Name: The Gazette
Address: 116 Third St SE, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52401, US
Telephone: (319) 398-8333
Price range: $$

A No Coast Bowl at The Full Bowl in NewBo City Market in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, May 26, 2023. The bowl features black beans cooked with onions and garlic, served over brown rice, with house-made lemon garlic sauce and topped with cilantro, green onion, red cabbage, mild salsa, and Colby cheese (dairy option) or house-made vegan cashew sour cream (vegan option). The menu is globally inspired rice and bean bowls is largely vegan/vegetarian and gluten-free. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Tim Salis said the lemon garlic sauce on the No Coast Bowl is the reason The Full Bowl is in business.

He’s only half joking.

The Full Bowl, known for its vegetarian and vegan rice bowl dishes, has been a staple at NewBo City Market since 2017, drawing in repeat and new customers weekly.

“Vegans and vegetarians know how to find us,” he said. “Being in the market, we are trying to appeal to a wide variety of people. A lot of our audience is not vegan or vegetarian, they just eat our food because they like our food.”

Tim Salis ladles Indian-style chickpeas cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, jalapenos, and spices over brown rice as he prepares a Chana Masala bowl for a customer at his food booth The Full Bowl in NewBo City Market in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, May 26, 2023. The bowl is topped with cilantro and house-made sweet mango and/or spicy mint chutney. The menu is globally inspired rice and bean bowls is largely vegan/vegetarian and gluten-free. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Salis officially took over as owner of The Full Bowl in January, although he has been working for the restaurant from nearly the very beginning and has been mostly managing it for the past several years.

If you go

What: The Full Bowl

Where: Inside NewBo City Market, 1100 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids

Phone: (319) 320-8243

Website: thefullbowl.com/

He said one of the first things he did as owner was clarify the tagline to read “obsessively made from scratch.”

“That sentiment just really hits home for how I feel about the food,” he said. “I'm trying to do that with every dish that we make.”

With a small menu dedicated to vegetarian and vegan options — popular with people looking for gluten-free and other allergen free dishes — Salis looks to continue to offer those staples but try out new offerings, as well.

“Our concept has always been that rice and bean dishes are common all over the world, and we can serve a variety of cuisines using that model,” he said. “It's an educational thing for me and for customers, as well. I make a lot of things for the restaurant that I wouldn't ordinarily make or I've never made before, but I'm doing the research to figure out how to make a traditional Slovenian dish, for example, or Belizean food.”

Tim Salis prepares a bowl of the weekly special Belizean Red Bean stew at his food booth The Full Bowl in NewBo City Market in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, May 26, 2023. Sales says the achiote (or Annato) seeds give this dish a slightly sweet, nutty, flavor that originates in Central America.The menu is globally inspired rice and bean bowls is largely vegan/vegetarian and gluten-free. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette) — Tim Salis prepares a bowl of the weekly special Belizean Red Bean stew at his food booth The Full Bowl in NewBo City Market in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, May 26, 2023. Sales says the achiote (or Annato) seeds give this dish a slightly sweet, nutty, flavor that originates in Central America. The menu is globally inspired rice and bean bowls is largely vegan/vegetarian and gluten-free. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Salis cycles through popular specials, and has been known to take requests for menu items, too.

“I like offering the opportunity to try some things that they may not be able to try elsewhere.”

Salis said it has always been his goal to open his own restaurant, so customers may see trials of more specials and different menu items as he thinks about the future.

Tim Salis adds cilantro atop Indian-style chickpeas cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, jalapenos, and spices over brown rice as he prepares a Chana Masala bowl for a customer at his food booth The Full Bowl in NewBo City Market in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, May 26, 2023. The bowl is topped with cilantro and house-made sweet mango and/or spicy mint chutney. The menu is globally inspired rice and bean bowls is largely vegan/vegetarian and gluten-free. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

“I’ve added spring rolls for Food Truck Tuesdays because I can grow the microgreens myself,” he said, noting that he sources what he can locally and tries to be mindful of what is going on in the area to inspire dishes, as well.

Customers also can expect to see more breakfast items, especially on the weekends when shoppers are arriving earlier at the market.

Housemade lemon-garlic sauce is seen over brown rice as Tim Salis prepares a No Coast Bowl at his food booth The Full Bowl in NewBo City Market in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, May 26, 2023. The bowl features black beans cooked with onions and garlic, served over brown rice, with house-made lemon garlic sauce and topped with cilantro, green onion, red cabbage, mild salsa, and Colby cheese (dairy option) or house-made vegan cashew sour cream (vegan option). The menu is globally inspired rice and bean bowls is largely vegan/vegetarian and gluten-free. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

“We're not in a rush to leave the market, but if I ever do open a place outside of the market, I'm thinking it would most likely be more breakfast and lunch type foods. So, I’m trying out a few things just to see what people like and what works well for us,” he said.

For now, the location in NewBo City Market is perfect for The Full Bowl, Salis said. His 150-square-foot restaurant space gives Salis the best of both worlds.

“I've always liked cooking in an open kitchen,” he said. “I like the balance of actively making food, but also interacting with customers at the same time. The NewBo set up really lends itself to that sort of balance because everything is customer facing … and I think the customers feel more attached to it, too.”