Courtlin Explores the Cedar Valley 2026 — Part 6 [PHOTOS]

Can you believe we're halfway through 2026?! This weekend, I completed my sixth month of visits to the Cedar Valley, a goal I set all the way back in January. That means I checked another restaurant off my list!

Originally, our plan for June was to visit a restaurant outside of Waterloo and Cedar Falls. Unfortunately, the place we chose isn't open on Sundays, so we had to pick a different restaurant. We were then forced to choose yet ANOTHER restaurant when we arrived at Newton's Paradise Cafe and discovered that it is temporarily closed! Lucky for us, we ended up at Carpenter's Diner, where I had one of the best breakfasts of my life.

Carpenter’s Diner via Facebook

About Carpenter's Diner

According to the WCF Courier, there were previously five different Carpenter's restaurants in the area, the first of which opened in the 70s. The article reads:

"Marshall Carpenter opened the first Carpenter’s restaurant in 1972 on West Fourth Street. It stood in what is now a parking lot under the U.S. Highway 218 overpass. Carpenter’s Lunch, which opened in 1975 across from City Hall, closed in late October 2012."

For 40 years, the restaurants remained in the Carpenter family. After Marshall, his son John and John's wife Nancy took over, with Nancy continuing to run the business after John's passing. In 2012, Nancy decided to retire, and the final restaurant closed its doors.

Cut to 2023: Marshall Carpenter's great-grandson Matthew, who began working at the family business when he was only 8-years-old, decided to bring Carpenter's Diner back to life. The Courier reports that he was 15-years-old when his grandmother closed the last remaining Carpenter's location, but that "the restaurant may have remained open" if he had been a little bit older.

Today, Matthew still uses some of his great-grandfather's original recipes at the new Carpenter's Diner, which is located at 518 Jefferson St. With 4.8-stars on Google, it's one of the highest-rated breakfast joints in the Cedar Valley. Now I know why!

What We Ate

When we discovered Newton's Paradise Cafe was closed, my friend suggested we go to Carpenter's Diner, even through she knew it would be busy. We immediately went to the hallway in the back of the restaurant to wait in line, where other customers assured us it was well worth the wait. It actually only took about 20 minutes to work our way up to the front, which wasn't bad at all!

After we were seated, we placed our orders fairly quickly. We didn't want to hold up our server, who was working her butt off! I ended up getting an omelette stuffed with steak, cheese, peppers, and onion, plus sourdough toast and hashbrowns with cheese. IT WAS PERFECT. The hashbrowns were hot and cooked to perfection and the omelette was delicious. Even the bread they used for the toast was good!

Courtlin

And, obviously, we have to talk about the pancakes. We were told they were huge, but we were not fully prepared for the size. You could hardly see the plate underneath! Not only was the size of the pancakes impressive, but they were also thick and fluffy and so, SO good. I had some of my friend's blueberry ones!

Courtlin

We didn't want to hold up the line of people waiting for tables, so ate what we could, and then boxed up the leftovers to take with us. The pancakes had to be folded in half to fit! We spent the rest of the morning raving about how fantastic the food was and how full we were. I was *almost* too full to grab a drink at Reader's Cup in Cedar Falls afterwards... but I did it anyways.

Pictured: The 'Beach Read' Lotus Energy Drink

Courtlin

I've had a lot of breakfasts at small, family-owned diners throughout my 35 years of life, but this trip to Carpenter's Diner is definitely one of the best. I WILL be back!

Restaurants I've Visited (So Far)

Here are all the restaurants I've been to in 2026 for my 'Courtlin Explores the Cedar Valley' series:

• January: Bigfoot Betty's, Cedar Falls
• February: George's Local, Cedar Falls
• March: The Brown Bottle, Waterloo
• April: 1850 Patio & Grill, Waterloo
• May: Zsavooz Sports Lounge & Grill, Cedar Falls
• June: Carpenter's Diner, Waterloo

Do you have any restaurant recommendations for me in July? Let me know in the comments or by sending me a message on our station app!

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