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 […]
Marion businesses
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Marion’s Happily Ever After Book Boutique is a one-woman matchmaking operation
I’ve been to my fair share of bookstores, and all have left me with something to remember: a dazzling window display, a cozy nook, a roaming cat. My latest store visit can be summed up by the exclaimed observation of a fellow patron: “It’s a penis!” This plush appendage sat atop a shelf in Happily […]
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 inCommunity/News
To hell and back: Three stories of derecho resilience
Home of Katrina Benning and Jeremiah Hopkins When Katrina Benning and Jeremiah Hopkins bought their 1959 home on the edge of Bever Park in Cedar Rapids six years ago, both had been homeowners before. But this was their first home together. Their blended family, which brought together her two children and his four in what […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s only magic shop is in downtown Marion
A wizarding world awaits Iowans in downtown Marion. At the Iowa Magic Shop, owned by professional magician Tim Stolba and his wife Sue, the display cases and racks are packed floor to ceiling with magical paraphernalia. There are exotic-looking boxes, feather flower bouquets, crystals and crystal balls, beautiful three-dimensional puzzles, illusions, metaphysical supplies, magic books […]
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: NaRa Thai
When I moved back home to Iowa after living in Minneapolis for a few years, one of the few things I missed was the cuisine. I’m no food snob — I like cheeseburgers and pizza as much as the next person — but I also appreciate things like a great falafel and other foods that […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Iowa doesn’t suck’: Kae Apothecary and the magical Mount Vernon
One of Mount Vernon’s most distinctive small businesses trades in herbs, magic and meditation. Kae Apothecary began with Andrea Gorsh, who moved to the Mount Vernon area in 2009 — the same year she was diagnosed with celiac disease. Because of the trouble she had finding gluten-free, natural and non-irritating skin products, she
