Mickey Thompson has worked in the food service industry for 36 years.
By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
Mickey Thompson stands outside the restaurant and bar she owns and operates on Main Street in Yale. She purchased the building and business in April 2020 and opened July 2 of that year.
“I spent the next couple of months cleaning, updating electrical and plumbing, painting and developing my menu,” Thompson says. “I finally was able to open on July 2, 2020.”
Mickey’s is located in the south portion of a building on Yale’s Main Street. Built in 1993, the space has always been a restaurant and bar. There have been a handful of owners over the years. Thompson purchased the space and operation from the previous owner, when the business was Just Ethel’s.
Thompson has worked in the food service industry for 36 years. She managed a restaurant in Perry for nearly five years. She was working at the Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson when the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading in Iowa, and she was laid off. She had worked at Just Ethel’s earlier and decided it was time to be an owner, not an employee.
Corey Thompson, who is Mickey Thompson’s son, is one of two employees at Mickey’s in Yale. He holds Annie, their 3-year-old service dog, who spends her afternoons at the restaurant.
Thompson says she “floats” wherever she’s needed.
“I do a lot of the cooking and food preparation, and all the baking. I wait tables, tend bar, just whatever needs to be done,” she says.
Offering homemade entrees, sides and desserts are one of the keys to Mickey’s success.
“Our hand-cut and breaded chicken strips are a big seller,” Thompson says. “We’re getting to be known for our salads, which are huge.”
Salad options include taco, chef, grilled or fried chicken, and Oriental Chicken. The ranch, blue cheese, honey mustard and 1000 Island dressings all are made in-house.
Mickey’s menu features 13 burgers, each a one-third-pound hand-pressed hamburger with a choice of toppings. One of the most popular specialty burgers is the Beach Burger with guacamole, Swiss cheese, lettuce and chipotle mango barbecue sauce. The Triple B features blue cheese, bacon, grilled onions and onion rings. There’s even a PB&J burger, which is topped with cheddar cheese, peanut butter, jelly and grilled onions.
There also are 13 specialty sandwiches, including a classic Iowa tenderloin.
“These are hand cut here, then tenderized, marinated and breaded before being deep fat fried,” Thompson says. “Two other popular sandwiches are our Reuben and a loose meat sandwich made with Graziano sausage, cheese and marinara sauce.”
Daily lunch specials remain the same week to week, so customers often come in knowing what to order before they sit down.
Current specials include meatloaf on Monday, breaded pork chops on Tuesday and spaghetti on Wednesday. Thursday brings the choice of either liver and onions or chicken fried steak. Friday lunch is hot beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes, gravy and corn.
Friday is the only day a special is offered in the evening, and it’s a big one. Beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at 9 p.m., Mickey’s offers an all-you-can-eat fish fry with sides of baked beans and coleslaw.
“We use Alaskan pollock and hand bread it here in the kitchen,” Thompson says. “We have this year-round, not just a few months each year. Friday evening is always our busiest time of the week. A lot of our customers like to bring people who are visiting them, especially if they are from Wisconsin, a state known for fish fries.”
A variety of appetizers, side dishes and five entrees served with choice of salad, potato and Texas Toast round out the extensive menu.
And then there are the desserts. Two cake options always are available — carrot and chocolate. Thompson bakes at least two carrot cakes each week, and at least one chocolate cake. Other desserts come and go. Sometimes there is a cheesecake option or a fruit-based dish. No pies, though.
“I don’t do pie crusts,” she says.
There are 88 chairs at tables scattered throughout two rooms. The smaller room features a full-service bar with several stools where customers can sit, eat, drink and watch the television mounted on the wall behind the bar. A “happy hour” discount of 50 cents on all drinks is offered each Monday evening.
This room also has a couple of smaller tables and one large round one. That table, which is pink, came with the building. It’s a favorite of locals who gather at Mickey’s on a regular basis to discuss the current issues of the day.
The larger room features large windows on the east and south sides. The kitchen is tucked in between the two rooms, offering easy access to both sides.
Thompson says she gets customers from all over. Some come on bicycles as they ride into Yale on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. Signs on both ends of the trail point the way to Mickey’s.
Some customers drive from Des Moines. Thompson says she gets most of her customers from surrounding communities and Lake Panorama. The most frequent customers are those who live in and around Yale.
“We see a lot of the same people nearly every day,” Thompson says. “It’s always good to see the farmers come in. We get a lot of farm couples who sit at the pink table together. Yale is a really nice, supportive community.”
One visitor who is at Mickey’s every day is Annie, a 3-year-old rat terrier.
“She’s a licensed service dog, so she gets to hang out in the restaurant and bar during the day,” Thompson says. “She knows she can’t come in the kitchen, but she likes to check things out in the dining areas.”
Thompson lives in Jamaica. Each day after the lunch rush, she drives Annie home, then drives back to Yale before dinner guests start to arrive.
“It makes for some long days, but I enjoy it,” she says.
Mickey’s opens Monday through Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. The kitchen closes each day at 9 p.m. The bar remains open as long as there are customers or until 11 p.m. The business is closed Sundays. Daily updates are available on the Mickey’s at Yale Facebook page.