10 of the Best Local Restaurants Courtlin Ate at in 2021 [GALLERY]

If you follow my Instagram account CourtlinEatsIowa, then you know that I visited a TON of restaurants this year, both old and new!

Back in the fall of 2020, I made it my mission to visit a locally-owned restaurant for lunch every Friday. I noticed that I was constantly eating at the same places and I wanted to mix things up a little bit, but the main purpose was always to support as many local eateries that I could. The pandemic has not been kind to small businesses, so I wanted to do my part to help keep them open. By sharing photos of all my delicious meals on social media, I hope that I inspired a few others to do the same.

It was incredibly difficult to decide on restaurants, but I somehow managed to put together a list with ten of my absolute favorites that I ate at this year. I had to leave a lot of good ones out, but you can always check out my Instagram for more photos! Here are the ten I chose:

• Alebrije Mexican Restaurant
  • 401 S Linn St, Iowa City
• The Brass Fountain
  • 122 E Main St, Solon
• Cheesy Cow Mac & Cheesery
  • 5133 Competition Drive, Bettendorf
• Gianna's Italian Beef
  • 375 3rd St SE, Cedar Rapids
• Lucky's on 16th
  • 86 16th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids
• Midtown Station
  • 715 Second Ave SE, Cedar Rapids
• O's Grill
  • 3911 Center Point Rd NE, Cedar Rapids
• Sally's on Broadway
  • 263 Broadway, Springville
• Tornado's Pub & Grub
  • 1600 3rd Street SE, Cedar Rapids
• Vivian's Soul Food
  • 2925 Williams Parkway SW, Cedar Rapids

We also ate at some awesome places for Listener Lunch this year! Runt's Munchies, Chrome Horse, Wild Hogs, Biaggi's, and the Class Act all welcomed us with open arms and great food. You can check out photos from all of our 2021 lunches HERE.

What is your favorite local restaurant that you ate at this year? Give them a shout out in the comments!