the same time.

For quite a few years, that is what Dave and Karen Koss did.

While they spend most of their time with just The Pizza Factory and the Feed Store Pub in Epworth these days, they have never been far from Dave’s dairy farm roots.

Once, milk left the Koss farm via a milk hauler. Now, milk heads to the tables in the restaurant and pub in the form of cheese and other dairy products. The Pizza Factory uses about 300 pounds of cheese a week for its pizza, cheesy bread and sandwiches.

Farm-related groups like the local dairy promotion committee meet there regularly, as do community organizations the Kosses support. Like a farm, it is a family-friendly place.

Dave began farming with his parents, Jerry and Mary Ann Koss, in 1979. Their registered Ayrshire herd was milked in a 40-cow tiestall barn near Epworth after it moved from Mt. Vernon. In May 1987, he and Karen were married, and shortly afterward, their restaurant career began.

Karen said Dave saw that a local pizza restaurant was for sale.

“Dave said, ‘I should do this,’” she said.

Dave also recalled the beginning.

“Outside of eating in a pizza place, I knew nothing about selling pizza,” Dave said. “But, I guess that instead of putting up a bigger dairy, we bought a restaurant.”

Karen played the key role at The Pizza Factory. She easily worked 60 hours each week.

“Dave helped,” she said. “He came in for the close every night (after milking).”

The learning curve was steep, but the Kosses had retained many of the employees, which helped with the transition in ownership.

“We learned the business from 16- and 17-year-old kids,” Karen said.

By 1991, children were added to the couple’s life. Eventually, Dave and Karen had three girls, but by then, a day manager was in place to make life easier. Still, their youngsters spent plenty of time at the restaurant and worked there too.

“Kaylee (the youngest) had a full schedule at 14,” Dave said.

The restaurant had a few setbacks. There was a fire in the 100-year-old building just before Christmas 1998. A newly installed steel roof saved the entire block from burning.

In October 1999, they reopened with more space.

Meanwhile, Dave kept milking while showing and breeding cows that included national show champions. He also did a stint as president of the breed’s national association and put together a load of cows to export to Ecuador. While a nephew began milking on the farm, Dave still had a lot going on.

“They bought me one of those bag cell phones,” Dave said.

In 2000, the Kosses left full-time dairying, and Dave was able to spend more time at the restaurant.

Until recently, cows played an important role in their lives. Dave served as national president for the U.S. Ayrshire Breeders’ Association and bought, sold and showed purebred animals himself and with partners. He still has heifers on the farm.

Today, their business includes a pub connected to the restaurant. The Feed Store Pub provides multiple reminders of their farming days. A stair railing made from the barn’s stall dividers is installed between the pub and the dining room, and wood from Dave’s grandfather’s barn graces the pub’s bar and the wall. A hay fork hangs from the ceiling, and his grandmother’s dinner bell rings when the various Hawkeye teams score. The farm sign already hangs on one wall, and soon, a pencil drawing of two special cows will be added.

One relic of farming of the past that hangs there stumps most people when they are asked to identify it.

The Kosses’ set of bull blinders may be the only ones found hanging in an Iowa restaurant and bar.