A pooch kick from where Nate Kaeding booted his way into Hawkeye history books, the former West High and University of Iowa standout and current NFL place-kicker plans to open a new restaurant.

The restaurant hasn’t been named yet, but the plan is for a morning coffee shop, full-service lunch and dinner menus and Sunday brunch, Kaeding said. He and his partners hope to open by early June, Kaeding said.

“Being an Iowa City guy born and raised … I just had an interest to get involved. It was a fun side project for me,” Kaeding said.

Location To Be Former Taste On Melrose

The restaurant will take over the former space of Taste on Melrose, 1006 Melrose Ave., which closed on Feb. 14. The location is in a neighborhood setting just down the road from Kinnick Stadium and UI Hospitals and Clinics, which has 6,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of patient visits a year.

The menu is still being developed, Kaeding said. The meals will be fairly traditional, such as chicken sandwiches and pork tenderloins, but each dish will be made unique by featuring an Iowa ingredient. Prices will range from $9 to $15, he said.

“It will be Iowa ingredient-driven food, and it will be at a price point that will be very accessible,” Kaeding said.

The restaurant will also accommodate sports fans who want to grab a hot dog and burger and watch a game on television, Kaeding said. The plan calls for putting in a patio along the length of the building, Kaeding said.

Kaeding is partnering with Dan Ouverson, who co-owns the Mill Restaurant, and Kevin Perez, a local chef. The trio opened Short’s Burger and Shine, 18 S. Clinton St., in 2008.

Kaeding, who has played for the San Diego Chargers since he left UI 2004, still returns to the Iowa City area in the off-season. The restaurants serve as a good side project for life off the field, Kaeding said.

“Some day football is going to give up on me, so I will have to come up with something to come back to,” Kaeding said. “And, it is fun to be involved in a project that doesn’t have anything to with sports.”

via IC Press Citizen