Stopped in for lunch on our way home while passing through town. You step up to the counter and…read moreplace your order, and then you pick a table and await your food. Self-serve soda, with a variety of options, and a VERY reasonably priced menu with lots of selections. The motif is what you'd expect -- small town diner, with improvements to the historic building and a few modernizations. Very friendly, fun, and pleasant service, and solid food. My wife got the Egg Salad Sandwich on homemade bread, and I got the Philly Chicken. We shared the Sweet Potato Fries. Good sandwiches, and fries, and the food came out in a reasonable time. The day we were there they were doing a very good carryout business, and I suspect that is the case most of the time. Definitely worth a try!

Excellent down home cooking! I love that so many retirees like me gather there too. Service is top…read morenotch. I Ott's rated the everything omelette. Excited to try the rest of their menu. The close at 2pm so breakfast & lunch foods only. And Deb is a real person. She runs a great corner café.

They have great food, they have wonderful service, and friendly staff. The prices were very good,…read moretoo.

One of my favorite places! Cute old school cafe vibe. Daily AMAZING from scratch desserts. They…read morealways have something fun and new for the area and great lunch specials as well. Highly recommend.

Great service! Great family running this. Quick service including fun weekly ice cream. Beautiful…read morehot beef sandwich and daily specials. Been here over 50 years. Very clean.

Tenderloin is excellent, medium thick, great breading. -5…read morecheese chips(curds-frozen) and onion rings(frozen), both as expected. -3 Kid meal for under $5 split mini corn dogs and popcorn chicken(crispy) with smiley fries and tator tots. Comes with small cone/dish of ice cream. -5 Banana cream pie and sour cream and raisin pie both excellent - obviously homemade crust, decent sized for $3.40. -5 Service good but not excellent. Had to ask for refills, were food at removing empties. Pay at counter though not told to us or on the menu. -4 Definitely be back for the tenderloin and pie, reasonable prices, and see what else is homemade as mentioned on their site. Fish and chicken sandwich not homemade per server which is a disappointment.

A great find in small town Iowa. Hamlin, Iowa to be exact. Have made many stops when passing by…read more Food great. Service great. 5 stars for me.

The sandwiches here are amazing. I've eaten lunch here the last 2 days and intend to go again…read moretoday. I probably will every time I'm in town. The chicken salad sandwich was super creamy and delicious. I had a pig something sandwich yesterday that was also amazing. They really do need to hire someone else to help with the dining room. The lady that does it is amazing and the service is good but a lot of customers for 1 person.

I love eating here. Love the sandwiches and the salads. Sad no more ice tea made in store. But I…read morewill always love eating here. M Baker Harlan

We ate here as a family for the first time last night, loved it. We ordered steaks and popcorn…read moreshrimp and they were all very good. They definitely give you alot of food for the money, and our server was on top of it. We have lived in the area for 30 years and had never been, but we will definitely be returning. If you go, ask for Stephanie she was a great server!!!

Server was great. The steaks were amazing. Great value for the price!! Highly recommend.read more

Everything was awesome. My waiter was great and kept the beers full. My sandwich was great and came…read morehot and tasty.

Food and service were awesome. Went in for lunch and had the tenderloin. Not at all what you expect…read morefrom a Midwest tenderloin. It was thick and juicy and breaded perfectly. We went with a group and everyone was very happy with the meal and the service

Great sandwich shop! Worth the stop in Perry. Decor is hip and inviting, everything very fresh…read moreand made right in front of you to order. Make their own Corned Beef and Bacon which we're both phenomenal. Staff was very welcoming and friendly. They were roasting coffee beans while we were there too, but we didn't get any, will have to get back to try that too.

Your hours of operation are a joke u can never get in here to get anything or the employees lock…read morethe door and shut off the open sign 45 min before you already trash hours of operation

Love this place. Stopped by between Des Moines and Sioux City and had a deliciously disgusting…read moremeal. Everything was yummy and so unhealthy. Garlic cheese ball and tater tot poutine? Amazing. The tenderloin was massive. And the broccoli cheese soup was a star. Tried the peach pie as well which I thoroughly enjoyed. The wait staff was super friendly and the ambiance was exactly what I was hoping for, a quality local establishment. Throughly enjoyed it.

The gf wanted to check out I-80 MetalArt and we found the Chuckwagon Restaurant right across the…read morestreet. We arrived pretty much at straight up noon on a Saturday. I fully expected the place to be packed as it appears to be pretty much the only show in town as far as a sit down restaurant. There was a please wait to be seated sign there as we walked in. We were greeted right away and seated in minutes. It's old school wood tables and chairs and I think there was a counter available. Ordering is done at the tables as well as settline your bill up with your server. Surprisingly the speed of service continued throughout the visit. After drinks we ordered the rodeo burger and fries, a tenderloin with chili cheese fries, and the garlic cheeseballs. The cheeseballs came with marinara and ranch. Fresh, hot, and fantastic! I've eaten a lot of tenderloins. Many that have been highlighted as Iowa Tenderloin Trail winners or participants... This is one of the better tenderloins I've had in the state! Obviously hand made, breaded, and fried. Not too thick and not too thin. Drained properly. Served with the essential condiments including the holy trinity (onions, dill pickles, and mustard). The gf liked her burger. It could have used more of the featured ranch and bbq sauce. The fries... Neither of us cared for them. Obviously hand made, but almost too thin and too greasy. We'd both opt for a different side next time. To each our own though. Almost every small town along this stretch of I-80 has a pub & grill. The menus vary a little, but are very similar in a lot of aspects. The quality of service and the cooks make the biggest differences. The Chuckwagon hit five stars in some aspects of both. Work on those fries and the flavor of the chili (horribly bland) and this review would have been five stars. I'm going to emphasize this again. Truly one of the best tenderloins I've had in the state! Keep doing what you are doing!

For my wife and I, some of this menu was a throwback to our 1970's days...Ham Steak, Hamburger…read moreSteak, Crispy dinner Hash Browns with onions and Cheese, a solid salad bar, and super reasonable prices. Full bar with my Tito's Cocktail at $4, and my wife's bottle of beer just $3.50. Salad bar had lots of salads...shredded iceberg with lots of dressing options, including a solid Blue Cheese. They also had potato, macaroni, pea, pasta, and other salads. The hamburger steak and wedge potatoes were very good. The hash browns were great, and my sirloin steak was very good--I added a bit of salt, and it was cooked just as I ordered it. The hot bun was a nice touch. Nice bar and lots of table seating. Our server was great-anticipate needs and checked in often. Food came out fast and they appeared to have a very solid takeout business. Give them a try!!

I've been meaning to give this place a try for quite some time. I finally made it there for dinner…read morewith my brother & father. Cliff's was a little of a drive for us, it was super easy to find located on a very nice Main Street. There was parking on both sides of the street. We walked in & were greeted immediately by the VERY FRIENDLY staff. It didn't take long for our server to attend to us. She was super friendly & very attentive! We haven't had such good service like this in a long time. She took our drink order & gave us a minute to decide. She made suggestions of what was good, noting that the tenderloin was an award winner in I believe 2023. So that's what my father & I had. He had a salad with this & I had onion rings. My brother had the hamburger steak & fries. It didn't take very long for our food to arrive, not too slow & not too fast, time enough for us to have most of our beers. The beer selection was limited and simple. They have a bar with alcohol. My brother had a Jim Beam & Coke. He said that it was mixed right, not too strong or too weak. The waitress zipped by our table frequently to chat & check on us while waiting for our food. That was really nice. The place was a little noisy, but not so bad we couldn't have a conversation. Our food came out hot & fresh. I definitely know why they won an award for their tenderloin. It was one of the best ones I've ever had & I'm looking forward to going back to have another one! The onion rings were outstanding too. I was very satisfied with my meal. Our bill came to around $66 before tip. We left a pretty good tip because our service was outstanding. I would definitely recommend a trip to Manning Iowa for this tenderloin. It was a great dining experience. Food was great, service was great & the restaurant was great(very clean & pleasant on the eyes)