Walking the Walk -- Mr. Beans

(This is a periodic update on some good downtown/core neighborhood joints that survived the flood. I've urged people to spend dough at small businesses in the city's core, so I'm "walking the walk" to put my money where my opinion is.)

Mr. Beans is a coffee/lunch place that was a very popular before its old Armstrong Center

Town Center location was annexed for a time by the Cedar River. And it's apparently still very popular in its newish location in the Alliant Tower at the corner of Third Avenue and First Street SE.

At around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, I found myself standing in a very healthy lunch line. The special, a smoked brisket sandwich with fresh apple slaw and barbecue sauce, clearly was worth the wait. For the record, I vote for adding it to the permanent menu.

It looks like business is good.

"It's going very well here. Business is good," said Amy Bean, who owns the downtown and Marion locations with her husband Curt.

It took about a year for downtown Mr. Beans to come back from its flood-imposed hiatus. Amy said the couple worried that the long pause and a location change would hurt their chances of a successful comeback. So far, it's worked out great.

The new restaurant is roomier and better equipped. Which is nice, because Amy says lunch crowds have grown.

But they can always grow more.

"The biggest challenge is telling people how it's OK to be downtown," Amy said. Since the flood, she said people in Marion tell her they never go downtown. She hopes that changes.

"We hope people will see it as a viable place to be," she said.

Like a lot of business owners down here, she's pining hopes on a slow but steady trickle of good news - Theatre Cedar Rapids' reopening, a new library site, etc.

Downtown Mr. Beans is open 7-4 Monday through Friday.