Locally-raised beef on the menu
To say the folks in Hampton are excited about the opening of the village’s new Loading Chute restaurant this Friday, could be the understatement of year. After several years of being without a place to eat in the village, folks are hungry for the Chute to open and the owners say they feel the community’s eager anticipation and its loyal support as well.
Loading Chute owners Grant and Lisabeth Dose and Ryan and Tammie Bamesberger met at the restaurant on 3rd Street near the Fire Barn last week to talk about the progress they’ve made in bringing their dream to reality over the last year.
The couples, with the aid of their families and many others in the community, have been working hard since late last summer to transform the dated 70s era former American Legion building (most recently Conlee’s Restaurant) into a stylish, yet comfortable hometown bar and grill. But they believe it’s their menu that will really set the Loading Chute apart from other places to eat and drink.
“We’re super proud of our menu,” said Tammie. “We’ve worked hard on that and we had a great team of people helping us with that. But I think we’re most proud of the locally-raised beef from Dose Land & Cattle. It goes from their farm to the butcher to here so when we say ‘locally grown beef,’ we’re really proud that it really, truly is locally grown... It’s really like farm to table for as many things as possible. So we think that’s cool. We think that’s gonna be just a really nice added thing for our restaurant.”
The menu will include house made chicken fried steak, steak frites (steak paired with fries), burgers, chicken strips, chicken fried chicken and an assortment of appetizer, including “Chute Fries” and something their own creation called “Brisket Fries.”
“So that dish is sea salt fries with brisket and then the toppings (tomato, green onion, sour cream BBQ or queso dip), so I feel like that’s kind of a signature thing,” Tammie said. “We have good regular hamburgers—we have two of them—and then we also are offering smash burgers.”
Ryan said he is hopeful that the unique feature of serving farm to table will attract diners from a wide area.
“My perception is maybe that’s going to be attractive to people, maybe from farther out,” he said. “They’re going to look, and they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, wow, let’s drive to Hampton. Did you know that? They’re doing all of these local products.’ And I think that’s going to be attractive maybe to Grand Island or Lincoln types... But I think that’s a great little niche or a great calling card, if you will, to get those people to stop by and check it out.”
Locals who have had a sneak peak of the renovations over the past few months (for instance during the “Christmas in Hampton” event last December) will be astounded at the changes that have been made inside the building. With its hand made live-edge walnut bar top, weathered metal shingles on the bar front, a Hampton history photo hallway, western-themed photos and artwork and lots of other personal and home town touches in the décor, the Loading Chute has the feel of an upscale big city dining establishment, while maintaining the casual comfort locals are looking for in a small town restaurant. (There’s even a framed copy of ANR’s initial story about the establishment from our Dec. 27, 2023 issue.)
Of special interest to those who remember the large brick stairwell that occupies the middle of the room about two-thirds of the way back, it remains because the new owners thought it would be too expensive to try to move. But it has been themed to blend in with the rest of the décor.
In keeping with the establishment’s name, the way downstairs is blocked by a custom made steel loading chute gate and walnut counter tops sit atop three sides of the brick wall. Sitting on a shelf near the chute gate is a miniature wooden cattle truck and loading chute hand crafted by Daryl Hilligas. Even the furnace grates on the floor fit with the theme. Made by Bamesberger Blacksmith and Welding, the grates feature the restaurant’s logo and a barbed wire motif.
The outside of the building has also undergone massive change over the months. A new steel roof has been added and extended to create an awning over the front and part of the south side of the building covering the new patio which has a door into the restaurant. The patio will seat up to 50 people for dinner or drinks and the inside capacity is 140.
If the interest expressed by community members over the past 10 months is any indication, the owners say they should have no problem filling the place on a regular basis. They say over the months they have been working, people have regularly stopped by and peeked in the windows to see the progress, and everyone asks the same question: “When do you open?”
“We’ve had several instances of people from out of town driving by and if we were outside working they would stop ask, “What do you guys doing?” “What’s this place?”
The kitchen and wait staff have been hired and are in place and the owners say they are pleased with their hires. Having done a few invitation-only soft openings over the past couple of weeks, the owners say they feel like they’re ready for the public opening on Friday, but will wait perhaps until fall for a grand opening celebration.
At present they say the restaurant will be open six days a week and closed on Wednesdays. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays the Chute will be open from 4 to 10 p.m. with the kitchen closing at 9. On Friday hours will be 3 to midnight. On weekends the restaurant will be open for lunch starting at 11 a.m. both days. Closing time on Saturdays will be 1 a.m. (Sunday) and Sunday’s closing time will be 9 p.m.