Chew on This: Blue 42 changing hands, Tavern Blue opening in Coralville, BurgerFiend closes Northeast Cedar Rapids location

Blue 42 to become DoubleZ

Blue 42 Sports Bar & Grill will soon become a new bar under new ownership.

Blue 42 at 629 Ellis Blvd. in Cedar Rapids will close July 28 for remodeling, according to a social media post. On Aug. 6, the space will reopen at Double Z Bar & Grill.

A last day celebration for Blue 42 will start July 28 at 3 p.m.

Double Z will be owned by Jaymz Larson, who also owns Jimmy Z’s on Second Street NE in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Blue 42, which was opened in July 2017 by Stewart Kee, was named for Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in major league baseball.

Tavern Blue opening in Coralville

A beach-themed pizza restaurant with drinks and entertainment options is opening soon in Coralville.

Tavern Blue at 805 Second St. is aiming for a soft opening at the end of July, the restaurant posted on social media.

The restaurant will offer mini golf, foosball, darts and table games.

“As a group of local residents raising our families in Iowa, we have grown to love it here, but still find ourselves missing the laid-back beach vibes of the Pacific, Mediterranean and European coasts we also call home. We wanted to bring a piece of this lifestyle to Iowa and the result is Tavern Blue,” the owners said on Tavern Blue’s website.

“Inspired by life on the water, Tavern Blue is a casual environment offering authentic brick oven wood-fired pizza, a full-sized bar with local craft beers, wines and signature cocktails, and plenty of options for gaming and entertainment.”

BurgerFiend closes Center Point Road location.

Three months after opening its 16th Avenue SW location in Cedar Rapids, BurgerFiend has closed its other location at 3980 Center Point Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids.

Marketing manager Sean Lekin confirmed that the restaurant closed on July 3.

The restaurant’s original location at 2020 16th Ave. SW, which was open from 2014 to 2017 and reopened March 30, will remain open.

“It came down to dollars and cents. It was a real tough decision, but we had to choose between the two (locations),” Lekin said.

Coming out of the pandemic, he said the restaurant expected a resurgence in business at the Center Point Road location that didn’t materialize as strongly as management had anticipated. Performance levels changed drastically over the last three months after the expansion opened.

“I don’t think the new one killed the old one,” he said. “It just didn’t make a comeback after COVID like it should’ve. We thought we were riding a train that would keep going, and it didn’t.”

The 16th Avenue SW location is performing well, Lekin said. The owners of BurgerFiend anticipate leasing the Center Point location to another restaurant.

The original 16th Avenue SW location opened in 2014. The Center Point Road NE location then opened in 2015 in the former location of Spring House restaurant. Focusing efforts on the high-performing Center Point location, the 16th Avenue location was closed in 2017 before being reopened this year.

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