Restaurant returns to former Popoli location in historic Cedar Rapids bank

CEDAR RAPIDS — Over two years after Popoli Ristorante closed for good, a new restaurant with a familiar name is resurfacing at the same location.

Peppercorn at the Bank, a new restaurant from the Peppercorn Food Co., has announced plans to open at the historic Peoples Savings Bank on Nov. 18. The new restaurant will be open for dinner Monday through Thursday.

Peppercorn Food Co., a catering business owned by Jude Villafana and Carrie Quast, previously worked out of the space at 101 Third Ave. SW for a time after Popoli Ristorante & Sullivan Bar’s second and final departure.

The upscale Italian restaurant operated at the location from 2014 until December 2020. It later reopened for a second short-lived stint from September 2021 to May 2022, hoping that corporate dining and other downtown events would bring in traffic.

Designed by Louis Sullivan in 1911, the building boasts a “mini museum,” including the restoration of original architectural features and the Vault Room door. The Vault Room and doors, murals, stained glass, chandeliers, teller bars and marble were restored for diners to enjoy when Popoli owners Gary Rozek and Fred Timko bought the building from Wells Fargo. The vault door, which weighs about 50,000 pounds, was painstakingly restored by hand after the flood of 2008.

The building was named to Preservation Iowa’s “Most Endangered Properties” list in 2012 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The history of Louis Sullivan, details of unique features and murals by artist Allen Philbrick are documented for guests to read.

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