‘Top 10’ Truck Stop Diner in Iowa

   What do you get when you take a small truck stop, start making homemade tasty food, and then serve fresh baked & cream pies daily?  You get Route 63 Travel Plaza in tiny Chester, Iowa!

Nestled on the Iowa and Minnesota border, the Travel Plaza is ‘sort of’ the gateway to Iowa, entering from the Minnesota side.  Just a few miles south of the border, the wonderful restaurant welcomes visitors, but also feeds the locals with their wonderful food!

   That has been proven evident recently, as the Route 63 Travel Plaza was praised by the Family Vacations US publication, which is found on social media.  The article is about 10 Truck Stop Diners in Iowa That Serve Better Food Then Most City Restaurants. Route 63 was voted #3 by the specialists, who visited the truckstop recently. 

   On Iowa’s highways and side roads, there can be places found that can put a smile on your face and satisfy the mouth. This gas station has been around since 1991, noting 35 years of amazing service they have provided for the community and truckers and travelers.  Currently, the owners are Tim and Kenda Freerksen, who have recently been doing several new upgrades to the facility.

In this kitchen, the cooks still make the food from scratch and with great love for the customers. One of the  cooks, Darla Heusinkveld, has been working at the diner for 11 years and before working at the plaza, she owned her own restaurant for 24 years up in Wykoff, Minn. Her experience in homemade and tasty food shines through in her current position. 

   “This is a good crew to work with,” noted Heusinkveld, who has many of her own recipes, especially for the pies. “Lunch is the busiest time, and hot beef sandwiches win the favorite choice for the customers.         There is also a big call for pizza at night––that is a big thing.  The top pies are strawberry and banana cream.”

   The article tells the reader not to judge this place by its modest size and look into it more for its flavor.  “The Route 63 Travel Plaza is known for its wonderful reputation and for its delicious food. This high-class highway diner will call you to come back again and again.  The people here are the friendliest and the atmosphere is full of charm!” noted the article.

   When entering in the morning or lunch-time hours, you’ll likely see many of the tables, plus the counter, full of hungry eaters. 

Route 63 offers specials daily for breakfast and lunch and often in the evening hours, while always serving fresh, homemade pies! They always have roast beef sandwiches available, smothered with potatoes and gravy, often offering a veggie and side salad––all homemade and created daily.  

• When it comes to breakfast, they serve a meal that’s fit for a trucker, creating the usual with eggs, meat, hash browns, and more. But they also offer pancakes, french toast, oatmeal, biscuits and gravy, a two-egg and three-egg omelet and even a “Trucker Special” with two eggs, crispy hash browns, choice of meat, toast and coffee. 

The usual “sides” are also offered with hash browns, sausage, bacon ham, and an english muffin or toast. You can even fill your thermos with coffee before you go . . .

As usual, they’ll have several breakfast specials each and every day, all at a great price and something that will make you go “wow”!

• In serving lunch, they have a nice list of burgers, including a mushroom and swiss, a patty melt, and even a vegetable burger.  They also offer chicken and fish sandwiches, a pizza burger, grilled or cold ham and cheese, a BLT, and even a hamburger steak — offered with a choice of potato, toast, and coffee.  

Their baskets offer a five-piece chicken drummy, three-piece chicken strip, or six ounce popcorn chicken.  They also have a two-piece deep-fried white fish and a 12-piece shrimp basket — all served with fries and toast. 

   When it comes to the lighter eater, they have a chef salad available, served with ham or grilled chicken, plus side salads including cottage cheese. 

For sides and appetizers, the restaurant offers numerous treats, from fries (curly, regular, potato wedges, waffle), to cheese curds, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, breaded mushrooms, breaded cauliflower, mini tacos, and more.  

   Again, their daily specials are always a big hit, served with the love only a great cook can provide — and made fresh. 

   As for their pies, you really can’t get a better fruit or cream pie anywhere else! They can also be topped with a scoop of ice cream!

• Supper time usually means pizza at the facility —  offering cooked- to-order pizzas to eat in-house or to-go.  Smoothered with cheese, they offer an excellent selection of specialty pizzas, plus the usual. 

A nice menu is also available for night-time eaters, also offering a few specials.

   As for Route 63 Travel Plaza, more and more truckers continue to stop, with many spending the night by parking in their large parking lot.  They offer showers, a nice convenience store, an ATM, and gas/diesel.   

   In all, you just can beat Route 63 Travel Plaza for their friendliness, their great food, and their prices!!! Just take the small drive and come and try this establishment out!  It’s really worth going!