Salsa Guy Cafe opens second Cedar Rapids location amid rapid growth

CEDAR RAPIDS — Things are heating up at the Salsa Guy Cafe — and it’s not the restaurant’s namesake red sauce.

Owner Tim Palmer, who opened his first restaurant on Mount Vernon Road SE last August after nearly 20 years of slinging burritos and salsa at the Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers Market, has opened a second location only a year later.

His second shop near the border between Hiawatha and Cedar Rapids is a few minutes by car from the first restaurant, but a world away in terms of space, seating and accommodations — with big plans in store.

And, like Palmer’s first iteration, customers are defying industry expectations to support it since it opened on Sept. 3.

“I think one of the things, besides good food and good employees, is that people have attached to our story,” he said. “This is where we get to test drive a larger format.”

  Buy Photo

If you go:

Where: 3925 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids

Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Website: salsaguy.cafe

Details: Find all-day breakfast burritos, burgers, brisket and pulled pork sandwiches, salads, soups and the signature sandwich served at Alfalfa’s Deli decades ago alongside a to-go case with salsas, guacamole, ranch dips and barbecue sauces. Alcoholic beverages, including small pour options, are now available along with drive-thru ordering at the second location.

Inside the growing concept

The same theme that catapulted Palmer’s first brick-and-mortar restaurant to success on Mount Vernon Road has become the aesthetic of a second, larger location on the other side of town.

On Mount Vernon Road SE, nostalgia was rekindled by the revival of the signature sandwich from Alfalfa’s Deli, a Lindale Mall staple started in 1978 by Warren and Debra Wood, parents of “Lord of the Rings” movie star Elijah Wood.

On Blairs Ferry Road NE, the nostalgia is flagged by a Route 66 theme. With fresh flooring and new paint, most memory of the building that was a Wendy’s for nearly 20 years has been neutralized — save for the distinct exterior shape.

For some, that theme seals the deal on the experience before customers even order — just grab a token from the register to pop open a cold glass bottle of Coca-Cola from an original 1960 machine.

  Buy Photo

“If you’re not a margarita drinker, that’s the next best thing,” Palmer said.

Here, plenty of parking and seating for 72 is a far cry from his first location, where customers enthusiastically waited for a handful of parking spaces or in a line out the door to score menu favorites.

Around the corner, a new drive thru adds another option for those who don’t want to get out of their car. The drive-thru, which by Palmer’s estimates could soon comprise 50 percent of the fast-casual restaurant’s sales, is being operated with heightened scrutiny. The line even has its own director.

“To me, this drive-thru is such an important part of the business that I’m treating it as its own separate business,” Palmer said. “The grease in this business is urgency. If you have a team that shows urgency, and your customers see it, they’ll forgive you.”

  Buy Photo

A menu in three phases

The second location’s menu, being rolled out in three phases, shows promise to elevate the former farmers market vendor from fast-casual burritos to elegant dinner entrées.

Thanks to new morning hours, breakfast burritos again hearken the same feelings that inspired customers to wait in long lines at the Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers Market.

“We have re-instituted the art form of 7:30 burritos with a hot cup of coffee,” Palmer said. “Now it’s not at a farmers market, it’s here, 6 days a week.”

Its base menu today, identical to the first location, offers a robust selection of classics that have been perfected: burritos, hot sandwiches, soups, salads and burgers that have quickly garnered attention.

  Buy Photo

Classics like the Conquistador Burger with Angus beef and prime beef brisket join the menu’s Conquistador chicken sandwich served on brioche with a house-made slaw, spicy pickles and a dressing of honey, butter and whiskey. Another Conquistador companion, the Triple Decker BLT, features “loads of crispy bacon” with dill spread and mayo on sourdough.

The Alfalfa’s Experience sandwich, completed by a dill spread recipe carefully reverse-engineered over years, is served on 12-grain, whole wheat or cottage white bread with a choice of deli meat and your pick of colby jack, pepper jack, Swiss, provolone or sharp cheddar cheese.

Now, customers can enjoy alcoholic beverages with their meal, too. Starting with margaritas and small-pour options for wine, Salsa Guy Cafe plans to later offer a selection of classic cocktails covering the bases to let customers relax without creating a bar-forward environment.

  Buy Photo

“I want you to leave happy, not drunk,” Palmer previously told The Gazette.

Phase 2 will build out sandwich and burger offerings. Layering on a tradition set in his first restaurant, he plans to offer occasional specials like the popular Navajo fry bread and homages to the storied Vernon Inn, such as a cafe-style gyro.

Expect items like chicken and waffles, quality chicken strips and an attempt to become “best in class” with cinnamon rolls soaked in pours of hot, clarified butter.

In an ode to his days as a Cub Scout master, Palmer also hopes to bring back his signature “Mountain Main,” a dish he made for hundreds at a time in stackable Dutch ovens that baked together hash browns, sausage, eggs, salsa and copious amounts of cheese.

“It’s almost like a Chicago (deep dish) pizza,” he explained.

Phase 3 will roll out a more elegant menu with refined dinner entrées like beef short ribs and prime rib-eye steak.

For now, service times for most orders will remain at a turnaround of three to five minutes. For a few extra minutes, they will gladly accommodate custom orders.

  Buy Photo

How it started

In the early 1980s, Palmer returned home to Cedar Rapids, where he opened a Happy Joe’s Pizza location in Lindale Mall. Within several months, he was a district manager for the brand.

In the 1990s, he ran the world’s busiest A & W location at Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg, Illinois. When the Chicago Bears went to the playoffs, his homemade salsa at parties became a hit with friends.

Later, Palmer went into financial and estate planning. Eventually, Cedar Rapids drew him back again.

As he transitioned out of the finance industry, salsa became a side gig that quickly turned into a full-time job — first with Noelridge Farmers Market before starting at the Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers Market’s inception in 2005.

Within about 30 minutes of each opening, his salsa would sell out. In 2005, he was tapped to start selling it in Hy-Vee locations across the Corridor.

For 17 years, Palmer leased space in Marion as the business grew.

An eye to the future

As Palmer’s customer base continues to defy challenging expectations for the restaurant industry, the experience at the Blairs Ferry restaurant offers a nod to his past with an eye to his future.

“Originally, I was going to find my tradition (here). My tradition was being the ‘Salsa Guy’ from the downtown market,” he said. “Salsa Guy Cafe, if anything, is giving birth to a culture. It’s a culture of great food, great service, great people.”

He cites a dining room in his first week of business full of diners who are “happy to be here,” many of whom go out of their way to eat at Salsa Guy Cafe.

He sees that growth extending to a small, regional concept. But before he can go to Marion, Iowa City or Des Moines, he wants to perfect the concept in front of him.

“They came with high expectations, and if you exceed high expectations, you’ve done something magical in this business,” he said.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.

Get the latest restaurant news, food reviews and insider tips from the Chew on This newsletter.