The Flamingo — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

After driving past for years we finally decided to pay a visit to The Flamingo. This restaurant is only open to the public for supper on Friday evenings. We went specifically for the fish fry dinners. If you are looking for the taste of a midwest fish fry, this is it.

Being an event center, first and foremost, the tables are large and round. You can sit a large party of at least eight at one table, but groups of two and four are still given their own. There is some bar seating further back. This restaurant sees the early bird crowd, so keep that in mind when deciding how early or late you want to eat.

My Alaskan walleye dinner was cooked with the light crispy breading I was looking for. These dinners are served with sides, mine gave coleslaw and a choice of potato. I really liked that the party potatoes were tangy with a vinegar taste. My husband got the full rack of ribs, which also tasted great.

The wait staff was very friendly and they all worked together to clean up. I was so impressed when I saw them clear a large full table in less than a minute.

Overall I will keep coming back. The menu has enough variety to try more, but is small enough to make the decision easy. If you want a low key dinner on a Friday night, give The...

The venue where we held our wedding has an exclusive contract with Winifred's for bar services. It was a terrible experience. They charged $45/hour per bar tender. Our wedding was small so I requested only one, however they still sent two both of which pretty much stood there the whole night because of the number of guests. The bartenders were friendly. They also charged a gratuity and had a tip jar out which was filled and emptied several times by the bartenders. The last hour of our reception a man came demanding a check right then and there. He didn't even have an invoice for services and just scribbled some numbers down. When asked if we could pay on Monday morning when he had the correct numbers he said no. I had to send a friend to get my checkbook at the hotel we were staying at. Ruined the final hour of our night! They should require a deposit and than billed us for the remaining balance so they had everything correct which is what our catering company did. I would definitely not recommend Winifred's...

To be honest, if there was an option for zero stars then I would have selected that. I was and am very dissatisfied with the level of service we received at a recent wedding. First, the food was unacceptable, as the main dish (chicken) was served raw. Many of the guests ended up being ill. Second, the bartender was MIA for most the event. Third, the staff was very unprofessional and under trained. The staff were on their cell phones most of the evening and you could clearly see they either didn't want to be there or didn't know what they were supposed to be doing. Fourth, guests overheard the staff making racial comments aimed towards the event guests. All of the things that happened are completely unacceptable when you are in the business of catering. Especially, since YOU (Winifred's Catering & Event Planning) claim to be...