T-R PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON — Harper’s Public House’s breaded tenderloin was a top 40 finisher this year in the annual Iowa Pork Producers Association’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin Contest.

DYSART — The annual quest to locate Iowa’s most flavorful tenderloin sandwich has concluded and as many in Tama County already knew – Harper’s Public House in Dysart features a top contender.

The barely-year-old restaurant – owned and operated by Jenna and Chad Scott – finished in the top-40 this year for the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s (IPPA) annual Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin Contest.

And despite not finishing as a top-5 finalist following several visits by IPPA judges in the last couple of months, Jenna was hardly disappointed in the results – with her restaurant set to double in size soon she is more determined than ever to place higher next year.

“I’m kind of relieved, to be honest,” Jenna said on a recent Wednesday evening in early October as she moved back and forth between her current restaurant space – located at 325 Main Street – and the building directly adjacent which she recently leased, “because I knew this was happening.”

The ‘this’ Jenna referred to is the expansion of her restaurant into the former Busy Bees Total Care & Transportation space next door – an expansion that will create a separate dining area that more than doubles the current seating capacity.

“If you’ve been in Harper’s lately, you will know, that on Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights we don’t have enough room,” Jenna said in a recent video posted to her restaurant’s Facebook page announcing the expansion.

To be sure, since opening on July 22 of last year, Harper’s Public House has been one of the busiest places in Dysart – quite possibly the county – on any given Friday or Saturday night with standing room only around the bar and not a scrap of table space available in the front dining area.

Through the expansion, Harper’s will theoretically be able to seat 80 patrons total, Jenna said. Construction has already begun and includes adding a prep kitchen to the back of the new dining space, connecting the two buildings with a central door, and turning the current space into a dedicated bar space complete with a pool table.

In the small space the restaurant’s footprint currently occupies under kitchen manager Portia Birdine, Harper’s serves up to 100-120 tenderloins each week, Jenna said – a task which has pushed the restaurant already to its limits at times.

When one of IPPA’s judges visited Harper’s earlier this fall, they relayed to Jenna that her restaurant could easily be looking at serving 500 tenderloins per week following a top-5 finish. It was at that point, Jenna said, she knew she was on the right path in terms of expansion.

But what is the secret to Harper’s delicious – and they are certainly delicious – breaded tenderloins? Jenna said it all whittles down to how it is prepared.

“We get our meat from Sam’s [Club],” she said. “We buy the whole loin. We cut it ourselves. Tenderize it ourselves. Everything is breaded when you order. It’s fresh.”

While Jenna is aiming for an October 20 expansion opening, those who hunger for one of the best tenderloins in Iowa don’t need to wait until then – Harper’s will remain open through the expansion Monday through Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

You’ll just need to find yourself an open table.