The perfect breakfast, exceptional service, and a comfortable environment for an early morning…read morebreakfast.

We stopped at Gabby Lou's Kitchen this morning and we were so pleased with the food which was…read moreprepared to perfection. Delicious food, delightful staff and such a homey atmosphere. And. Oh, the smell of the cinnamon rolls baking made me want to stay until they had finished baking. Will definitely will be back.

I live in San Diego, so one of my goals for my most recent visit to see family in Ames was to try…read moreClayton Farms Salads. It did not disappoint. I love that when you drive up, you can see all the greens growing inside. We placed our order, then had a quick chat with the friendly young man at the window. But there wasn't much time for conversation because as promised, we got the world's freshest salads. It was so quick. We got home an opened up our salads and they looked amazing. My husband got the southwest salad and I got the Caesar salad. They were both delicious. Everything was incredibly fresh and so tasty. We really liked the Salad Girl dressings as well. I'm super picky about salads, and if it's not fresh, then I'm not interested. This was easily the best salad I've ever had. My Mother has been having their lettuce delivered practically since the beginning and I am always impressed with the freshness and flavor. Unfortunately, their facilities tours were not available during our visit, but I'd love to take the tour sometime. I will be insisting on visiting Clayton Farms Salads every time we visit Ames.

4/14/26 3:15 p.m…read more Online Order for Pick Up Food: We were very excited to try the food here, but we weren't too impressed, unfortunately. We ordered a Caesar Wrap w/chicken, Chicken Pesto w/no cherry tomatoes, Firehouse Chimichurri w/steak and no cherry tomatoes, Chocolate Smoothie, and Farmer's Punch. For starters, all of the produce was fresh and crisp (which is always a plus), but you can tell that meat is not their forte. The chicken tasted as if it were precooked, frozen chicken (not saying that's a bad thing, just didn't seem as if it was freshly cooked), and the steak was full of almost inedible gristle. The overall flavor of the food was pretty lackluster as well, besides on the Chicken Pesto; the balsamic vinaigrette was very overpowering. The Caesar Wrap was large, but the sandwiches were quite small portion-wise. The Chocolate Smoothie tasted more like a green smoothie with chocolate protein powder, and we had a really hard time keeping it mixed; sadly, we didn't finish it :( The Farmer's Punch, on the other hand, was really good! Service: The service wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. The person who greeted us was friendly, but not particularly social, if that makes sense? It almost seemed as if they didn't have enough time for us. They were polite and quick with getting our order to us, though. Ambiance: Inside is quite small and not meant for a dine-in experience; there are no tables at all. This is definitely a pick-up/to-go/drive-through type of establishment. It's kept very clean, though, from what we could see.

I can't even begin to estimate how many burritos I consumed here while I was a student at UNI. I…read morevisited while back in town visiting a professor of mine from my time in college, and I left a just a little disappointed in the taste (or lack thereof) in my nostalgic order. Back in the day, Greenhouse definitely did something different with their chicken. If my memory serves me correctly, they used to have seasoned, cubed chicken pieces, but it seems they have moved to a watery, shredded chicken instead. The other ingredients seemed to be the same, fresh items, but the new chicken was a big disappointment for me. The food here used to consistently hit 9+ out of 10 for me, but during my last visit it was more in the 6-7 range. Giving this spot a 4/5 rating since I'm hoping my last stop in was a fluke. Service and ambiance here is always on point!

This was better than expected for a quick service meal…read more After a long travel day, I was hungry and tired, and this salad hit the spot. The steak was a little dry, but other than that, it was a great meal. I got the Buffalo salad but added steak instead of chicken. The dressing wasn't fresh or homemade-tasting, so that was a bummer. It was a $15 salad, so for the price and convenience, I would come back again. The girl at the counter was welcoming, and since it was my first time, she explained how the menu worked.

Today, I stopped by for breakfast/brunch, which was a first for me. I was pleasantly surprised to…read moresee that they had huevos rancheros. The taste was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, which is one of the reasons I enjoy eating at Blazing Star. The ingredients include all my favorites: fried egg on a crispy corn tostada, topped with a local tomatillo and poblano salsa verde, plus black beans, corn salsa, pickled onions, and cotija cheese. Oh my god! It was delicious. I could go back for dinner tonight.

Great fresh food with friendly service. We were looking for a vegetarian restaurant and discovered…read moreBlazing Star. Absolutely no complaints and we would definitely return.

Best subs in town, but oh my god walking in there and having to see Xander almost makes it not…read moreworth getting. Dude is legit one of the scariest looking human beings I've ever seen and I worked in a maximum security prison for 15 years. His skin just does not look like skin, I don't even know how to describe it. He looks like he once had a coat of fur that covered his body, but all the fur fell off. Again great subs, but it's like walking into a haunted house. I highly recommend doing delivery, his eyes are black. Legit completely black, like a sharks eyes. I walk in there and the jaws music starts playing in my head. Then that freak Xander comes out from the back and is like "welcome to Subway what can I get you?". Idk Dracula, please don't take my blood. Don't talk to me like we're both humans. Actually tho dude actually might be the real Dracula. It's not his fault, but good god man have someone else greet the customers. Unfortunately, you will not find better subs anywhere else around here. His hands look like feet, long palms. Really long, like a wolf's foot and short fingers. So fucked. He looks like he can breathe underwater. I get a legit adrenaline rush when Xander turns that corner and the light hits his face. I got Xanderphobia. My buddy used to work there and says he's a really nice guy, but I don't know. Have you noticed that this town has a weird amount of missing cats? There are missing cats all over town. Feel like Subway got something to do with that. Got no evidence, but I can picture Xander running around at night stealing cats. Amazing subs, 5 stars.

Slow service, mediocre food, hard to get to and just not worth it when Sub City and Jimmy John's…read moreare in town.

Always the same folks serving and preparing your food. Friendly , spotless and delicious. It's more…read moreFamily than crew. 5 Star!

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.

What went well? EVERYTHING. I was a lonely dude just trying to start over. Saw a suggestion for…read moretraveling to Iowa and starting over. I got a steal on a big ass house, it was old, and a ton of work to modernize. I was determined to make the house ready for my future family. The folks at THE STANK ( what we locals call it) were very welcoming and kept me from quitting on my dreams many times. They also suggest maybe asking Jesus, and God. I did. I worshipped, I prayed. I danced. The snake thing was weird. met this cool woman that already had 6 kids, but my dream was 7. She's like, no problem. Life is good. Probably getting married. Job at the Post Office didn't work out. I'm a pet groomer now. Her kids are violent and rob stores across Iowa.

I was single in Aplington for a while. There just aren't many people here to choose from. I took a…read moreleap of faith and decided to go on a date with a guy from church. He had just moved to IA to take a job at the post office for $25/hr. That's more than most people make here! I wasn't sure about him but he took me to Stinky's bar and grill and I had a great time. Now we go once a year with our 7 kids on our anniversary. What a life!

I really wanted to love this place but it was a big let down…read more First, we were there on a Friday, just before what is likely a very busy time. We sat at the bar. The servers were there, obviously waiting for customers to start arriving, and they were all congregating at the end of the bar, chatting it up. It was super unprofessional and pretty annoying. We were glad when the food came out quickly so we could just eat and leave. To be honest, I don't recall what my husband ordered. I got the pork tenderloin. The tenderloin was very tough and had zero flavor. Like, I don't think they even put salt in the coating, let alone any other seasonings. This is Iowa, if you can't make anything else at all, you should at least have a decent pork tenderloin. This was our second time trying the place. Both instances were equally underwhelming. I wanted this to be our "go to" place but sadly we won't return.

The food was sub par with being a limited menu during the day. Also pay with cash or you will be…read morepaying more for using card. Burger tasted like it was frozen from box. Fries were amazing

Fast food style pasta restaurant. They take your order at the counter and then bring it to your…read moretable. They were kind. Tried the jalapeño bacon Mac and cheese and the vegetable. On a road trip this is much better than another stop for a burger. Would come back again if we were local.

I tried the Thai Stir Fry with tofu. This rice dish comes with broccoli, shredded carrots and a…read moretasty spicy peanut sauce. (I omitted the snap peas.) You can get a regular or small. I ordered the regular, which came in a deep bowl but it wasn't filled so it's kind of a waste of space. However, it was very filling; I ate half and saved the rest for later. It was a good dish. Their online allergen guide graciously informs which items are vegan and/or gluten-free, as well what needs to be modified to make it so. The guide told me to remove the peanuts from the Thai Stir Fry dish to make it vegan. I don't know what they do to the nuts (butter maybe??) to make them non vegan. If this were in any other city I'd rate it a 3, but because it's Mason City, and the options are limited, they get brownie points. I would return.

Their food is pretty good for the most part. There is a good selection of rice-bowl and wraps. As…read morefor the coffee, it's pretty tasty. I definitely think this place is worth checking out! Food: 3.5/5 Price: 4/5 Experience: 3.5/5

This is favorite place in town to get coffee and study…read more They have awesome food choices too, I love their grilled cheeses and their breakfast items. Sometimes it is packed and sometimes your the only one in there. The staff has always been exceptionally nice.