This place is just wonderful. It has a calm and cozy atmosphere and vibe when you walk in. The…read morestaff are warm and welcoming, ready to help. Now, I love a good breakfast and brunch place, especially when it isn't a crowded chain place. This place fits that bill. It is a local place with two locations. The menu is brilliantly "evil" making it extremely difficult to choose just one dish to try. They all look amazing and delicious, so of course, you will need to visit more than once to enjoy all that they have to offer. During my visit, I tried their cinnamon roll pancakes with eggs and bacon. Oh boy are they incredible! The pancakes just melt in your mouth, full of flavor. The eggs were a classic standard of scrambled eggs and the bacon I ordered crispy as I like a good crunch. My companion ordered the Hobo Scramble and just loved it. She made sure to take some home to enjoy for a second time. All in all, I enjoyed my experience and look forward to my next visit and delicious meal.

One of my favorite breakfast places , ANYWHERE!!! Food, service, location...all wonderfulread more

The Filling Station is a gas station, an extra stocked convenience store, a breakfast/lunch food…read morecounter, and a tables inside and out to enjoy your refreshments and the view. Gayle and I stopped in today after reading about it within some "48 hours in Ames" article. I ordered a brisket grilled cheese sandwich, while Gayle chose a similar one with blackberry flavoring. We split a can of Guinness off the convenience store fridge, and then sat outside for our street and car wash view. We had nice shade on a not too hot day and took the opportunity to hang out bit after we finished our meal. This was a tasty and pleasant experience of good value overall.

Was nearby for an early meeting and had a gap before my next one. Decided to grab breakfast and…read morerolled the dice and just went here for a quick bite. Wow, it is a lot more than a quick breakfast at a gas station! The kitchen was complete and had a full menu offered up. It was also a commercial bakery... multiple bakers working on cinnamon rolls that looked divine! I had a breakfast quesadilla. It had real flavor in it with candied jalapeños. It was a lot but judging from all the plates I saw come out of the kitchen everything there was solid in serving size. The chai latte was good too. And the folks were nice. They definitely have loyal fans locally, folks were ordering for tailgates!

We always try to eat here when we are in town to visit family. The menu is quite good but the…read morespecials are usually even better. We had the Baja Shrimp Taco special last Wed and restaurant week started so we had the entire Thai tasting menu on Friday. It was fabulous - please check it out. It is Midwest hot, not Thai hot. Staff is always great. We almost always end with carrot cake - I had ZoeBakes carrot cake in the Twin Cities and it was not anywhere close to as tasty as The Cafe's version. I would agree with some other posts that the lighting in some areas makes it very hard to read the menus or see your food. Updated lighting would be helpful. We try to come early and get a spot near the windows so that we can see better.

Disappointed... I came here for restaurant week to try their Thai Menu. It looked good online and…read morethought I'd give them a try. The Cafe has been on my list for a while now. Disappointed to say the least, I came in the back door not realized there was a correct door and was rudely cut off by other patrons at the front desk. I had to wait several minutes to be waited on and the place had plenty of spots. Maybe because I was a party of 1... they didn't seem to care. After I shared what drink I wanted, I learned they were out... fine no problem. I asked about the Thai specials, the waitress was clueless. I had to ask for the restaurant week menu and ask about the specials. She said they looked good but couldn't describe them and hasn't tasted them. I got the salad on special, but get this... they were out of the main restaurant week special... such a let down. The ambiance was mixed, one corner was a cute date night the other corner was crying children. All dimly lit and outdated decor. The whole experience was off, I ended up leaving after my one drink and salad. I hope to give this place a second chance sometime but hope they aren't out of dishes and I can get a trained server. Maybe another night for sure!

Awesome place that really surprised. Clearly a farm to table concept with a varied but overwhelming…read moremenu. Came in on a weeknight with coworkers and received good service and fantastic food. Nice drink menu (I enjoyed their take on the old fashioned) with cocktails and a nice craft beer selection. Everyone loved their food, from the barley soup to the ravioli, burger, Brussels salad, and the salmon I got. Hidden gem perhaps was their incredible dessert selection. The cherry tart was a pleasant surprise and the salted caramel chocolate cake will def fix a choc craving. Would gladly come back.

Provisions Lot F in Ames…read more If you like fresh baked breads and bomb desserts, along with amazing food, head to Provisions if you're in the area. Pork Belly app: thick cut pork belly in lettuce cups, topped with sweet thai glaze, pickled carrots, onions, celery, mint, thai basil, cilantro, scallions and crushed peanuts. A tad sweet for me but overall this was a great app. Slice of Sourdough: delish. Chicken Japchae: since my mom has celiac disease, we were very excited to see this on their menu - dining out with her can be a challenge. Especially at a place specializing in breads! The only unfortunate part about this dish is (I think) they forgot they already salted the chicken and salted it again...and then again. I'm not one to say something is too salty, I love my sodium but this was mouth-puckering salty. Inedible, actually, but the noodle dish itself was SO GOOD that she set the chicken aside and ate the entree. NY Strip Steak: perfectly med-rare, served with a garlic-rosemary potato pavé (like a potato casserole of sorts), roasted broccolini and a house steak sauce that was similar to a demi glaze. Not a bite left - no leftovers with this one. I ate the whole dang thing. Myself. And I have zero regrets. Crème Brûlée: I also couldn't leave without ordering a crème brûlée because there are some really bad ones out there. This did not disappoint. I also took home a Dubai Chocolate tort, Raspberry Crumble and a Flourless Chocolate cake. ZERO regrets but if you love Dubai chocolate then you know there are some discusting renditions of this in the market. However, the Dubai chocolate tort at Provisions Lot F is . I can't even describe how delicious this was and is worth the drive to Ames just for this dessert. If you're north of DSM for a game or whatever, I highly recommend Provisions! I'm already scheming a way to get back there...soon!

Perkins is one of the few restaurants open 24-hours and the Perkins in Ames, Iowa is one of the…read morebest Perkin's restaurants in the country, in my opinion. It's especially nice in a college town where students can go to eat and study late at night without bothering roommates (or vice versa). Perkins offers real food and is famous for their breakfast menu. They have a special late-night snack menu from 9 pm until 6 am. They offer pies, cookies, muffins, and other desserts to "take home." Perkins has a special "Gluten Sensitivities" menu as well. I especially like the slogan on the back of their shirts that says "Kindness Served Daily" because the servers seem to exemplify it. Two eggs, two bacon strips, hash browns and two toasts, and a coke cost $12.50, so about $15.00 with tax and tip. That seems a bit high but kind, quick service makes up for it.

Nothing to complain about food wise since it was delicious! Just keep and eye on what your biting…read moreinto. Our server was an older lady and was not very pleasant. The younger lady that sat us initially deserved the tip. Very clean establishment otherwise.

Bring cash!! Cash only!…read more We stopped in for a Sundays hankering of biscuits and gravy. Did not know it was cash only. Save yourself the extra atm fees and bring cash. Don't let that distract you from the tasty food this plays cooks up. Pancakes of the win. Def on my rotation of great breakfast spots.

Small town diner kinda place. Good food. Service was friendly but a little disorganized (not a big…read moredeal). Had to go down in the scary basement to find a restroom so not good for folks e mobility issues. But given the food was good and people friendly, I would return.

Not gonna lie to you I was a bit skeptical of hyvee Chinese, but I'm telling you if you order the…read moreright thing it can be amazing. Most of the Chinese chicken is not that great, except for sesame chicken! It is crunchy and sweet and so so delicious. I keep going back for more and I'd highly recommend it. I can't say the same for the other dishes, but the sesame chicken is the best.

I got the pulled pork sandwich with one side, $8.99+tax. See pics. It was hot, tasted good, but…read morejust like any other pulled pork one can get at many stores. Very friendly staff. Clean. Good variety of foods. Family friendly. Plenty of parking. The pr ves are too high. One can get a sandwich that tastes more smokey at Jethro's with two sides about a mile or so away. This is a place that I love the buffet, but haven't had it for many months. If you are going for buffet, it's a bit pricey, but I'd give the buffet a solid 4 star, from what I remember. If it was less expensive, it would probably come in at a 5 star. Just my opinion. Marcydiner tantrum scale of 5/5-no screaming kids.

Dublin Bay is an Ames long time favorite. Locally owned and operated Dublin Bay has a great bar…read morearea and quieter restaurant section. I love their food including Ruben, fish and chips, shepherds pie and Club Sandwich. I highly recommend Dublin Bay.

We stopped in for dinner before an event at Stevens auditorium. We were seated right away and got…read moreour orders in. It's a very relaxing Irish pub vibe with a variety of seating options and lots of TVs. Our drinks came out quickly and the food followed shortly thereafter. I got a martini and it was very well prepared. My wife got a glass of wine from their decent wine list. For dinner, I had the lamb burger, which was quite tasty. It was a good combination of flavors and the fries were hot and crisp. My wife got a naked burger with a side salad. The creamy Parmesan was very tasty and it was a nice bed of greens. A table next to us had some sort of a problem with one of the dinners and the server tried many many times to get the customer to order a replacement, but he said he was OK with what he got. When she brought the check to them she made sure to take that off since he did not eat it and would not accept a replacement. They seem shocked at this, but I wondered why they just didn't get a replacement! Great service by that server. She was also our server and did a fantastic job with us. We had very tasty food and great drinks , so I would definitely recommend it and would go back if I was in the area.

i adore this store! it's cozy and is stocked with the snacks and asian groceries that i like at a…read moregood price! the owner is super friendly and quick!

I've been here several times, and I've had great service. The owner (that the other review said…read morewas not friendly) always says hello to me and asks if I need any help finding anything. Several times she has also given me free items to try and see if I like them. I'll agree that some of the freezer items could be labeled a little better with prices and/or dates, but I haven't really purchased any of those items. I typically come in for different noodles, sauces, and spices. I have found all the prices to be very reasonable, and way cheaper than trying to buy all these specialty items from Amazon or other online vendors. The store itself is a little small and cramped, but that's part of the charm. This is a great store with friendly staff and an awesome selection considering the small size.

I got to go food from the HyVee Market Grill tonight and it was sooo good! I've had a few meals…read morefrom here over the last few months and it's always good, or 98% of the time it is. It was fish Friday and we got the meal for $5(a great deal!) while the fish was good, they failed to give us tartar sauce (and utensils). I dipped my fish in the Cole slaw sauce. Omdog!!! It's been a LONG time since I had their coleslaw. And it's nearly identical to my mom's(master chef). I'd have to give west HyVee Market Grill as the BEST coleslaw in Ames. Even better than KFC. Lot parking. Friendly staff. CyHawkApproved.

They have a great Cobb salad that is reasonably priced and very healthy. It's my go to when I need…read moremy salad fix.