Cliff’s Dive Bar and Grill

Cliff’s- your place for something… different.

*Video correction- We misspelled Marcee's name in the video! Sorry about that, Marcee!!!*

If you are in the mood to try something completely different, there is a place called Cliff’s Dive Bar in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa that you really need to check out.

Today wasn’t my first time going there, but I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about their style of food the first time I tried it.  If you look at the menu, it’s immediately obvious that they don’t offer an “everyday normal” kind of food.  I tried it a while back, and I was pleasantly surprised that somebody could make food that looked really weird and taste really good at the same time.

The Pinwheel and Spam Fries

One of the more unique offerings that they serve is their Spam fries.  I wanted to get a picture of that today, so I ordered some of those along with what they call a pinwheel.

The Pinwheel

The pinwheel looks a lot like Sushi, and it even comes with chopsticks.  It’s actually a flour tortilla with ham, pickle, and cream cheese spread on the inside.  On the outside, they decorated it with yum yum sauce and flamin’ hot Cheeto powder.

The Spam Fries

The spam fries are exactly what they sound like.  Somebody cut up pieces of Spam into sticks and fried it.  They are also decorated on the outside with hot Cheeto dust.

Other crazy culinary creations by one of the most talented Chefs in Cedar Rapids

I have had the opportunity to try quite a few things at Cliff’s, and I have to say that my favorite things so far are the Asian meatloaf bites, the spaghetti meatloaf, the Spam bahn mi, the burger, and the Twix-amasu parfait for dessert.

Cliff’s Dive Bar is lucky enough to have one of the most talented chefs in town, and he really knows how to take things that don’t seem like they would go together and create things that are surprisingly delicious.

I have tried some things that I knew I normally wouldn’t like, but I ended up liking those things because of the different ways this guy knows how to prepare food.  One of his best tricks is pickled vegetables.  The Asian meatloaf comes with a pile of shredded veggies that normally wouldn’t have any flavor, but since they are pickled at Cliff’s, they end up being loaded with flavor.

The best advice I can give somebody who hasn’t been to Cliff’s before is just to try it.  If you see something on the menu that you absolutely know you wouldn’t like, by all means, avoid that one thing.  If you are on the fence about something, you might want to give it the benefit of a doubt.  I have tried enough different things here to know that most things are surprisingly better than they sound on the menu.

Cliff’s Dive Bar & Grill’s Facebook page is loaded with pictures of their food, so that can give you a better idea of what something is going to come out like.

These guys really know what they are doing with food, and all their menu items are well planned with flavors that are very balanced.

The restaurant is only a block away from the city parking garage, so you can park your bikes there.  They also have a party room for larger groups.

The main dining area has some really comfortable seating and cool décor.

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