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Popular restaurant up for sale
The Raider in Williamsburg looks for a buyer
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WILLIAMSBURG — The Raider Drive-in in Williamsburg isn’t really a drive-in, but it sells traditional drive-in food at its walk-up window and offers indoor and outdoor dining.
The ice cream and sandwich shop at 817 S. Highland says it’s been family-owned since 1969, though it was closed for a couple of years when Kirby White bought it six years ago.
White sees a steady of stream of customers during operating hours, but he’s ready to retire and is selling the local icon.
The Raider Drive-in was originally a Tastee-Freez, the first in Iowa, said White.
The Williamsburg Tastee Freez was built in 1960 by Joel Sandven of Kellogg. John Buell moved from Ottumwa to Williamsburg to manage it during the 1960 season, according to an article written by Rita Stahl which hangs on the wall of the Raider dining room.
The menu featured malts, milk shakes, sundaes, cones, sandwiches and pop. It closed for the season in late September.
Jesse and Dorothy Smith took over in 1961, and Dale and Ruth Mayberry and their son Larry took over in 1962, operating Larry’s Tastee Freez until 1963.
The Mayberrys sold the business to Joe and Esther Evans and their son Gary who called it Gary’s Tastee Freez.
In 1966 the Evanses held a contest to rename the business. Connie Meade, of Parnell, won the contest, and the shop became The Raider Drive-In.
The Evanses sold the business to George and Rita Stahl in 1969.
The Stahl family operated The Raider for 26 years. Their daughter, Barb Grauer purchased the business in 1993 and added the patio dining area.
The White’s bought the business and equipment six years ago. They don’t own the building, White said.
Under White’s management, The Raider serves burgers, tenderloins, chicken sandwiches, soft serve ice cream, foundation drinks and sports drinks. “I just call it drive-in food,” White said.
White doesn’t need to advertise, he said. The Raider is always busy. White puts notices on the company’s Facebook page.
White and his wife, Kim, took over The Raider in 2020. The dining room was closed because of COVID, said White, but people wanted to get out. Students were home from school and people were looking for work.
The Whites served customers from the walk-up window. White had a full-time job, but he worked at The Raider during the evenings and on weekends. His wife, who worked from home, ran The Raider during the day.
White tweaked the menu to make it as close as possible to the original Raider Drive-in menu, he said. He uses the Stahl’s receipe for his loose meat sandwiches.
“The town loves The Raider,” said White. So do travelers. “We get a lot of traffic off the interstate,” White said. People traveling from the east coast to the west coast. They’re are tired of chain restaurants, said White.
Every business needs a hook, said White. The previous owner of The Raider served pie blended into ice cream, a practice White and his wife continue.
Brownie and cookie dough blends are still the most popular, though, White said.
The Raider have a featured flavor of ice cream each week. Lemon is the most popular, and black raspberry is second.
White and his cook came up with the Raider Steak Melt, featured on The Iowa Gallivant’s Facebook page in April.
The biggest improvement White made was putting in an ice cream freezer with quarts and pints for sale. “I sell a lot of quarts,” he said.
The Raider opens each year in mid March and is open through the end of October. “We’re always extremely busy when we first open,” said White, in April, May and June, because people missed it during the winter.
“The employees are really a good team.” Some have been with him for four years.
White and his wife love living in Williamsburg, he said. They love the town, but they want to spend more time with their grandchildren.
The Raider was going to be sold eventually, so why not now, said White. “I’m 66 and want to travel.”
Whoever buys the restaurant will have an established customer base, said White. They’d have to do something really terrible to fail, he said.
The Raider’s location is “primo,” said White -- ball fields behind, the aquatic center a block away and the recreation center beyond that.
White said he’s had inquiries about buying the business since last fall.
The Raider is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.
