Good food. Hope they can hire reliable staff so they can remain open on the weekends!read more

The food is good, but a lot is very off putting when one of the owners gets very nasty when you ask…read morefor milk in your coffee, or your grits, or if a side item in a meal can be purchased on its own, etc. Gave the place several chances. Will not return. Avoid this place at all costs.

Our trip to pick up a truck brought us to Grinnell Iowa. After the pickup we were on the hunt for…read moregood food. Yelp reviews pointed us to Frontier Cafe where we found the sweetest server and delicious food. Hubby had the Texas Omelette and I had the Spring Chicken dinner with extra avacado. Such a pleasant experience. Food was fresh, seasoned perfectly and plentiful.

I have visited this cafe on multiple occasions. The staff are always kind and friendly and the…read moreservice is always good. They have a large menu to choose from and it follows traditional diner food.

Cute little what appears to be mom and pop restaurant. Had skillet breakfast. Was quick and…read moreactually pretty good. Coffee was stale. Was offered fresh coffee. Prices were lower than what we were used to. Would recommend yes.

We went for lunch and had great service. Patty is always helpful and pleasant…read more Hubby had a steak sandwich which he said was very good. I had a patty melt and it was tasty. We both had fries and they were crispy and had a great seasoning. It's a pretty standard diner with booths and a few tables. The food came quickly and was hot and fresh

The food was delicious and exactly as described. The homade onion rings were the best id had in…read moredecades, no joke!! Im a coffee drinker and the service shines staying on top of my coffee needs! Simple vintage diner ambiance and bar! We have been here before and will return its a favorite. Thank you Jacey, great service

Super disappointed at the "blue plate hot turkey sandwich, hand carved turkey/freshly carved…read moremeats". Shame on us for not reading between the lines. Certainly not fresh carved turkey by any means! Totally processed deli sliced mystery "meat" that was supposed to be turkey. Unfortunately we both ordered this. Literally ate 1/4 of 1/2 of each sandwich, the smashed potatoes were the only salvation of the meal as the gravy too did not taste homemade. Visited Monday April 20, 2026 at lunch time. For our feedback we received 1.80 off our meal instead of being offered a replacement lunch as we didn't eat hardly anything. Don't blame the waitress at all but no manager came out to offer any assistance/additional compensation or replacement meal. Please do better next time someone has a legitimate complaint. Kathy S. St Paul MN

Always the same folks serving and preparing your food. Friendly , spotless and delicious. It's more…read moreFamily than crew. 5 Star!

After being out for a hike at one of the parks nearby, I needed to find a place to replenish my…read moreenergy and took to Yelp to find a diner or something similar to get the job done. Sunrise Cafe immediately piqued my interest, and it was all I hoped for. The sign on the wall when I walked in stated "if you leave here hungry, it's your own fault" and based on my experience that's 100% true. I ordered the meat lovers skillet and the skillet was absolutely overflowing with hash brown, egg, and meaty deliciousness! If I'm in the area again, I know where I'll stop.

Great food, service and drinks, fillet very good tall server was too... Prices are reasonable for…read morethe quality

What a wonderful experience. We stumbled upon this gem while traveling through the area. We were…read moreearly for our reservation and invited to visit the Speakeasy in the basement. That was a treat. The service and food were wonderful. The restaurant's simple decor is clean and crisp. Thanks for a great nite.

Wow what a find! Went for lunch on a Tuesday to find this gem! Hot honey brussel sprouts as a…read morestarter which tantalize you with a sweet heat and feta cheese bits to cool the palate. Followed by one of the most amazing hot Reuben sandwiches with spicy pickles and homemade aeoli and a side of real fries Hubby had hand battered fish and chips which was cooked to perfection. Add to all of these wonderful gems was a great waitress with a pot of fresh coffee on an always refreshed cup... Folks this was a wonderful gem not far from I-35 and worth the extra mile or two... Osceola's Gem!!

Another drive outta DSM, this time to Osceola's The Iron Horse Neighborhood Grill and I had thee…read moreBEST onion rings! I'm so glad we thought to order them AFTER our meals came, or I would've eaten the humongous pile as my meal. Delicious! Chicken Wings: they have "the good ranch" and the wings were really good. Dirty Bird: turkey and bacon sandwich, side of coleslaw. All was good. Personally, this sandwich would be awesome with stuffing on it, like a thanksgiving leftovers sammy! It felt slightly...lacking something, but my aunt liked it so that's all that matters. Rueben (forgot pic until half was gone): very good! Perfectly toasted marble rye, french fries piping hot and delicious. Once the fries and Rueben were delivered, that's when we realized we forgot to order the onion rings and ordered those as well. Sirloin & Baked Potato (forgot pic until halfway through my baked potato ): delicious! However, I'm a total sucker for baked potatoes, lots of butter and sour cream. Also, I was so enthralled with the onion rings, I really didn't touch the steak beyond tasting one bite. I did bring it home for my lunch today! So again...let's talk about these amazing onion rings! I love large, hand-battered onion rings, not a huge fan of shoestrings. These hit every mark in my book, and were 100% worth the 45min drive! ‍‍Service was excellent, highly recommend! Sometimes it's just nice to go for a little drive, which we appear to be doing more of lately! All for $75, plus $25 tip was an awesome meal for $100. Very affordable and top quality.

Hometown cafe at its finest. Not fancy but that's the way we like it. Fast service. Friendly…read morefaces. Coffee was hot and fresh. Food cooked right in front of us. All fresh and hot. Simple family spot. Very happy here.

Great food everytime we stop for breakfast. Fun small town diner feel. Try to stop everytime we are…read morepassing through Perry. Customers and employees are very nice.

Love this place. Double Ds! Everything was good and service was great. Got the bacon cheeseburger…read moreand daughter got the pancakes. Has the small town diner feel. We will be back regularly

Food was delicious and quick. Service was great. And I love the ambience. Oh, and the price was…read moregood.

If you are reading this, I would guess that you are traveling across Iowa on Hwy 20, or even up…read moreI-35, and you're searching the Internet for fresh food, and this stretch of highway looks pretty bare for hometown restaurants...but, you are in luck! Just detour into Steamboat Rock (five minutes off Hwy 20), and find yourself in another world, possibly another century. Mama's Family Diner is in the downstairs lunchroom of the local schoolhouse (formerly called the Schoolhouse Diner). You'll find yourself feeling like a very lucky grade school student, where the lunch ladies serve fresh made tortillas for your Mexican fare, and Iowa favorites for the nostalgic. The day we visited, the lunch specials were either burrito, enchilada, meatloaf and mashed potatoes with dessert, or goulash with dessert. There is also a Mexican menu of soft tacos (ground beef, chicken or steak) and quesadillas, etc. There are none of the tired old bar food menu items, the American fare is limited to the specials, and the Mexican food is geared toward Iowa palates, but this may change as the restaurant gains popularity. Your food (plenty of it) is served on real restaurant china, by Mama herself. And the burrito was muy grande, as you can see from our picture. Do yourself a favor, drop off the beaten path, and, when you step out of your car onto the quiet, peaceful street, bordered by old growth trees, and walk down the sidewalk into this renovated schoolhouse, you'll remember the good times when school lunch was the best part do the school day! Three stars because the menu is very limited, but five for home town atmosphere...this is what Iowa small towns are really like, hence the four star average.

Best home cooked Mexican food ever! Every time we visit Steamboat Rock, we have to come here…read more Everything on the menu is delicious. Went here with a vegetarian friend and Mama made the best vegetarian burrito she's ever had! Definitely worth the short drive off the interstate for some authentic home cooked food.