Cronk's Cafe

"Worst experience I've had in Iowa. Went here on the 13th of February for valentines day. Ordered 2 steak burritos and fried rice. The wife ordered a cheese burger with swiss and no toppings. Waitress comes to table after 10 minutes, explains to us that because of the party they were hosting had orders the same thing as my wife it would be a while and that my good would be under the warmer. Mind you if you can't accommodate your regular customers than maybe dont book a party. 40 minutes go by were actually gonna leave, and here comes our food. My plate hits the table lettuce is soggy and hot because my food has literally been sitting under a warming lamp for 40 minutes. My wife has a cold piece of American cheese tossed on the top of her burger. I ask where my fried rice is at, the waitress insists that the pile of Spanish rice on my burrito plate is, in fact, fried rice. I say I'm paying 5$ for that? She uses her little walkie-talkie and asks the other server if it's fried rice. Once again, I get reassured that the red tomato based rice on my plate is, in fact, fried rice I ask for the owner, he comes out, and the waitress follows him and whispers to him that's actually not his fried rice they miss plated it and continues to explain herself to the owner in spanish. Not one time did she acknowledge me and say you were right our bad. They had absolutely no one running the front of the house. When I called and asked who was running the front he said he was. Now how can the head chef run the front and the back of the house? Never going back don't suggest anyone give this restaurant your hard earned cash."

"Horrible service literally had to grab our own menus, didn't have silverware, the water tasted god awful. The waitress was non-existent the restaurant wasn't busy and we still waited 45 minutes to get our food and the food came out cold. Ordered 2 Bloody Mary's they were god awful and we told the bartender and she argued with us then said she tasted them and they were fine. THEY were terrible then we overheard her talking poorly about us because we didn't enjoy her drinks. I've eaten at 100s of restaurants this was the WORST experience I and the 4 other people have ever had. Terrible service terrible food rude employees 3 of the waitresses had hickeys on their necks. It was disgraceful."

"Cronks has reopened under new management and they've done a great job breathing new life into this cornerstone of the community. We had American-style breakfast and the portions were large and the food was great. Definitely a business worthy of support!"

"I believe there are just too many orders in the menu and they lack on how to actually make them. They should just do what they can because all my food was flavourless. I don't know if they used fresh meat or not, but the meat was simply lacking in flavor. They serve your food with tortillas made of flour, instead of of corn tortilla. Honestly, a big place like this should make their own tortillas. Food quality was at best a 2.5/5 in terms of flavor. Service? It was quite the mess. There is a guy there that does not understand english very much, and that's okay, no shame in that, but he can't actually take orders like that. Like I said, if there were less on the menu then there wouldn't be a problem, but there is simply too much and the guy has to know what comes with it and what doesn't which waiter lacked knowledge of. I was honestly very excited to dine in here, and got meself a Molcajete because my friends said they got a molcajete and complained that it was plain and simple and not very well made, so I decided to try it and I was disappointed that my friends were right. Food was lacking in flavor, meat was too dry, chicken was to dry, it wasn't juicy and delicious, but plain and simple. For the price, I believe they just charge me the use of the molcajete, the spicy sauce was actually pretty good. We also ordered some things to go and when we got home, food was not exactly what we ordered. Like we order Grilled Chicken but they added some extra sauce or cream. As I said, cooks should focus on perfecting their meals and restaurant shouldn't have that many dishes and eliminate the ones they never asked for cause I doubt they are all ordered there. People go mostly for the grilled stuff which they should learn how to leave prepare so that the meat soaks in the flavor. Could be better, I entered excited, and left disappointed. My mother said, she is full but not satisfied with the food and service. I even saw people waiting for their things for a long time and bring out the wrong food or missing things from the plate. I've gone to other mexican restaurants and el molcajete is served with some rice and beans, but I was only served the molcajete. I was also not going to order extra food when the molcajete alone was already pricey for what it had. Anyways, first time there and probably, even last. We hispanic people know what flavor is, and we know when the food is lacking and I believe for a mexican/hispanic restaurant, it's lacking on its flavor and cuisine. So, this is my honest review. I could update it if I hear the restaurant got better but as far as my visit to this place goes, it lacked a lot. Perhaps, overtime they would get better, which I hope, because it's a pretty big restaurant."