Deb’s Ice Cream

It seemed… each time The Lost Cuban decided to close on unexpected time, I was in for a bad meal elsewhere. It happened once before. Now it happened again.
Granted, this meal wasn’t bad. However, it wasn’t good either. It was just okay. However, I didn’t really want to slam this place totally as it is kinda a cute locally owned small mom and pop’s place. I always want to support a place like this. Hopefully, this review will help them improve their quality.
It was next to The Lost Cuban, and since I was pressed for time, I just went in next door. It was a surprise going in as I thought it was more a family restaurant setting. However, one side was for ice cream, the other was for food. I ordered at the counter and then I sat down and ate my meal.
I ordered the tortilla soup and a Cobb salad. The tortilla soup came as a creamy soup that was rather loose with black beans, corn, and chicken, garnished with some cheese and sour cream. There was no tortilla though. Mh. It was like eating fish taco without the fish.
The Cobb salad was vibrant and good except that I ate it out of a clam shell. Not sure why the whole place looked sorta kinda quaint and homey then they served food in a to go container. The salad dressing was also from a pouch.
Then, I heard some people trying to order foods and they were out of everything. They were out of potato salad and they had no bacon to make BLT sandwich. How could a restaurant in Iowa be out of bacon? Sounded like such a sacrilege.
It was just okay but it felt weird and wishy washy. Hopefully their ice cream was much better than the tortilla soup. However, I blamed this on The Lost Cuban for closing all the damn time when they were supposed to be open. I did not need to get more taste of okay Cedar Rapids food that often.
If they put more thoughts on their concept and the food, this place could be an adorable downtown neighborhood deli/​ice cream parlor. It was just too casually run. Maybe it was okay for people who understood and knew the drill. However, to attract new customers and ensure repeat visit? Not so much.

Finally had a chance to get some ice cream. It was delicious. Staff is nice. I still wish they were open a bit later, seems like they could capture some of that post dinner crowd…

Best deli downtown. Food always fresh. Great salads pre made so no wait. Daily specials a good option. Great locally owned institution. I eat here all the time. Recommend.

I work downtown, so Deb’s is a great «treat» place. Go for happy hour which is daily from 2 – 3: 2 scoops for the price of 1. I have had the pistachio ice cream and the rainbow sherbet. The pistachio was AH. MAH. ZING. yummm. Friendly staff also!
The décor is pretty outdated and seating can be cramped.

While walking around the downtown farmers market we were about to start melting from the heat when we saw Deb’s Ice Cream shop. Kelly’s son was immediately excited about this, but not as excited as I was.
Kelly had the Kitty Kitty Bang Bang (oreo’s and strawberry or raspberry in vanilla ice cream), Jackson had Chocolate, and I had the Amaretto Cherry. Mine was really good and Kelly said hers was as well. I made it almost all the way to the bottom of the cone without it dripping. I was so impressed with myself.
The service was pretty good, they weren’t very busy considering the farmers market right outside their doors and the sweltering heat. Downtown Cedar Rapids is sorely lacking on dessert options, so Deb’s is a nice find.

Support your Downtown!!! I work a couple of blocks from Deb’s, and it’s a nice afternoon break to walk over for a sweet treat. The menu otherwise is lacking, but why would you eat anything else when you can just eat ice cream? It’s affordable, a local business, and it’s ice cream. I’m sold.

Can’t speak for their food but I loved their ice cream. I made note of their ‘happy hour’ and planned to come back between those hours just for fun.
My husband had never been there and one day we were out running errands and decided to stop in for happy hour. Once we walked in, we realized we were about 15 minutes early– so we decided to just sit at a table and chat for a bit before the happy hour began. The girl behind the counter yelled to our table «Are you seriously waiting for happy hour???» and then laughed uncontrollably so every patron could hear her making fun of us.
I said «yes, we are» (with no smile) and she said «Oh my god, that is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve NEVER had anyone wait for that».
It would have been one thing if we came in and made a big fuss about needing to wait for 15 minutes– but we were sitting at a tabling chatting and just passing time– we hadn’t even said anything to the staff. I think it was extremely rude of the girl working (not to mention– embarrassing) and we were ignored by other staff members after this girl went over and told them that we were going to WAIT until happy hour.
I really love their ice cream but I will think twice before going back. Looks like from other reviews that I am NOT The only customer to receive attitude from the staff at Deb’s.