Buttery, salty and best of all, free. Now that I’ve gotten the popcorn review out of the way, let me dive into the bread and butter, so to speak, of any brewery: the beer. House Divided Brewery, located right across the street from the Ely Public Library, serves up creative lagers, stouts, sours and IPAs […]
Food & Drink
Posted inCommunity/News
The Farm to Street Dinner is returning, and tickets go on sale Tuesday
Tickets for Iowa City’s fifth Farm to Street Dinner will go on sale Tuesday morning, available through the Iowa City Downtown District’s site. The event has sold out very quickly in previous years. 2020 was not one of those years. The Farm to Street Dinner was canceled last year due to COVID-19. Even though the […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The Takeaway: I came for the enchiladas from Sobremesa and stayed for the mole sauce
Mexican food was always one of my first favorite cuisines, because my family ordered it all the time. It was a weekend staple and I remember loving to go to our family’s favorite place and gorge myself on the bowls of salsa and trays of chips because it was one of the few times I […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The Takeaway: Marquee Pizzeria’s sweet and spicy pie is my new vice
I have heard it said that pizza is like sex: even when it’s bad, it’s good and when it’s good, it’s amazing. I tend to agree. I’ve had slices from school cafeterias, gas stations, bars, food trucks, mall food courts and upscale pizzerias — and I’d eat every one of them again. Pizza is never […]
Posted inCommunity/News
State loosens restrictions around dogs on restaurant patios
Restaurants no longer need a special waiver from the state to allow patrons to bring their dogs into outdoor dining areas. The Iowa Department of Appeals and Inspections (DIA), which oversees issues of sanitation and food safety at restaurants, eliminated the waiver requirement last week. “Food establishments still have to follow the same rules as […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Linn Street closed from Market to Bloomington, as outdoor dining on the street returns
Curbside pickup has given way to street-wide dining on a short stretch of North Linn Street, as picnic tables replace parking spots again to allow for outside dining with safe social distancing.
Posted inFood & Drink
Two friends defied pandemic fears to open Feedwell Kitchen & Bakery in Cedar Rapids, offering ‘Panera but with a choice’
Chef Melanie Abu-Nameh, 44, and baker Holly Ervin, 45, first met at a tennis margarita league event, as best friends do, and quickly bonded over family and food. While Abu-Nameh has worked in the restaurant industry her whole career (from line cook to culinary instructor to executive chef), Ervin regarded baking as a side passion. […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Oasis expands its hummus empire into seven states, Costco as ‘Oasis Street Food’
Oasis Falafel began as a conversation. In 2004, when co-founders Ofer Sivan and Naftaly Stramer were hanging out in the Iowa City Ped Mall and craving the Mediterranean food they had grown up eating, they decided to recreate it themselves. Using family recipes, they started small, selling falafel and hummus from a food cart. The […]
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The Takeaway: Sumo Sushi and Ramen, Osaka’s successor, boasts excellent maki and ‘the good kind’ of crab rangoon
The first time I tried sushi I was, ironically, a vegetarian. Even as a non-vegetarian, the idea of eating raw fish was difficult for me to wrap my head around. At the time, sushi was still a rare specialty food that I associated with bigger cities and West Coast states. Sometime in the ’90s, sushi […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The Takeaway: Mosley’s is for barbecue lovers, from the ribs to the sides
I was raised by a father whose love of barbecue was such that he’d bring home ribs from a different restaurant almost every Friday as part of a long-running project to determine which ones were the best. I only vaguely remember the criteria: tenderness, something about the quantity and flavor of the sauce — I […]
Posted inFood & Drink
For the love of Reuben: Grading local corned-beef beauties
When my beloved and I became a serious couple, his son asked us what our favorite foods were. We both said Reubens. The first Reuben I ever ordered was in 2000. I was out for Bloody Marys and brunch at the Uptown Diner in Minneapolis (RIP) and a friend insisted I have one. I was […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Ninth annual Cedar Rapids Restaurant Week kicks off Saturday
Cedar Rapids Restaurant Week is kicking off its eight days of creative cuisine on Saturday, Feb. 20. The start of the ninth annual Restaurant Week will be celebrated via a Facebook Live event, according to the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. The Metro Economic Alliance announced in December that the usual kick-off event, Fork & […]
