Need a rest stop? Try one of these trailside, parkside and lakeside restaurants for a cool drink, quick snack or heaping scoop of ice cream. 1. The Pedalers Fork Off of Cedar River Trail 2010 Sylvia Ave NE, Cedar Rapids You’ll deserve a stop at the Pedalers Fork after that climb! Nestled on a hill, […]
LV Recommends
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: You’ll feel like a kid again at Frydae, a loaded fry and ice cream spot in Marion
Linn County’s newest snack spot is fun, whimsical and delicious — everything you’d expect from a restaurant called “Frydae.” Tucked into Uptown Marion, the main entrance of Frydae is currently blocked off due to the more than $6 million renovation project going on. So we parked on the square and enjoyed our brisk walk through […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
LV Recommends: Peace Tree Brewing Co. cracks open some fresh branding in time for summer
It’s a familiar sight in an Iowa beer cooler: squat brown bottles, leaves imprinted in the glass, each with an orange bottle cap and a whimsically illustrated label. But after 12 years of brewing craft beer — and two years weathering a global pandemic — Peace Tree Brewing Company owner and CEO Megan McKay decided […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The kraut-er in the rye: Five (more) local Reubens, graded
After publishing the original Reuben review in Little Village’s March 2021 issue, I received a few comments aghast that I had not featured a Reuben from downtown Iowa City’s popular Irish pub, Micky’s. I regret my error!! I’m here to attempt to make good and have rounded up a few others for a new class […]
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Tornado’s Grub & Pub is a cozy CR dive bar with a twist
“Checkers?” That was the first question from the waiter as my girlfriend and I slid into a side booth at Tornado’s Pub & Grub. If you grab one of the booths inside the front door, you’re treated to a tabletop that doubles as a checkerboard — just one of the quaint eccentricities in this dive […]
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Celebrate National Pancake Day at these Des Moines Restaurants
It’s almost Shrove Tuesday! Or maybe you know it as Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras. Whatever you call it, you’re probably familiar. This year, I’m choosing to celebrate Shrove Tuesday’s secular cousin, National Pancake Day. (Ahh, yes. Now you’re familiar.) It’s important to mention that there are actually two National Pancake Days every year, but […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Dildos and dil-don’ts: LV reviews area sex shops
It’s the month of Love, and a time for all of us to join together for some sweet, sweet lovemaking. You could go with the standard apparatus you’ve got down there, or up there, or really anywhere, but if you’re feeling like going beyond the norm, there’s always the local porn shop. Of course, in […]
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The Takeaway: Ramen Belly leaves you full and nourished
Prior to ordering from Ramen Belly this week, I had eaten restaurant-quality ramen exactly once — in 2018 while visiting my sister in Portland, Oregon. At the time, it was a novelty, and I didn’t really know what it was, my only previous ramen experience being with the kind that comes in a brick along […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The Takeaway: CRANDIC award winner Tee’s Liberian Dish engages all the senses
Best of the CRANDIC 2021 winner: Best African Cuisine The first time I tried to order from Tee’s Liberian Dish, I couldn’t. The restaurant had had such a busy day that they’d sold out of everything and had to close up shop early. That alone hints at what you can expect from Tee’s. The first […]
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The Takeaway: Deluxe welcomed me to the neighborhood with luxurious sweet and savory snacks
It’s a truth (nearly) universally acknowledged that buying a house you love is the cornerstone of the American dream. Often left out of that narrative is the fact that packing and moving all your belongings can be a nightmare. Rather than move all in one cortisol-drenched go, my boyfriend and I decided to spread our […]
Posted inCommunity/News
A lean guide to local meat
You don’t have to give up your favorite fleshy entrees in order to eat ethically — but it won’t be as easy as swinging by Walmart for a $6 pound of ground beef, either. Cutting out the middlemen in the food supply chain takes some legwork on the part of farmers and consumers, but has […]
Posted inFood & Drink
The Takeaway: Valérie’s French Cooking is très délicieux
I have been a Francophile for so long that I don’t quite remember when it started. At some point in my tweens, I grew fascinated with French culture. I took French through all four years of high school, listened to French pop music, watched French films and tried gamely to read French Vogue. I associated […]
