Cedar Rapids’s Greatest Tables
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Cobble Hill
Cobble Hill occupies a corner of the historic downtown grid at 219 Second Avenue SE — one block from the NewBo District and a short walk from the Cedar River pedestrian bridge — and has held the seat as Cedar Rapids' reference contemporary-American room since husband-and-wife team Carrie and Andy Schumacher opened the doors in 2010, taking the name from the Brooklyn neighbourhood the family once called home. The dining room runs about sixty covers across two connected parlor spaces with exposed brick on the south wall, a long marble-topped bar that anchors the front of the house, and a captain's station that quietly directs the room. The conversion preserved the period brickwork, the tin-ceiling reveal and the tall front-window line that catches the late-afternoon light from Second Avenue.
Midtown Reserve
Midtown Reserve occupies a corner of the Seventh Street Triplex at 319 Seventh Street SE — a block off the Cedar River business corridor and a short walk from the Doubletree by Hilton conference quarter — and has held the seat as Cedar Rapids' reservation-only USDA-Prime steakhouse since the dining room opened in 2024. The room runs about fifty-five covers across a single long parlor with white-cloth four-tops down the centre, leather banquettes against the south wall and a chef's-pass that anchors the rear of the room. The conversion brought a deliberate dark-wood-and-leather palette — a steakhouse format played without ironic distance — and a captain's station that quietly directs the room from the front of the house.
The Class Act
The Class Act occupies the dining-room floor of the Hotel at Kirkwood Center at 7725 Kirkwood Boulevard SW — a short drive south-west of downtown Cedar Rapids on the Kirkwood Community College campus — and has held the seat as the city's only fine-dining-grade teaching restaurant for more than fifteen years. The dining room runs about eighty covers across a single high-ceiling parlor with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the campus pond, white-cloth four-tops down the centre, leather banquettes against the south wall and a chef's-pass to the open kitchen that anchors the rear of the room. The format is the deliberate signature: every course is plated by Kirkwood Community College culinary students under the supervision of a professional chef-instructor, and the menu rotates with the academic calendar.
Black Sheep Social Club
Black Sheep Social Club occupies a corner storefront on the downtown grid at 600 First Street SE — directly across from the Cedar Rapids Public Library and a block from the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art — and has held the seat as the city's downtown lounge-format social club since the room opened in 2017. The dining room runs about seventy covers across a single long parlor with a long zinc-topped bar that anchors the front of the house, leather banquettes against the south wall and high-top four-tops down the centre. The conversion brought a deliberate moody-and-dark palette — a lounge format played without ironic distance — and a careful low-light scheme that reads as a real Brooklyn-imported lounge.
Cellar 19 Wine & Deli
Cellar 19 Wine & Deli occupies a corner storefront on the downtown grid at 425 Second Street SE, Suite 5 — a short walk from the Czech Village District and a block from the Cedar River pedestrian bridge — and has held the seat as Cedar Rapids' downtown wine-bar-and-deli format since the room opened. The dining room runs about forty covers across a single long parlor with a marble-topped bar that anchors the front of the house, two-tops along the south wall and a deli counter at the rear that runs through lunch and into the early bar service. The conversion brought a deliberate European-wine-bar palette — a format played without ironic distance — and a careful by-the-glass card that reads as a real Italian enoteca rather than a chain wine-bar.