Years ago, Cedar Rapids was a real deli town. You could pop out of work or school to grab a good sandwich at any number of locally owned shops peppered throughout the quadrants. But the city looks different after decades of restaurant closures — Cork ‘n Fork in 2014, Sub City and Emil’s Delicatessen in 2017, and prior to those, Club Deli, the Souper, the Little King Deli, Deli Natural and Alfalfa’s.
Since the scene shifted from mostly local to corporate (Subway, Firehouse, Quizno’s), lunch breakers have yearned for places to order a proper Eastern Iowa sandwich — cold cuts, sliced cheese, raw vegetables, black olives, alfalfa sprouts, oil and vinegar, a dash of oregano and, of course, the sauce that binds them all together: dill spread.
A staple to Cedar Rapids delis of yore, dill spread is also a phenomenon unique to the eastern half of Iowa. Many travelers have reported that once you hit a 100-mile radius of the city, nobody knows what the hell you’re talking about if you request it on your sub.
Common lore points dill spread’s origins to Alfalfa’s Deli, a beloved restaurant opened in 1978 by Debbie and Warren Wood — parents of Cedar Rapids-born actor Elijah Wood — where secret ingredients were forged into a precious regional treasure, a delectable topping produced deep underground within the lower level of Lindale Mall.
Elijah knows the secret; Bon Appetit quoted him on his mother’s recipe in 2012: “She also did these vegetable sandwiches topped with a spread that I still make to this day. It’s sour cream, dill and Beau Monde seasoning.”
If it’s true that the Woods developed the original recipe, several other delis declared allegiance and followed suit during Alfalfa’s benevolent reign, and well past its change of ownership around 1990 when the family sold the restaurant and moved to L.A. with their famous son. Even corporate spots like Subway and New Jersey-based Blimpie kept dill spread on hand, lest they lose their Eastern Iowa customer base. And they served it well — according to former Cedar Rapids restauranteur Adam Hadjis, “Blimpie’s dill spread just hit different.”
Today, though CR’s deli scene is quieter than it was during the heyday of the ’80s and ’90s, you can still find the cherished condiment at a couple of classic eateries — Deb’s Ice Cream and Deli, opened downtown in 1987, and Nelson’s Meat Market, which opened on Old Marion Road in 1990 (consolidating the family’s citywide butcheries dating back to 1935). And there’s more hope on the horizon: in August of 2024, former Alfalfa’s regular Tim Palmer opened The Salsa Guy, reintroducing the Woods’ most notable sandwich that many Cedar Rapidians feared they’d lost forever. Dill spread squishes between alfalfa sprouts and whole wheat once again, in a little shop on Mt. Vernon Road on the city’s southeast side.
You can find it at a few spots outside CR, too — as far away as PJ’s Deli on the main square in Newton, northward in Manchester at Olive That Sub, and at the original Sub City in downtown Waterloo. Anywhere else it can be found, you’ll have to tell us: editor@littlevillagemag.com.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s December 2024 issue.
