For the 2025 Bread & Butter dining guide, Little Village food reviewers visited and reviewed 10 Cedar Rapids area eateries. You can find more local restaurant coverage here. MARION New York Gyro 808 7th Ave, Marion, 319-200-1750 I feel like once a year when I do these reviews, there’s always one restaurant I’ve never visited […]
Cedar Rapids restaurants
Posted inCommunity/News
Fire destroys the Lighthouse Inn, a Cedar Rapids landmark and one of Iowa’s oldest restaurants
The Lighthouse Inn, a century-old supper club and Cedar Rapids landmark, was destroyed by a fire on Wednesday morning. According to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, shortly after 5 a.m., a 911 caller reported seeing “smoke and flame coming from the roof” of the Lighthouse. Deputies along with Cedar Rapids firefighters were dispatched to the […]
Posted inEastern Iowa Food & Drink
Cedar Rapids Restaurant Week returns with a 10-day week and 19 restaurants
The name may say “week,” but Cedar Rapids Restaurant Week is a 10-day-long celebration of the city’s breakfast, lunch and dinner options. The “Cedar Rapids” part isn’t strictly accurate either, since Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery in Swisher and the hip-stir in Marion are among the 19 restaurants participating this year. The week expanded to […]
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Lacayo brings exceptional Latin cuisine and fresh flavors to a beloved Cedar Rapids restaurant
The owners of Lacayo — the NewBo restaurant that was formerly Caucho — “boomeranged” back to Cedar Rapids with the dream of opening their own restaurant. Armina Grizak Lacayo and Daniel Lacayo lived in Chicago before moving to Daniel’s hometown of Cedar Rapids in 2015 to work for local restaurateurs Carrie and Andy Schumacher. “It’s […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Eastern Iowa restaurant insiders dish on their go-to meals, best food memories and tips for diners
What are you looking for in a meal off the clock? Anthony Green: Something very different than what I just spent the last 14-16 hours cooking. Oftentimes if it’s simple, delicious and prepared by someone else, that will hit the spot. Aaron Hall: I have certain places along my delivery route that I know I […]
Posted inEastern Iowa Food & Drink
LV Recommends: Raise a slice to Leonardo’s, Cedar Rapids’ 70-year-old time capsule
Cedar Rapids — the city of five seasons/smells, and home of Iowa’s best pizza scene. To celebrate the foundational piece of CR pizza that is Leonardo’s (2228 16th Ave SW) let’s take a look at its origins. The story begins in the early 1950s when Tony and Leo Naso opened Cedar Rapids’ first pizzeria, Naso’s […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Seven stellar newcomers to the CRANDIC restaurant scene
Mesa 503 2302 Muscatine Ave, Iowa City 319-519-6170 Yolanda Amaya and Luis Hernandez immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador in 1993. Nearly 30 years later, in May 2022, they opened Salvadoran restaurant Mesa 503 on the east side of IC. A sister restaurant to downtown’s Mesa Pizza, Mesa 503’s large menu features pupusas (with […]
Posted inFood & Drink
100 dishes from bygone Iowa City-area restaurants, remembered by LV readers
In March, Little Village asked followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, “What are some of your favorite dishes from bygone local restaurants?” The posts received hundreds of comments from nostalgic (and clearly hungry) current and former locals, recalling restaurants long gone and recently deceased. Below are 100 of those responses. Do you know the recipe […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Thousand Island dressing for success: The Reuben review 2023
You know, the Reuben is one of those sandwiches that you can probably find on at least half of the menus in America, and it will be, in many cases, fine. Pretty good even, if you’re into that sort of thing. But they are rarely special. And so, readers, we’re here to take you on […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Vivian’s Soul Food, a Cedar Rapids favorite, has closed
Vivian’s Soul Food, a much loved fixture on the Cedar Rapids restaurant scene, has closed. Owners Jerome and Briana Smallwood announced the closure in a post on the restaurant’s Facebook Page signed Team Viv. It’s been a great run. In the last 6 years we’ve learned so much, made lifetime connections, have seen the lowest […]
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Three restaurants that prove Cedar Rapids wins at pizza
Across this Iowan landscape there stands a little known hill. A hill that I would die upon. A hill called Cedar Rapids is the Best Pizza Town in the State. “Balderdash; [insert city here] has the best pizza!” you may have just exclaimed. But allow me to present three exemplary Cedar Rapidian pizzerias: Starting with […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Willie Ray’s Q Shack is starting Thanksgiving early by giving away free meals on Tuesday
Willie Fairley became nationally famous for his generosity and barbecue following the August 2020 derecho. In the aftermath, he fed his fellow Cedar Rapidians who found themselves without power, and some cases, suddenly without a home. Since then, Fairley has continued his charitable work, as his Cedar Rapids drive-thru restaurant, Willie Ray’s Q Shack, has […]
