Mullets will open soon in Ames. Unlike in Des Moines, the menu will include dinner.

The Mullets restaurant in Ames will open soon, and it’s a dream come true for its owners Jordan and Miranda Cook, of Nevada.

“It’s always been a passion of mine to open a restaurant,” Jordan Cook said. “We would love to open in mid-July.”

A few years ago, he created a menu and was thinking about opening his own place. He put the idea on the back burner when he was offered the job as Nevada’s city administrator, a position he’s keeping.

“I really enjoy working for the city and I never intended to leave the city,” Cook said. “I’ll have a general manager for Mullets and will be working there myself on weekends.”

As city administrator, Cook was talking with John Royer, owner of Mullets, about the possibility of locating in Nevada.

Royer said Nevada is a great community, but unfortunately, there’s not a big enough population for a Mullets.

When Royer found a location in Ames, at the former site of West Towne Pub, Cook stepped up to franchise it.

Cook loves food and it’s a common subject of conversation for him. When he travels, he searches for places to eat several weeks in advance.

“I’ve always been a foodie, and I just love restaurants,” he said.

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Dinner menu will be unique to Ames' Mullets location

Mullets is a great opportunity, Cook said, because he can create his own menu for dinner. The Des Moines Mullets is open for breakfast and lunch only, but the Ames Mullets will also be open for dinner. So there’s no established dinner menu for Mullets.

“We’re going to keep things the same for breakfast and brunch, and it’s going to be the same as Mullets in Des Moines,” he said. “We’re really excited about that, and we’re hoping that people love and enjoy the dinner menu as much as they love the breakfast and lunch.”

A majority of breakfast items will be on the menu all day for people who love breakfast at dinnertime.

A Nashville-style hot honey chicken sandwich is one of the items Cook expects to be on the new dinner menu.

“It is absolutely phenomenal. I’m craving one right now,” he said.

The appetizer menu will likely include beef steak tips, which can also go on a salad.

“It’s kind of like a teriyaki flavored beef tip. They’re really tender. They’re almost like a sweet candy type of teriyaki,” Cook said. “It’s finger food that you can just eat nonstop.”

Ames’ Mullets will have a selection of burgers, and Cook is hoping to include a jalapeno burger. “I love jalapenos,” he said.

“We’re still tinkering around with the nighttime menu, but we’ll soon be ready to roll,” he added.

Cook is still taking applications for employees at the Ames Mullets, and he encouraged prospective employees to apply to admin@mulletsames.com.

Mullets is located at 4518 Mortensen Road in Ames.

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Ronna Faaborg covers business and the arts for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rfaaborg@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: When will the Ames Mullets restaurant open?