Pub 217 — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

Fair enough there was an Iowa game on. But service was non existent. 25 minutes to wait to have our order taken. Fine I ok with waiting for what was thought to be some good food. 22 minutes after placing the ordet we get our food. So here is the note to folks eating here. Don't go here if you don't like salt. Don't go here if you don't like meats that taste like fried buns. Contrasting flavors for the foods from one flavor to none. Sub par bar food and I would place the chef level at that of a pre beginner. So basic for proper taste and balance is lacking. Here is the order from tolerable to terrible on our list of what we had. Fries....yup those we're ok. Grilled cheese. Hard to mess up so it was ok. Big burger.... Personally I like some flavor to my beef and this was just a bland beef puck. Turkey burger. Bland as the burger. The Flight Club sandwich. Hints of bacon but nothing more fromt the dry turkey or the avacado. Weird so much as I have had the same sandwich elsewhere and it tasted very good but here it was lacking. Last would be the pork tacos. Ok habenero I get but that should not be the only thing you taste and overwhelmed in flavor.

We don't eat fast food as a rule and this place treated our bodies as such. No one felt well after the meal.

So if you like bar food that treats your body like a trip to MacDonald's including your own personal cup of the fyer oil then this...

A friend And I ate lunch at Pub217 (Saturday January 12th, 2019) for the first time. We walked in 11:30 on a snowy morning and the place was empty, except for the four guys having drinks at the bar. I wanted to have drinks too; Looked like fun but we were not there to have beers we were there to eat. And eat we did!

We started with "Fried Pickle Spears" /Ranch dressing on the side -delicious. Not that fried spears are-all gourmet and stuff but these spears were really the best I have ever had. The batter, which I think they make in house had a lot of dill. I appreciated that.

I ordered "The Big Burger" with American Cheese and fries, which they make themselves. I ordered med rare "a little pink". It was not served that way but was very juicy and tasty. The fries were crispy, chewy and well seasoned.

My friend enjoyed the "French Dip" with home made chips and she LOVED the chips! I enjoyed quite a few myself. They are cut waffle style but very thin (see attached picture).

We left Pub217 very satisfied with the flavor of both the food and ambiance. The place really warmed up by 12:30; it was full with a variety of patrons, families, young people old people laughing and having fun.

Total bill with an ice tea and diet mountain due was $34.00 plus tip. We were pretty generous because the service was very good and the wait...

Went here as a small group. We all shared the pretzel bites with beer cheese, spinach & artichoke dip and the battered & fried pickle spears with ranch dressing. Also, three of us each had different styles of burgers, of which we all enjoyed (but I forgot to take pics). One person had the tenderloin, which they said they enjoyed (also no pic).

I enjoyed the pretzel bites, they were fresh and light but a little bit salty so I just brushed some salt off of them. The beer cheese was tasty but I thought the beer flavor was a bit strong, and yes I do enjoy a beer every now and again.

The fried pickle spears were THE BEST I've ever had from anywhere! The batter on the pickles wasn't very thick (like most places), it was crunchy and well seasoned. I'm pretty sure they make them fresh unlike most other places.

Finally, I had the 217 burger with the BBQ sauce on the side, as I am always weary of different people's versions of that sauce, and fries. My burger was perfectly cooked and topped, the veggies served on the side. I was pleasantly surprised with the BBQ sauce, it wasn't really sugary or even that sweet just perfectly sweet and peppery with a good spice blend. The fries were the thin/small kind, cooked perfectly...