The filet medallion trio is one of Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse’s biggest sellers. The trio includes charbroiled filets topped with horseradish, Iowa Maytag Blue cheese and Parmesan.

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As Heart of America Restaurants & Inns has grown in the last three decades, the company has continuously evolved, President and CEO Mike Whalen says. Based in Moline, Ill., the hospitality and real estate development firm owns and operates restaurants and hotels in six states.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Whalen returned home to spend what he thought would be approximately six months helping his father with a failing family restaurant. Thus, he began Heart of America in 1978 with its first eatery, the Machine Shed Restaurant, in Davenport, Iowa. Although its 200-seat location was small, the restaurant found success as it made its food from scratch and used only the finest beef, pork and poultry.

Today, Heart of America has 17 restaurants. Its concepts also include Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse; Thunder Bay Grille, which specializes in steak, seafood and Cajun dishes; Checkered Flag, which serves sandwiches, pizza and desserts; and Gramma’s Kitchen, which offers home-style foods, including chicken-fried steak.

Whalen says Heart of America makes sure its restaurants have talented chefs in their kitchens, to meet diners’ expectations. “The restaurants have gotten better in the last 30 years, so people’s expectations of what they’re about to [be served have] gone way up,” he says.

In addition, with the popularity of the Food Network, “The [customer has become] a lot more sophisticated as a consequence,” he says. “You need more horsepower in the kitchen [and] more culinary talent than you ever had before.”

‘Hand in Hand’
In 1986, Heart of America branched out when it purchased a hotel next to the Machine Shed in Davenport. “Over the course of time, we actually became more of a hotel company,” Whalen says, noting that the company now has nine hotels, including Radisson, Holiday Inn and Comfort Suites locations.

While some might consider restaurants and hotels to be an odd combination, “I think they go hand in hand,” Whalen asserts. “When you can be both developer and the end-user, it works out pretty [well].”

Living the Dream
Whalen notes that the success of Heart of America has defied his original expectations. “[I] never expected us to grow from 100 seats to a $100 million company,” he admits. “I guess [we’re living] the American dream.”

This year, Heart of America celebrated its 30th anniversary with a special birthday party dinner where it honored its longtime employees. These include Karen Grunder, who started working alongside Whalen as a bus person 25 years ago.

Through the years, Grunder continued working for Heart of America, even as she underwent cancer treatments. Today, “She’s an assistant chief operating executive at the Davenport Machine Shed,” Whalen says. “That’s the kind of longevity we’ve been blessed with.”

Keeping Fresh
Although Whalen has found success with his restaurants, he asserts that the industry has only gotten more difficult in recent years. “Unless you have a clear understanding of what your brand is, and [you] continually want to keep it fresh, it’s too hard of a business,” he says.

Across the restaurant industry, Whalen says, there has been an increase in competition, along with a reduction in customers. “It’s [a challenging] time in the restaurant business,” he admits. “I think this is the time when the tough get going.”

However, “The tougher, challenging times are the ones when I think you get better,” he asserts. Whalen says that Heart of America is now reviewing its concepts to make sure it is delivering the brands “as well as we can in 2008.”
    
Driving Forward
Although Heart of America’s success defied his original expectations, Whalen is now aiming high for the company’s future. “I want to see us become even more of a regional powerhouse in hospitality and real estate development,” he explains.

“I fully expect us to be [at] a quarter of a billion dollars in 10 years,” he declares. “At the rate of growth we have maintained in the past few years, this is most certainly an attainable goal.”

Whalen says he also wants Heart of America to last beyond himself. “I won’t always be the driving force,” he declares. “It’s important to me that we build something that will go beyond me. I will never fully retire, [but] my son is working with me this summer while on break from college and we’ll see if he likes it.”

Helpful Heart
Heart of America is involved in supporting many charities, Whalen says. However, “The one we’re most significantly involved in [is] Wildwood Hills Ranch,” he says.

Located in St. Charles, Iowa, the 400-acre ranch provides at-risk and disadvantaged children with opportunities and camp programs. “We’ve co-founded it and continue to be a principal supporter of it,” Whalen declares.