This summer (somehow) I explored the outdoors a shi*t ton while also feeling absolutely trapped in…read moremy home? I don't know if that makes sense to you? But... COVID-19. Amiright?! Hickory Hill Park has been on my gotta-try list all summer. FINALLY on Labor Day weekend, we found the time to drive across town, to the wayyyyy east side to check it out. LET ME TELL YOU. THIS PARK IS BEAUTIFUL. There's tons of trails for jogging, walking and hiking! From wooded ones, to paths through the prairie. There is something for everyone. Picnic shelters, too. There are a couple reasons this is a four vs five star. 1. There's not a lot of signage on the trails, so it is very easy to get lost or not know where to continue on to! Make sure you have a map online pulled up when you visit. 2. Hickory Hill boasts very, very narrow paths. So during a pandemic-- BRING YOUR MASK! We typically are the family just try to distance when we are hiking outdoors... but distancing is hard on trails at this east side gem.

Clearly long cold Iowa winters have made me far more brave than I would have imagined. I mean who…read moresays, "It's a beautiful day lets go check out a new park" when its December and 30 degrees out. Never thought that would be me, but sure enough now knowing subzero temperatures have brainwashed me to think 30 degrees is a gorgeous winter day! With this new found appreciation for 30 degree days I packed the pups in the car and headed to check out Hickory Hill Park. What a nice park full of no shortage of multiple winding trails through the woods and prairies. All the trails were very well maintained and were perfect for exploring with our dogs. This is the perfect park if you are just looking to enjoy nature. So want to trail run, walk/hike, stroll with your dog? Then you found the right spot! I also imagine this would be a great spot for snowshoeing or cross country skiing if there was a significant snow fall. It wasn't muddy when we went since the ground was frozen but I imagine if there was recently a lot of rain this place could get pretty muddy.

This place is very popular and quite busy. The servers work their tails off. Our server was…read moregreat. The place is very much a diner. It's got a diner vibe and look. And that's fine. The food was hit and miss. I got a crab cake po boy with pork green chile chili on the side. the chili was amazing. I wish I would have ordered a bowl of that. The po boy was not good. The bread was soggy and the crab cakes did not taste like crab, or really anything. I took one bite then just ate the bland crab cakes. But ordering that was my fault. I'm at a diner, what was I thinking? My friend loved his Cuban sandwich, which was a better choice. But that pork green chile chili was phenomenal.

I've been to All 3 locations. Food and service are the same…read moreat all. Kind of warm in this facility but it is an older building. Awesome Celia D. did wonderful. Solon restaurant is a very nice surprise too.

My first yelp in person event after covid, met all my friends and some of really cool hosts. This…read morewas probably one of the bet events I have been too. Maggie's wood fired you ain't gonna go wrong with any of their item on the menu. I have tried everything from their menu, probably my fav is funghi pizza, burrata, berry pizza and pesto potato. I am blessed I got to try these dishes which usually I wouldn't have ordered from the menu. The place has always impressed me with their courteous staff, even before the event. when they were coming up with the food out I was feeling so overwhelmed at first but then was blessed that I was wearing joggers instead of any jeans. Felt like Joey from friends on Thanksgiving dinner finishing up his turkey. :) Overall this is the first place I recommend everything from their menu. great hosts great location private parking lot in Iowa city an awesome patio seating unique touches with the lights.

Can't believe we hadn't come to this gem yet! This location is right next to Sidekick Coffee and…read moreBarre3. There is a decent amount of parking available. Service at Maggie's was excellent--our server Harry really made the experience. We ordered two drinks: the Lemon Lavender Italian Soda (refreshing and tasty) and the Hugo Spritz. The Hugo Spritz initially just tasted like tonic water, but we let our server know and Harry kindly brought us a replacement that was much better. For food, we tried the Margherita pizza and the Ellie (caramelized onion, blue cheese, and onion). Both were decent. Seems like fresh ingredients! I am personally not a fan of blue cheese usually, but I did enjoy it. Service was super efficient--felt a little rushed but they are typically very busy on a Friday night. Dessert was a nice finish: the raspberry ice cream tasted like real raspberries, and the shortbread was decent. Only downside? Lots of flies--we found ourselves swatting them away throughout the meal. Overall, a good experience and we will be back!

Unique park within the Linn County Conservation system. A little tricky to navigate with little…read moresignage, no main location, and no maps readily available (I relied on offline hiking app maps), but there appear to be at least 4 trail options spread throughout the nearly 2000 acre area. There's a boat launch, equestrian trail and campground, primitive hike in cabin and river-side campground, and a shooting range. The pit toilet near the cabin is pristine. I didn't see any other people in the nearly 2 hours I spent wandering around. Very peaceful. I want to come back and explore more of the area and maybe spend the night in the campground.

New and very accessible does require a fee payment per person or you can get a yearly pass for a…read morediscount if you visit often

A greasy spoon with classic diner items and comfort food…read more Breakfast was good. Portions are huge at this diner. The service took longer than expected after we ordered. They certainly have their regular customers.

I wanted bacon, eggs, toast and hashbrowns, but it is not on the menu as such to order so I told…read morethe waitress that's what I wanted. It was not great and when I received the bill I was charged separately for the toast and hashbrowns so my total breakfast order came to $15!! The total bill for my friend and I was around $27.50 and we didn't even have coffee. Earlier in the week we had breakfast a Hy-Vee which included coffee for both of us and it was not only better but $5 cheaper with the coffee. I would never go back. Also, there is zero ambiance here.

There's NO restaurant! Our cousin stayed here and she enjoyed the old feeling and was very quiet.read more

The Decker Hotel in Maquate IA is a beautiful step back in time. I wish I could stay longer.read more

This bakery has a wide selection of cookies, breads, pastries and more. They had a strawberry…read morerhubarb bread-like-cake on sample when I went and I really regret not buying that because it was very tasty. I did get 3 items from the bakery cases. First was a chocolate eclair. It was like a long creme puff with chocolate ganache on top and yellow filling in the middle. Reminded me of a Boston cream pie only in cream puff form. I thought it was ok. I would have really liked the filling to have more vanilla flavor. The puff part was a good texture. The ganache was mildly chocolatey. The second item was a blueberry cream-cheese pastry. I wasn't wowed by it. The cream cheese maybe needed more vanilla. The third item was a creme horn. I liked it, but again I wished the filling had a bit more vanilla. Also at the very end, it was hollow, so save some of the creme at the big end for the little end so you get a more balanced bite. All of the items are presented with great care and beautifully displayed. I just wanted a bit more flavor. I would go back and I would try different items.

The coffee and sweets were delicious though it did seem a little expensive. The cafe is family run…read more It seemed like they were training a new person when we were there so it was a little slow service given it was us and one other pair of customers. The baristas were friendly though. The store was clean and offered two levels of indoor seating and the front porch outdoors. There's sweets and gifts you can purchase to go as well.

Its a place to avoid. Bad customer service. Desserts get dried out and the broccoli and cheddar…read morequiche has large pieces of black pepper that ruin the taste every time I have tried it.

Deluxe and Jamie made the process to order a Graduation cake and cookies from Texas very easy. The…read moreshop was quaint and smelled amazing when walking in. Was greeted right away and everything was ready when we arrived the cakes looked amazing and decorated as requested. They even helped us to the car with everything. Graduation day was the next day and people couldn't stop talking about how good everything was. If we take a trip back to Iowa will definitely have to go back and I would recommend them to anyone. Thanks for making Graduation extra SWEET.‍

If I could give 10 stars I would hahaha. If you love quiche and quality..this is the place. It was…read morecold, snowing and we aren't from the area. Naturally I looked to YELP for a rec and this place came up. Sooo glad we came. We will come back. Again, and again, and again. The service is above and beyond. The owner brought a sample of soup to make sure we would like it. Of course it was the best mushroom soup we have ever had. All fresh ingredients. Creamy.

It would be easy to fall for Cafe d'Marie's charm, slightly off the beaten path inside of a…read moreconverted historic home. But my wife and I were quickly snapped back to reality... because that was the only thing that was 'quick' about our visit. Our wait to be seated during Saturday brunch hours was bearable -- 5-10 minutes for the small dining room. However once we were seated, it didn't really seem all that crowded. That's an important point because it took about 10-15 for anyone to come take our order, to offer us water, to say hello... anything. I had to grab our menus from another desk. Believe me, we were very tempted to leave. Someone who appeared to be in charge (perhaps the owner) came over in the nick of time. I ordered the muffuletta which was supposed to be served with puréed hot peppers and olive oil sauce. These were missing when the dish arrived tableside which was very disappointing. When everything was finally delivered, the sandwich tasted really good. But I can't get past the poor quality of service.

Bottom Line: Good food, good service, good value!…read more Stopped in for a very late lunch pre after-work/evening crowd. Super inviting feel, lots of warm tones in this contemporary but old-town, Americana-feeling pub overlooking the Mississippi. Server prompt, easy going and efficient. Very good American pub-fare selection. My pork tenderloin sandwich from the pub-fare side of the menu, with Fries, beautifully done, and with creamy coleslaw side, was needed comfort on a plate. I relished and just enjoyed the whole vibe for a while. The adult beverage selection is more than ample. All in all a definite return-to spot!

Meeting friends in the quad cities we landed on Front Street as the meeting spot. Parking was…read moretough. The place was super busy and a bit loud when we arrived but we were able to get a couple spots at the bar. Service was slow but that was okay. Over the course of an hour or two we had their beers, a soup and some appetizers, all good. Definitely worth four stars.