Barrett's Quality Eats — Restaurant in Coralville

This was technically my third Barrett's experience, but the first time dining in. I SO wanted everything to be amazing... but it just wasn't. The restaurant itself looks so cute and upscale! The patio is great! Their assortment of canned goods and other items you can buy is really impressive. Their coffee was good. I had one of their "seasonal" gluten-free pastry items to go that was delicious. Here's where it goes downhill. When I walked in, I was expecting to wait at a hostess stand to be seated... I believed this place to be upscale, based on the menu and decor, right? It was Sunday around 10AM, and there were about 6-7 people milling around the bakery/coffee/entry. I thought they were waiting for coffee or carry-out orders. So, after there's obviously no one at a hostess stand, I asked the guy behind me if I had to order at the counter? He said, "Yes, there's the line." Ah! Ok, so I grab a menu and head to the cashier counter. I order very quickly, smoked salmon eggs benedict, which I get at every opportunity when I eat breakfast out. And a black coffee. I asked if I should just seat myself or wait to be seated... again, wondering why so many people are waiting in the vicinity. She said I could just sit where I wanted, outside or inside? I said outside. I paid $26.00 for my black coffee, in a to go cup, and my salmon benny. I went outside, found a seat, and was told I could grab my own water, silverware, and napkins from the table outside. Ok, no problem. Literally 3 minutes later my benny arrives. It looks OK...I'm thinking, that was super fast. Is everything cooked enough? Sadly, I forgot to take a photo! It's covered in a generous amount of hollandaise sauce....in fact, drowning in hollandaise. Ok, so some people like that! I don't. When I dug in, I noticed that the poached eggs were so lightly cooked that the white was still, well, wet, too wet. To me, that's an under cooked poached egg. I'm still super excited about the in-house smoked salmon, so I get a generous pile of smoked salmon, dipped in the goopy yolk (love that!), a little bun, and sauce, all in one forkful. I carefully take a bite. Um. Is this supposed to be cold? I tasted each item individually to test them. Egg & hollandaise were lukewarm, almost cool. The smoked salmon was cold, like out of the fridge cold. Not gonna lie, I scraped off half the sauce and ate the yolk and salmon anyway. It was good! My take: Eggs Benedict is by definition a hot dish. All of it. I get the hollandaise is probably not super hot, but should be warm and pleasant to taste. If this was actually meant to be a cold dish, that's fine, but don't call it eggs benedict. It was, for me, an unpleasant experience. One more thing...it was served on the same hot plate as a really delicious, simple, perfectly pre-dressed mixed greens salad. It tasted great and looked beautiful! The greens were also lukewarm. In summary, I felt uncomfortable and lost on my first visit and would have preferred a sit-down waiter/waitress experience for the price of my dish. The salmon benny and this restaurant probably need to decide what they're going to be, and go with it. The benny, commit to hot or cold. The restaurant, commit to upscale with servers or lower priced...

This restaurant shines with positivity like a 1000-watt bulb! From it's spic and span tiled interior to the glorious array of pastries behind glass on the counter, everything about the place pops with a fresh style. They have a full service coffee island and a food service counter with a somewhat limited menu and the aforementioned display of sweet and savory pastries. Although the menu is not large, everything on it is prepared with the utmost care and attention to detail. The breakfast sandwich is a good example of this. It is a simple affair, having only four components, bun, egg, cheese, and bacon. But each one of these is carefully chosen to create a synergistic effect, the sandwich seeming more delicious than it has the right to be. The bun is brioche, light, perfectly textured, and with just enough flavor. The egg is unusual in that a batch is seemingly baked in sheet pan and then cut into portions. This results in a light, smooth square of egg perfectly suited to a sandwich. A square of American cheese is melted atop the egg, and although many might be judgmental about the prosaic nature of a square of processed cheese food, it's flavor profile and texture fit very well with the sandwich, again, well chosen. The bacon is spot-on, not too thick, not peppered or overly smoky, just plain, crisp bacon. The result is a simple yet wonderful breakfast sammie. I could easily write a thousand words describing the food, I have had the Roasted Potato and Havarti Croissant, the Heirloom Tomato Croissant, Ham and Cheese Croissant, and a Ranchero Burrito that was delightful. Each and every dish was fresh and tasty, and the decor added an extra layer of enjoyment. They offer lunch as well, and I hope to return soon to sample those dishes. I can say, without doubt, that if you go, you will like...

Run, don’t walk, to Barrett’s for dinner!

We have dined at Barrett’s many times for breakfast. Their baked goods and pastries are unmatched in the area. The breakfast menu doesn’t disappoint either.

But listen, tonight we decided to try Barrett’s for dinner and we were floored.

Dinner, in my opinion, is really where Cory Barrett’s food shines. The creative and thoughtful menu is the first clue that your experience will be wonderful.

We had a delicious meal, with fantastic service and we both agreed the atmosphere was perfect (busy but not loud, great music, and soft lighting).

Read on for details surrounding our meal:

For our drinks,we ordered an Old-Fashioned and their “Winter Julep.” I found the Winter Julep to be a well-developed cocktail with unique and festive flavors.

We each enjoyed a Parker house roll and shared the crab cake for an appetizer. The rolls were fluffy, buttery, and included just the right amount of salt. The crab cakes were hearty and flavorful. I could have licked the tarragon béarnaise sauce the crab cake was nestled in straight off the plate…

For our main course my husband had the Hanger Steak and I enjoyed their Prime Rib with Patatas Bravas. Both pieces of meat were cooked to perfection, and I guarantee I will dream about the crispy Patatas Bravas with the delicious aioli. And, let’s be honest, I’ll probably also dream about the whipped horseradish butter that came with the prime rib.

For dessert we shared the Lemon Meringue Angel Food Cake with toasted meringue, citrus curd mousse, and orange caramel. WOW! What a lovely book end to our meal — the dessert was filled with bright flavors and was simply delightful.

Again, we can’t recommend hitting up Barrett’s for...