Homecoming festivities keep the crowd in downtown Columbia’s restaurants ebbing and flowing, but Ninth Street and North Village staples remain cornerstones.
As students, alumni and townies alike descended on downtown Columbia for MU’s annual Homecoming weekend, local restaurant owners braced for and embraced the larger-than-usual crowds.
During a weekend that embraces tradition and intertwines past, present and future, eateries stand out as cornerstones of what it means to “come home.” Their owners watch sidewalks fill for Columbia’s Homecoming parade with open arms, vying to unite generations of MU students and serve as facilitators of tradition.
Richard Walls, Co-Owner and Manager at The Heidelberg
Richard Walls, owner of “The Heidelberg,” poses for a photo outside of his restaurant on Oct. 25, 2023 in Columbia, Mo. What started as a dishwashing job for Walls turned into being the owner of the establishment.
Richard Walls has been involved with The Heidelberg since 1977. He worked as a food runner and dishwasher in his high school years and in the management field since the 1990’s. In the several decades spent at The Heidelberg, Walls has experienced Homecoming weekend in Columbia in many ways, from watching it on the restaurant’s rooftop patio to participating in management’s backstage grind.
Reflecting on some of Columbia’s busiest weekends — including move-in, parents’ weekend and graduation — Walls said that Homecoming weekend has historically been the busiest for his restaurant.
From a managerial standpoint, he emphasized the importance of anticipating a packed house. An MU alumni himself, most of Walls’ staff is populated by MU students eager for the excitement of the weekend.
He credits this drive from his staff to ‘The ‘Berg’’s 1960’s sports bar atmosphere that invites a particular niche and packs the house following homecoming festivities like the parade and football game. On Homecoming weekend especially, workers know what to expect.
“We have some people that don’t even work here all the time that will come in and pick up the real busy weekends,” Walls said. “[Homecoming] creates an excitement, there’s an adrenaline rush […] there’s a camaraderie [among the staff] — a ‘let’s get this done’’ [attitude].”
The Heidelberg is just one of many local venues that comprise Columbia’s downtown. While the Homecoming weekend rush comes in waves, Walls said consistency is the restaurant’s draw. Tradition is MU Homecoming’s motif, and Heidelberg customers have the atmosphere they want in their minds as if engraved on stone.
“The Heidelberg,” one of the first restaurants downtown coming from MU, on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023 in Columbia, Mo. The restaurant opened in 1963 and still serves Columbia residents today.
“They’re not coming here for the most trendy new food,” Walls said of his customers. “They’re coming here for, ‘We’re gonna enjoy some food. We enjoy seeing friends.’ There’s a little something for everybody.”
Kurt Mirtsching, Minority Owner and Manager at Shakespeare’s Pizza
Kurt Mirtsching poses for a photo inside of Shakespeare’s Pizza’s South location on Oct. 22, 2023 in Columbia, Mo. Mirtsching is one of the managers for Shakespeare’s three locations in Columbia.
William Shakespeare is still studied in academia today. Some of his most famous works — “Romeo and Juliet,” “Twelfth Night” and “King Lear” — have been ingrained in the minds of secondary school students over decades of English literature curricula. So much so that today, a parent might be able to help their child interpret his indelible mark on English dramatics.
Shakespeare’s Pizza carries a similar idea of resonance over generations, albeit as a pizza joint. Having just celebrated its 50th anniversary, it’s one of Columbia’s longest-standing and most memorable restaurants. At its core, this emblem of CoMo culture is fairly simple to understand. Their website brings it home.
“It’s the pizza, stupid. And maybe the beer. Everything else can go fly.”
Since he was 19, now-minority owner Kurt Mirtsching has occupied every position at Shakespeare’s over 50 years MU Homecoming weekends, starting in 1973 as a dishwasher. Mirtsching said, the number one shift he has noticed about the atmosphere on this Homecoming weekend — amidst a spontaneous interaction with a former employee — is generational crossover.
“Since we’ve been here for so long […] the parents went to Mizzou back in the day, and they were Shakespeare’s fans,” Mirtsching said. “And now they want to come down here because they want to go back to the place they enjoyed when they were in school […] and so we’re getting this multigenerational thing going, which is really flattering and fun.”
Though curated with a simple mission, the reach of Shakespeare’s extends far beyond its relaxed, dimly lit, 1980s rock atmosphere, complete with fluorescent signs and MU paraphernalia. Mirtsching said that part of what creates an annual weekend of crowds filling the restaurant like clockwork is unconventionally bold Add Sheets delving into the humorously harsh realities of a homecoming celebration at his restaurant.
A Shakespeare’s Pizza Homecoming Weekend Add Sheet.
A Shakespeare’s Add Sheet might estimate the average wait for a pizza in beers consumed or say that they’ll be cleaning up the dining room with a shovel.
To Mirtsching, Shakespeare’s satirical, sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek and wildly exaggerated advertising expands the tradition of the restaurant beyond its pizza. It keeps the students around, facilitating memories that one day might compel them to come back as alumni.
“A lot of people tell us we’ve got really good pizza,” Mirtsching said. “We try to keep the bathrooms clean and the pepperoni right side up. We just keep showing up and doing it, and next thing you know, we’re celebrating 50 years.”
Sam Johnson, Part-owner at Cafe Berlin
Adrienne Luther Johnson, Marketing and Events Director at Cafe Berlin
Cafe Berlin prides itself on its quirkiness, so their take on homecoming is slightly different. At this eclectic brunch destination, Ethel Cain plays frequently, and waffles and avocados share a plate. At Cafe Berlin, everyone is welcome, but should expect to see strange items on the walls and taste atypical food combinations.
“It’s kind of a fun, quirky establishment — a family establishment,” Part-Owner Sam Johnson said. “It’s low lighting and dim and friendly. I also think our unique take on brunch and what that means to us is very playful and fun and accessible for people, but also unique in its own way.”
Cafe Berlin has been a Columbia brunch staple for 16 years. Over time, they’ve cultivated a reputation of weirdness alongside consistent and reliable food.
When Homecoming weekend rolls around, the staff at Cafe Berlin braces for larger brunch crowds. With a mix of MU students, townies and students at other local schools, Cafe Berlin is accustomed to a diverse mix of people.
Since Cafe Berlin is situated three blocks north of Broadway, they don’t get the same rush of parade-goers as Shakespeare’s and The Heidelberg. Cafe Berlin relies upon their dedicated customers to bring their families and out-of-town guests by the artsy spot.
“Cafe Berlin,” which has been serving the community for 16 years, on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023 in Columbia, Mo. The cafe sits just outside of the heart of downtown Columbia.
“We get the party animals, the sports folks, the nostalgic returns, and what’s really sweet is that we have the pleasure of hosting people where they reunite here,” Marketing and Events Director Adrienne Luther Johnson said. “They start with brunch, and a lot of times with people driving in from Kansas City or St. Louis, and we’re right off of I-70, so we see a lot of reunions in the parking lot. It’s really cute.”
Edited by Annie Goldman | agoldman@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Katie Hoffman and Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com
Edited by Sophie Rentschler | srentschler@themaneater.com