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Iowa Eateries

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Princess Cafe
Iowa Falls, IA
The Princess Cafe was built in 1935. The facade is faced with Carrara glass. The interior features original woodwork and candy display cases. The neon sign is the original. These photos are from 2009. Around 2011, the restaurant became the Princess Grill & Pizzeria. The sign has been adapted. [map]

Tastee Inn & Out
Sioux City, IA
This Tastee Inn & Out was built in 1955. The original location was in Lincoln, NE. For more, see this website. [map]

Barrel Drive-in [gone]
Clear Lake, IA
The Barrel Drive-in opened in 1958. This stand featured a barrel sign, a giant rooster and a giant ice cream cone. The drive-in closed in 2017 and was demolished in 2018. The barrel, rooster, and ice cream cone were saved and moved elsewhere.

Cheri Top Drive-in
Muscatine, IA
The Cheri Top Drive-in opened in 1956 and is still operating. It features car hops. [map]

Mickel's Family Restaurant [gone]
Harlan, IA
Mickel's Family Restaurant opened in 1948 across the street. It moved to this location in the 1950s and functioned as a drive-in with car hops on skates. The restaurant was destroyed by a fire in the 1960s and rebuilt. These photos are from 2012. The restaurant closed in 2013 and the building was demolished in 2014. I don't know if the sign was saved.

Maid-Rite
Cedar Falls, IA		 Maid-Rite
Cedar Rapids, IA		 Big T Maid-Rite [gone]
Toledo, IA
The Maid-Rite chain is famous for its loose meat sandwiches. The first location was built in Urbandale, IA in 1926. At one time, there were about 400 locations in nearly 20 states, most of them in the Midwest. The company is still in business and there are about 70 locations at this point. Most of these are fairly new. For more old locations, see this page. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.

This Maid-Rite in Cedar Falls opened in 1947. [map]

The Maid-Rite in Cedar Rapids was built in 1935. [map]

The Big T Maid-Rite was previously known as Scudder's Maid-Rite. This location opened in 1946 in an already existing restaurant building. In 1956, Scudder's Maid-Rite moved to its present location. This Big T location closed in 2020 and this neon sign has been removed. For more, see this website.

Taylor's Maid-Rite
Marshalltown, IA
Taylor's Maid-Rite opened in 1928. This building was constructed in 1958, across the street from its original location. For more, see this website. [map]

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