This is my go-to restaurant in Cedar Rapids.
Great beer selection, reasonable prices, great atmosphere.
The Juicy Lucy needs some work though. We're from the Twin Cities, and their version of the Juicy Lucy needs more cheese! I hope the owners read this, because I'd love to have a great JL in CR.
Other than that, their make your own bloody mary's seems fun (I don't like bloody mary's), and their breakfast buffet is ok.
5/5 - buffalo chicken wrap
5/5 - normal krinkle cut fries (nothing special but well made)
2/5 - steak sandwich (overcooked, grisley, served awkwardly on undersized roll)
3/5 - frips, (horseradish dipping sauce was tasty)
2/5 - slow service at beginning that improved but lacked overall enthusiasm)
2/5 - snifter of beer ($8) steak sandwich  with sauce ($9.75) wrap ($7.25). Wrap was a good value w/ others slightly overpriced.
Visit was 4:45 on a Friday.
So to be fair I don't hate this place as much as the review might imply but good lord...my experience there tonight was the WORST!
It's Saturday night and my wife and I roll up about 6:15. We notice through the window there are some empty tables so we should get seated right away. We walk in and immediately sense this will not go well. There are about 3 couples just standing there waiting for a host to seat them. As waitresses pass by repeatedly without acknowledging our existence I finally flag someone down and find out there is a waiting list. No big deal, I see empty tables and there are only 2 names ahead of mine. I grab a couple beers and wait. But as people leave nobody is getting seated. Then I notice "table reserved" signs being placed on the tables as they are cleaned off. Â I guess this wouldn't be that big of a deal but a lot of people seem to be hanging out after they finish eating because there is a band later in the night. I ask the redhead waitress who is making the list how long I should expect to wait since every open table is now "reserved". "Just be patient, any minute now". At this point we have been waiting about 40 minutes and notice the list getting longer and longer, but nobody is getting seated. And the reserved tables are still empty. And the staff is completely oblivious (granted, they were understaffed). At this point another table empties and a "reserved" sign is placed on it. OK, time to seriously complain to somebody. We flag down the redhead and here is what she says, "Well they sat at a reserved table but agreed to finish up before 7:30, when the party has it reserved for". Remember, we came in around 6:15, and couldn't be seated because the tables were reserved - FOR 7:30!!! Good business model idiots. You could have seated and fed about 6 tables before your private party came. Instead you decided to make a list for people to stand around and wait (who thought they were about to be seated) and get pissed as they stare at empty tables and are told " just be patient, honey, just a few minutes". We finally explained what was going on to another waitress but it was too late. She apologized profusely but the damage had been done. It was almost 7:30 and my wife was livid. All the others who were waiting were either pissed or leaving. So we waited over an hour as we stared at empty tables. And if ANYONE would have said "go ahead and take that table, just know that we have it reserved at 7:30" we would have been fine with that. Instead we left hungry and pissed, my wife vowing to never step foot in there again. So if the owner/manager is reading this: 1) properly staff your place -especially Saturday night during the NFL playoffs and a band scheduled to play, and 2) if you are going to take reservations at 7:30, don't set the "reserved" signs at 6:00.
I have been here a few times and only eaten here once. I love the atmosphere of this bar so if you are looking to sit down and have a few drinks with your friends this place is a 5. Sometimes they have live music which is awesome. Some of the bartenders have heavy hands, which some people might like, but their mixed drinks, to me, tend to almost be too strong.
Being a lover of food I give them a 3.5. They hand batter their food (or at least the onion rings and mozz sticks) which I LOVE, but I thought their batter tasted like donut batter, which I don't love. It was too thick I thought. The pulled pork is.. Ok, nothing special. The service is usually pretty good though.
Randomly stopped in for "a drink" on a sunday afternoon. The bartender was awesome! He was so friendly, and helped us pick the best flavors for our tastes. We ended up getting some sweet potato fries as we hung out. They have almost as many dipping sauces as we beer on tap. Food was great, i really want to try more of what they have.
Great TVs, really cool look to the place. It was busy on a sunday evening, and everyone looked to be having a good time.
Must go back again!
Went there with a medium-sized group of 9 people (including young kids) to watch the Hawkeye game. Â The server was great - very patient with our delays, multiple refills and varied food order. Â The food order was correct as were the bills. Â The food itself was typical bar food - I had a Spicy Lucy and was pleased with both the cheese and moisture. Â The rest of my party was pleased with their food as well. Â I was the only one sampling the multitude of draft beers and was very happy with the number of selections and the variety. Â The atmosphere was good also. Â I was a little worried that it was going to be too much "Pub" for kids and not enough "Eatery" so I was pleasantly surprised to find MANY families there with children during the day. Â I was also pretty happy that there is No Smoking in the bars in Iowa either. Â My only negative (and a slight one at that) is that on cold days such as today, they need an air lock on the front door to keep the cold out. Â It's nothing that detracted from my experience but I'm sure it is worse for those sitting at the bar! Â Overall - good job restoring the old bank. Â This is a neat little Pub & Eatery.
Review Source:Hands down my favorite bar in Cedar Rapids. Food, service, atmosphere are all 5 stars. They set the standard for me.
We recently went for breakfast and bloody mary bar - yummo! They have 3-4 different bloody mixes, all the toppings/condiments, sauces etc. Needless to say, it was a very tasty morning.
Our group of three ordered a breakfast pizza and a southwest omelet. The breakfast pizza, unanimously, was voted as "the best ever". The omelet was pretty damn tasty as well. When a bar ups your usual breakfast spot....well, I guess you can call it a one stop shop. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all awesome at Parlor City. And they definitely take the cake on beers on tap - this is a micro brew beer lovers haven.
The one and only issue I have with this place is when they have live music, we never go. Cause when we do, we have to speak in sign language or read each others lips. In short, it's effing LOUD in there.
I came for lunch on a Sunday. Â The service started out horrible, the waitress was stressed, unenthusiastic, and unpleasant. Â She then told a different waitress just starting her shift to handle my table. Â The second waitress was much better than the first. Â The food took forty minutes to reach our table. Â And it was okay, nothing special. Â I heard the Juicy Lucy was good from one of the people at my table, and the "frips" are just glorified chips and dip.
Review Source:My wife and I, along with two of our friends ate here while visiting the area. Despite being in the middle of a street festival with heavy crowds, both the service and the food were excellent. The beer selection was robust and food was prepared exactly as expected. We ate in several other restaurants in the area and hands down this was better than all of them (especially Capone's, located across the street).
The only downside to the menu was that if you are looking for a meal fancier than a burger or sandwich, you are out of luck. But, the portions of sandwiches and sides more than make up for it.
We will certainly eat here again when in the area.
My wife and I had lunch at Parlor city on a Friday. It was busy, but they seemed to have enough servers. Even so, the service was very slow. They have a nice selection of beers on tap. I had the Spicey Lucy. It was so overcooked, all the cheese in the middle had leaked out and was left somewhere in the kitchen. It was also served with "crinkle" fries. Really, crinkle fries? Serving grocery store frozen fries in a pub? I expected fresh cut potatoes. I doubt I'll go back.
Review Source:This is probably the place with the worst service in the whole state. Â The staff just doesn't care in the restaurant area. Â Some things are not bad like the Juicy Lucy sandwiches but overall the food is mediocre. Â The service has been bad for years so its not like its going to get any better. Â The bar staff is average but it doesn't make up for it and avoid this place at all costs.
Review Source:The Juicy Lucy was really well done - by that I mean both well-made and tasty and well done, because you're not getting that middle cheese to melt without that level of cooking. Nevertheless, well-seasoned and good beef and a good bun. The Frips, which are house-made FRied chIPS, are served with either Bacon-horseradish dip or a french onion dip. We liked the space a lot, it seemed to have been remodeled with care.
There are a lot of beers available on tap, I believe 56, but it seems like half are Sam Adams. They do have Toppling Goliath on the back page, but I would like to see more smaller breweries represented. Overall, a very good place, we'll come back and try more off the menu.
Awesome place. Ate there on a Thursday night, it was crowded but there were available tables. Good pub food - fries, onion rings, EXCELLENT burgers. I had the Spicy Lucy - a pepperjack-cheese-filled delight - and onion rings with the EXCELLENT Chipotle Ranch dipping sauce. If you like beer, they have TONS on draft, mostly craft beers and microbrews. Great experience!
Review Source:This place is awesome, hands down! Â Coming from the Des Moines area where we have El Bait Shop, a bar that has 100 different microbrews on tap, this is probably the closest I have seen any other bar get to that benchmark. Â They currently have 56 beers on tap, and even though it's still in Iowa, they had a number of beers I had not seen before. Â We got there around 8:00 pm on a Friday night and luckily for us the guy we were meeting had saved us some seats at the bar. Â This place was packed! Â Unfortunately we had eaten earlier so we didn't have a chance to try out any of the food but we did take a look at the menu and there were quite a few things that caught our eye. Â This will definitely be on our list the next time we are back in eastern Iowa. Â Anybody that is a beer snob in the Cedar Rapids area needs to check this place out!
Review Source:So far have been here twice, once for weekend breakfast and once for weekend lunch. Â We went pretty early for breakfast, so it wasn't crowded. The staff was very attentive and it was one of the better breakfasts we've had since moving here. I was mostly excited about the bloody mary bar. Phenomenal. And really, really good bloody mary mix.
Recently, we stopped by for lunch. Lunch was busier and the crowd is rowdier, most likely due to the bloody mary bar. I can't remember what hubby had because he ate it so fast, but it must have been tasty. I had the fish sandwich with a ginormous piece of fish. It was messy but really good. We also had fried pickles as a starter and they were some of the best fried pickles and we got our choice of dipping sauce, which makes me very happy. Even though it was busy, our iced teas were kept full. This has become one of our go-to places on the weekend when we are driving around aimlessly.
Went here on a Wednesday night around 6:00pm. Â Glad I did because it filled up fast after that. Â Sat at the bar.
They have a fairly large selection of draft beer, and I must say probably one of the most unique and varied selections of draft beer I've seen. Â If you are a beer geek in CR, this is a must check out spot.
The bartenders were super prompt and polite, always ready to let you taste a beer,,,, even bringing me a taste of something they thought I might like.
I had the Spicy Lucy Burger and Sweet Potato Fries. Â Food is standard pub grub, not a gastropub, but have not had anything bad either. Â You go here mostly for the beer.
Will definitely stop back next time in town.
Service was great!
Beer was great!
Food was great!
Food is very good and has large portions. A little difficult to get in and out within an hour for lunch, although it is possible. Offers a large beer selection, and beer flights. When there is music it can be very loud and you should not go there expecting to be able to talk. There is a pool table, although sometimes it is covered for additional seating/eating. Wait staff is not always the most attentive and can sometimes take a long time to either initially get service or to get waited on after you have your food. Very interesting decor throughout the place, including old signs and advertisements. Very close to other restaurants and bars in the New Bo area. A great area to visit on weekends.
Review Source:I've heard some things about slow service here, and I've only been one time, but so far, I disagree! Â I went to Parlor City with a co-worker directly after work for a beer-turned-dinner, and though it was packed inside by 5:30pm, our service was prompt and friendly. Â I ordered a Blue Moon, the Jalapeno Burger (with the jalapeno cream sauce on the side) and sweet potato fries.
First of all, YUM on all three counts. The burger was better than I'd expected, and the sweet potato fries were crinkle-cut. Â I'm a sucker for crinkle-cut fries in general, but I think this adds a crispiness to sweet potato fries that is otherwise hard to attain. Â I dipped my fries in the jalapeno cream sauce, but next time I'll definitely have it on the burger, as served.
They used to have the best happy hour in town (3 - 7 & $2.50 mugs) but now it ends an hour sooner and costs a quarter more. Still great deals, especially with the new double decker tap & New Belgium offerings.
As far as the food goes, I'm partial to the cheese stix and buffalo chicken wrap with sweet potato fries. They cost a little extra but if you get them with marshmallow sauce it's well worth it.
The acoustics are terrible since it is just a big open space but they get surprisingly good bands like The Magnetos, the one man band guy and a blue grass group from Arkansas. It's probably my favorite downtown hang.
They have juicy lucys here! enough said! 5 stars! If you don't know what a juicy lucy is or have never had one in your life then you need to stop everything your doing and go got one now! A juicy lucy is a hamburger that has cheese, and other ingredients in the middle of the burger, I'm pretty sure if you've never had a foodgasm before (food orgasm) then this is the place that will get you off!
Review Source:while i applaud these guys coming back after the flood to establish a joint in new bo, the food was mediocre at best. Â spicy lucy or her cousin or whatever was what i had....the menu warned of something really hot at first bite. Â well, not only was there no heat to it, there wasn't much flavor either. Â the service is quiker than the chrome horse across the street, and the atmosphere is good. Â i guess that's why there are condiments on the table.
Review Source:I really like this place. Great drink specials most days of the week. Food is awesome and staff is usually very friendly and attentive. The place has a broad wood tables, several booths, a pool table, and a few TVs. They occasionally have a band. Its not huge but you can usually find a place to sit with a few friends.
Review Source:
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