The Map Room — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

I visited Map Room last night with a group of friends before a show. They were very busy due to the event town. The place is small, but the atmosphere is nice. We sat on the patio because there was no indoor seating available. Our table was in a corner and the lights around us were all burnt out, making it dark, and we didn't have the comfort of an outdoor heater nearby that other patrons got to enjoy.

Food and drinks were delicious. The house-made vegan burger was great, and my friend loved the green tomato salad that came with his burger! Service was slow and lackluster. It took 30+ minutes just to get a drink, and we had to finish one before ordering another because they didn't have enough of the specific glass to serve it in.

After over 2 hours at the restaurant and our show starting, I had to track down a server to ask for our tabs. Everyone at the table had 2 hot hard ciders, and I also had a seasonal cocktail, but one of my friends and I were both charged for 3 hot ciders. The waiter was extremely rude about his mistake, and compensated my friend for the extra beverage, but not me. In fact, this man who is paid to serve us tried to gaslight and belittle me when I tried to explain his mistake, despite everyone at the table agreeing we all had two ciders. He was extremely unprofessional and weird about the situation and seemed like he was trying to sneakily inflate the bill. I was told I could talk to the manager about it, but the inattentive and slow service had already made us late for our show, so I compensated myself out of his tip and called it even.

All three of my friends were very off-put by the rude waiter and said their tips also reflected that. I wish I could leave zero stars for service, because that man was a failure of a food service worker and made our whole table uncomfortable. His piss-poor attitude and inability to perform an entry-level job in his middle-aged years made for some good jokes throughout the night, at least. Despite the great food and drinks, it will probably be a long time before I return to Map Room. I need to give time for that server to get a new job before I risk such an unpleasant encounter again. Everything was great, except the lousy service and unwelcoming...

Short version: After 2 hours, 5 drink orders, 3 orders of fries/naan, and an ignored request for gift cards, server Jeff approaches and asks my friend and I to leave so he could have the table for waiting customers. I still had half of my drink in front of me! I guess once you pay your tab, you’re no longer a valued customer.

Long version: My friend and I had met for drinks and dinner to catch up. We haven’t seen each other in several months. We arrived around 4:30 so we could get a table before the dinner rush. Jeff was our server and did okay at first but not the greatest service. I kept trying to catch his attention to order another drink and another server had to point me out to him because she noticed HIS customer’s needs before him. It was happy hour and my friend and I thought drinks were half off. She had been there another night and thought that had been what the special was. It was our mistake, which was fine, but when we got our bill and asked about it, Jeff looked at as and rudely stated, “ Who told you that? We never do half off.” I said it was our mistake but kindly suggested to him in the future to announce specials to his customers when he first greets them at the table. My friend also had mentioned to him she wanted to purchase some gift cards, but he never followed up and before she could even ask, he approached us and asked us to leave because they needed our table. I still had half of a Manhattan in front of me! Apparently I was suppose to chug it and hop in my car to drive. We had been there about 2 hours from start to finish and that was my third drink. We were already aware they were busy and were going to get out of there after I finished that drink. Perhaps if I’d have been able to order it the first time I tried to get his attention, I would have finished it and we’d have already been gone. If a business wants to operate as a restaurant, they should find a larger location instead of pressuring paying customers to get in and out. This is a bar that serves burgers, fries, & naan, not a full...

Place is tiny. I think 8 or 9 tables? And about 7 at the bar? You would benefit from making a reservation, especially on the weekend. Went on a sat night. Put our names in about 20 min prior to arriving and still had to wait about 20 min. Their menu asks customers to be mindful of others that are waiting since it is a small place, but no one really does that as there were still 3 or 4 tables that were there prior to our 3 party arrival still there as we were leaving. The burgers were pretty good. They are smash burgers. I had the Memphis, which has pulled pork on it. The pulled pork is served bare with the BBQ sauce drizzled on it, instead of the pork being smothered in sauce. It still had good flavor. My partner got the Omaha and said it was really good! He made his a double for $4 more. The fries are nice and crispy. I usually am not a fan of these style of fries, but I enjoyed these. Pepsi products, which I was happy about a it's not often you find a place that serves Pepsi products. They had bloody marys on special. It was a little hard to drink their house made mix had too much pickle juice and Worcestershire in it, but I finished it. That was $5 on special. Tall boys are $5. Service was fantastic! There is only 1 thing in the menu geared towards kids.... a half a grilled cheese and fries for $6. Otherwise, you can choose a build your own burger for kids. My daughter just wanted a plain cheese burger, nothing fancy, and that was $10 for build your own. Our bill was $67, for 2 adult burgers, 1 build your own, 2 sodas, 1 bloody mary, and 2 tall boys. They do have other sandwiches or salads if you do not want a...