Since SO many new restaurants opened in the Cedar Rapids area last year, I am currently on a mission to try them all! This weekend, I checked another place off the list.

On Sunday afternoon, a couple of friends and I decided to do brunch at Cedar Rapids' newest café. It's called La Casita Breakfast Café, and it just opened at 836 1st Ave NE in the former Riley's Café in late December. In fact, the red Riley's Café sign is still up outside the restaurant, so it shouldn't be difficult to spot.

La Casita is a tiny restaurant, but the decorations are beautiful! The ceiling is painted a sky blue color, and there are pink, purple, and white fake flowers that hang down over the tables. Despite the small size, the restaurant has an airy feel to it. We loved the vibe!

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Courtlin
Courtlin
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Ok, let's get to the good stuff... the food!

My friends and I had looked over the menu ahead of time, but it was still tough to decide which items we wanted to try. I ended up going with something from the "Taste of Mexico" portion of the menu, the Brekkie Chimi (breakfast chimichanga). It consists of tortillas stuffed with meat and eggs (I went with sausage), which is then fried, smothered with queso, and served with hash browns. I ate EVERY. LAST. BITE. It was so good!

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My friends ended up getting the berries & cream waffles and biscuits and gravy, which they both gave a big thumb's up! But, their favorite part was the hash browns, which they ordered with queso on top. They both said that they don't think they'll ever be able to eat hash browns without queso ever again!

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Courtlin
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Courtlin
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Shout out to La Casita and the awesome staff they have working there! Everyone was so friendly and kind, we will DEFINITELY be back soon to try more of the menu.

I still have nine more new restaurants on my list of places to try this first half of the year! That includes:

  • Izumi Sushi, Cedar Rapids
  • Morning Story, Marion
  • Cruz's Café, Cedar Rapids
  • Crosby's, Cedar Rapids
  • Delhicacy, Cedar Rapids
  • Foundry Food + Tap, North Liberty
  • the hip-stir, Marion
  • Kingston's Steakhouse, Cedar Rapids
  • Hospoda, Cedar Rapids

Stay tuned for more reviews over the next few months! You can also follow along with my restaurant journey by following my CourtlinEatsIowa Instagram account HERE.

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