Riley’s Cafe & Catering

Steak and eggs are my favorite here. Nice portions and really juicy steak! This place was recommended by a friend and was very close to work. Not as much of a cozy vibe like the one on first ave, and the waitress seemed less friendly, but she was still efficient and on top of it. Very delicious and a great local find!

One of my favorite restaurants in CR; unfortunately not yesterday. Coffee not fresh and hot, Veggie Shipwreck cold and not the usual delicious; server not happy about being at work on Monday.

Love, love, love this Riley’s on Centerpoint Road just off the Cedar Valley bike trail and close to Collins Road and interstate 380. I literally drive by the Boyson Road Riley’s to come here as that Riley’s has disappointed too many times.
This Riley’s is our go to spot for breakfast. The restaurant is bright and cheery and full of fun artifacts decorating the walls (a Riley’s tradition). Service staff is warmly welcoming and I now feel like a regular. Coffee comes promptly and often. Options are many and include their famous shipwrecks (aka everything breakfasty on a plate). My regular order is an egg white garden veggie omelet that is bursting with big chunks of broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, pepper, and onion. Lately I have been good and skipping their amazing hash browns and ordering black beans as my side, but you shouldn’t. Ask for the potatoes to be made crispy.
We love their breakfast meat options which include Kielbasa and great bacon.
Be prepared to take leftovers home as the portions are huge.
Also, don’t fret re the seat yourself policy; Iowans are naturally really nice and they won’t try to cut in front of you or be aggressive. And, the tables turnover fairly quickly.
Enjoy!

Had the summer salad today — hands down best salad in Cedar Rapids! Always fresh, full of goodies, not just lettuce. I recommend dining here.

The atmosphere of this cute little restaurant is amazing, the staff is friendly and doesn’t watch over you like a hawk. They come when they need you, like its their 6^th sense. The food was excellent, but it did need a little something extra. I would deffinetly come back.

The food is great but having one waitress running the entire place is totally unacceptable for 30 patrons being here. Avoid at dinner time.

Really enjoy this place. Large menu and good service. Best diner on the north side by far.

One of my favorite breakfast/​brunch spots I’ve ever been to. I love making my own omelette, and the fact that they let me put multiple types of meat (including rib-​eye) and multiple types of cheese makes me very happy. An extremely pleasant place to relax at the start of a day.

We come here every couple of weeks on Sunday. I love the food (breakfast). It’s a greasy spoon so adjust your expectations appropriately. Service is friendly but extremely slow.

I’m giving this a 3 instead of a 2 because I remember visiting the Fairfax one in the past with a better experience. Since they don’t have a hostess or anything you really have to hope that one of the waitresses is paying attention when you walk in, cause no matter how much you stare at them, it still might take a while for one to come ask you what you’d like to drink.
I was really excited to order the eggs benedict cause i had a delicious one a few weeks ago somewhere else, but this one was slightly disappointing. Part of that is my fault.
First, they asked me if I wanted my poached egg hard or soft? I didn’t know a hard poached egg was even a think so I for some stupid reason said «medium?» and then I ended up with a poached egg with no runny stuff coming out of it. Not very tasty.
Otherwise, the sauce & ham was decent. The hashbrowns were definitely the frozen kind. And my chocolate milk glass smelled like a wet dog.
But overall it’s what you’d expect from a little Iowa diner kind of place. Average food, average service, tacky wall décor.

I really like breakfast at Riley’s. A little bit better pricing and food than Perkin’s and Village Inn and the food tastes just as good if not better.

Riley’s is a good local chain with above average food. Breakfast is probably their most popular meal, but they hold their own with their lunch and dinner menu too. This is probably my least favorite of all their locations. On Mondays the special is an $ 8 large pizza (any specialty or up to 3 toppings). When we ordered a pizza tonight we were told that it would be a 45 minute wait because «they make their pizza fresh». Really? Well I wasn’t born yesterday and I know it doesn’t take 45 minutes to make and bake a fresh pizza. So when I questioned our waitress she added, «it’s also because they have a small oven.» OK that I can believe, I just don’t like being lied to — thus the low rating. They weren’t very busy, maybe 5 other tables filled at the time. You have to question the wisdom of running a pizza special with an oven that bakes one or two pizzas at a time.
My advice: don’t order pizza here if you don’t have an hour to wait for your pizza to get in the oven. The Fairfax location has the same issue. Otherwise a very decent place to eat.

Riley’s Café is a great place to have a «home cooked dinner». Their menu contains many of my favorites, including open faced sandwiches! I highly recommend their turkey and brown gravy lunch specialty.
Their prices are very reasonable, and the service is very quick. This is Iowa’s take on Bob Evans.
SERVICE: ⁹⁄₁₀
AMBIANCE: ⁴⁄₁₀
FOOD: ⁸⁄₁₀
UNIQUENESS: ⁵⁄₁₀
OVERALL SCORE: 65
Service: Graded by the «Keep my cup full principle».
Ambiance: Pretty self-​explanatory
Food: A high food score does not always indicate it is a place for foodies. It is weighted based upon the establishment — thus bar food can receive a high score
Uniqueness: Higher scores indicate desire to return.

I’ve been here several times now as a result of a recommendation from the staff at Landmark Aviation. Can’t say I’ve been disappointed yet. They have good salads, burgers, and sandwiches. All for a reasonable price.