The Crane & Pelican Cafe

Historic house once owned by a riverboat captain with amazing view of the Mississippi turned into a restaurant. My server was excellent. I chose to go with the meatloaf and I wasn’t disappointed on the first visit. I tried the Cobb salad on my second visit and walked away satisfied. I would love to visit LeClaire again. The restaurant is right down from the American Pickers antique shop. It stormed the night I ate there and we were in the dark for awhile eating by candlelight. I was waiting for the ghost of Captain Dawley to pay a visit! Ruh Roh Raggy! Scooby Doo!

This place is absolutely fantastic. Probably a top three restaurant in the Quad City market. Never have had bad food here. I always try something I am not sure I will like and I’m always surprised by it. Great location being in an old 1800s home which I love.

Great local Le Claire eatery. Have been many times since moving to town. Loved it every time. And good with kids!

Delicious food in a neat setting. Midshipmen sandwich was one of the best veggie sandwiches I’ve ever had — really good sweet Thai sauce. Saffron risotto on the side was also great. Husband had the beef tenderloin sandwich with goat cheese mashed potatoes and he loved them both.

Came here for lunch on a tour of Iowa. We were not disappointed. The soup was tasty and the meal was too. Service was average. Loved the décor and the space. I would definitely go back if I was in the area.

Just had the most amazing stuffed goat cheese stuffed pork-​chop. Not sure I have ever had a better piece of pork. Everything was perfectly cooked. It waste nightly special but they should add it to menu because it was mouth watering.

Driving up to this place it is adorable. Its an old house remade into a restaurant. But that is about all that was great. The food was ok, solid 3 stars, but nothing special. I got a California cobb salad. It was nothing special, anyone could have made it. We also ordered the Totes Ma Goats which was good, but again could have had more of either flavor or texture. Its a cute place for lunch, but nothing more. Servers were friendly, service was good.

Cobb salad is amazing, fresh crispy and the perfect amount of every ingredient. We were just passing through and I ordered the salad to go, they had it ready in a couple minutes, but after seeing the interior i wish i had time to sit down and there! next time!

Excellent lunch! The Welsh rarebit appetizer was outstanding as was the chicken and dumpling soup. Our entries: Cobb salad and the midshipman sandwiches were prepared to perfection including the made to order focaccia for the sandwich. I chose the goat cheese smashed potatoes as a side and would recommend them every time! Great food in a beautiful location with top notch service!

Wow!!! What a great atmosphere, service and ultimately the food. Highly recommended. My girlfriend and I have the hummus plate and «totes da goates» (tomato caprese) for starters. Fresh and clean and wonderful. I had meatloaf for entrée and was totally worth it. I’m not even that big of a meat eater (chef sneaks some chopped dill pickle in there). She had the midshipmen (she is a vegetarian which they have lots of good choices) and hasn’t stopped talking about her food. We never do dessert but had to try the fresh pie after what we just experienced and let me just say they rolled us to the car. Will be back!!! Oh and the building itself is an absolute gem. 1850s like mansion. Perfect date place.

I came here for a night out with friends and thoroughly enjoyed the evening. The menu is a nice break from your standard eatery and everyone in our party really enjoyed the food. I myself had the duck breast done medium with a cherry glaze and goat cheese mashed potatoes. I can honestly say that I absolutely loved it. I will most definitely be back for the duck alone, but look forward to trying the other menu items.

Stopped for the architecture and really enjoyed the food. Have the chicken dumpling soup, the Caesar salad and the apple pie.
Service is great too!

Beautiful setting for a meal in Le Claire. The food however is a hit or miss, half of our dishes were delicious and the other half looked right out of a hospital cafeteria (in a bad way in case you are actually a fan of hospital food). Came in for lunch and was wooed by the ribeye supper and portabella sandwich, and was heartbroken by the gyro sandwich and steak salad (meat had grilled marks but was gray, tasted and textured like it was steamed). More disappointing with the food was the service. It took about 40 minutes for appetizers to come out, and over an hour for our entrees to come out. When we followed up with our waitress, she started slamming our water glasses when refilling them and our plates as they came. The stress and tension from the lunch over shadowed any highlights from our food. Check out the Faithful Pilot instead, and ask for the back room for a view!

Wifey and I finally got a date night and decided to give Crane and Pelican a try. It’s a quaint place close to the River Drive strip in LeClaire, with views of the Mississippi.
The restaurant is in the historic Dawley House, which was apparently built in 1851. There’s local art for sale on the walls, which adds to the ambiance.
We started the meal with the cranberry hummus platter, which sounded just weird enough to try. It was delicious.
I ordered the pecan crusted salmon with blueberry compote, which was mouthwatering. It came with generous portions of mashed potatoes and broccoli. Wifey had the open faced roast beef on beer bread. The beef is from Sawyer Farms in Princeton, Iowa. Wifey loved it. This was one of those meals that your brain tells you to stop because you’re full, but your mouth tells you to power through. We powered through and I followed it up with some house made limoncello. My only gripe is that the bread that came on the side of the plate was tough, which seemed like an aberration, given the otherwise splendid meal.
The menu has so many items that sound good, I feel like I could go back again and again. I loved this place — the atmosphere, the food, the local ingredients and the views were all superb. What else can I say? Go there now.

Maybe it was my colleague’s charming story of killing a spider with a hatchet but this is a solid five star restaurant in an awesome victorian building. I learned about the restaurant on Unilocal!They had me at Asparagus Sandwich! :-)
Décor — the restaurant is housed in a beautiful Victorian building. Hardwood floors abound and everything here screams charm and distinction.
Food — AWESOME! I had a great meal. I started with Thai Corn Fritters. With a Red Curry sauce, they were a refreshing play on a classic comfort food. The highlight was the Asparagus Sandwich. On Pumpernickel, the cream cheese and red peppers pulled the excellent flavor of the Asparagus right out! The Asparagus was intentionally cold and refreshing. The 3 cheese Polenta added a warm component to a great meal.
Service — Overall excellent service. They were efficient and well informed on the menu. My colleague bought coasters and the waitress seemes concerned that they would be paid for. If she knew my colleague it would have been a valid concern but she didn’t so it shouldn’t have been an issue. Right, Robin G?
Overall, great experience and highly recommended!

Cute old building that has been transformed into a little restaurant. They kept all of the original hardwood floors. We only ordered appetizers while we were there.
Scallops: Excellently seared with great flavors. A little too much «juice» on the plate. The arugula should be fresh but instead was a bit of a soppy mess due to all of the juice/​sauce on the plate.
Thai Corn Fritters: Very innovative. Who would have thought to add curry paste and sweet chili sauce to corn fritters? The Fritters were delicious on their own but the sweet chili sauce really elevated the flavors a notch.
Hummus Platter: Very general spread. Comes with pita bread, cucumbers, olives, and cherry tomatoes. There were 3 different varieties of hummus on the plate. A very generous serving.

Worth a short trip from I-​80 for the charming ambience and river views from the back room. Staff is friendly. Food was hit or miss.
We had Thai Corn Fritters – better as an idea than actually executed. Meatloaf sandwich was a large slice and deliciously grilled, but somewhat salty. Horseradish mashed potatoes, were flavorful, but room temperature. Veggie pita was unremarkable but inoffensive.
Adequate selection of wines and drinks.

I can’t believe that after all these years, I had never been to The Crane & Pelican Café. I think I’m going to have to come back here every time I go back home to Iowa!
When we were walking to get here, I kept thinking my mom was lost (we were in a neighborhood) — nope! This restaurant is inside of an old home that looks over the Mississippi River. It is very quaint and quiet — we came here for lunch but I would love to come back for dinner. The front room has a gorgeous chandelier and fireplace.
The menu is amazing — I want to try EVERYTHING. All items are reasonably priced, fresh, and veggie lovers will be very pleased. We ordered an appetizer of the stuffed dates (they come warm — 6 of them on a plate), and my mom ordered the portabella sandwich, my sister ordered the asparagus sandwich, and I ordered the chicken salad sandwich. Everything was to die for (of course I tried their sandwiches too). The chicken salad has bacon in it (duh, because it’s amazing), and is served on a croissant. All of the sandwiches came with a side, so we ordered the slaw and mushroom risotto. You can’t go wrong here, no matter what you order. They have a variety and there is something for everyone.
The service is great — we were never left hanging, and the food came out fast. This is hands down one of my favorite restaurants in the area now!

The restaurant is in a home built in the 1800’s set atop a hill over looking the Mississippi River.
The corn fritters are amazing, also had the open faced roast beef dinner which was just the right size and the bread that it is on was a type of beer bread which gives it a very unique taste.
Would highly recommend to anyone looking for a nice quite dinner with amazing food and great views!

Honestly, I was disappointed based on the high reviews here.
We arrived and were seated only to be ignored for long enough that we thought about leaving. Finally someone acknowledged us and brought waters and took a drink order. We put in our food order soon after — the asparagus sandwich and the meatloaf sandwich, and also an order of the corn fritters for a shared appetizer. I’ve included pictures of the meatloaf and fritters.
So, those fritters… well, the best I can say is that the chili dipping sauce is good, and you’ll need it. The fritters are incredibly bland, and the corn is clearly canned. That’s unacceptable for a corn dish in Iowa! The meatloaf sandwich was absolutely huge, but quantity counts for much less than quality. I just never could find a lot of flavor in it.
Blah.
The upside — the restaurant is in an historic old home, and if you’re lucky you can snag a table in the room overlooking the Mississippi. Very pretty.