Restaurant Equipment and Supply for Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo and Dubuque
Eastern Iowa cooks with a lot of history behind it. Oat milling on the Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids began when the North Star Mill opened in 1873, Czech Village celebrates morel mushrooms at Houby Days every May, and Waterloo's Rath pork plant opened in 1891.
Dubuque's farmers' market has run since 1845, Iowa City's Hamburg Inn No. 2 opened in 1948, the Brown Bottle has served Italian food in downtown Waterloo since 1972, and Big Grove Brewery, founded in Johnson County in 2013, pours in both Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Every town on this page has a Saturday farmers market from spring into fall.
Since 2015, The Restaurant Warehouse has shipped to thousands of commercial kitchens in every state. Eastern Iowa orders ship from our Chicago warehouse, so Eastern Iowa restaurants get the same low prices and freight delivery right to Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Dubuque. The most common orders here are reach-in refrigerators, freezers, sandwich prep tables, fryers, griddles, and draft beer coolers.
Houby Days, Czech Village and the Cedar Rapids Oat Mill
Houby Days comes to Czech Village in Cedar Rapids every May, usually on the third weekend. "Houby" is Czech for mushrooms, and the festival is built around morels: vendors sold 175 pounds of them in 2025. It is free, with food vendors, a parade and live music, and it raises money for the Czech Village Association. Past programs have included a Taste of Czech dinner and a pork-and-dumpling dinner. Oat milling in Cedar Rapids began in 1873 as the North Star Mill, and the Quaker Oats complex on 2nd Street was completed in 1927. The nonprofit NewBo City Market works as a business incubator for new food and drink vendors.
Festival vendors and incubator startups run on food truck equipment, griddles, fryers, and undercounter refrigeration sized for a tight stall. Kitchens doing pork-and-dumpling dinners for a crowd need ranges and ovens, stainless work tables, and deep reach-in refrigerators.
Dubuque's 1845 Farmers' Market and the Corridor's Saturday Markets
The Dubuque Farmers' Market has run since 1845, and local radio calls it the oldest farmers market in the state. It sets up on Iowa Street in the Upper Main district, from 10th to 13th Street, on Saturday mornings from May through October, and it had more than 125 vendors in 2025. Dubuque's Millwork Night Market takes over Jackson Street one Thursday evening a month, May through October. In Cedar Rapids, the Downtown Farmers Market runs on selected Saturdays from late May through September, with about 200 vendors and about 12,000 people per market, according to local coverage, and the annual nighttime Market After Dark in late August averages about 35,000. Iowa City's market sets up at the Chauncey Swan ramp on Saturdays from May through October, Cedar Falls has Overman Park and Waterloo has the Urban Farmers Market at RiverLoop Expo Plaza.
Restaurants buying from market growers need two-door reach-in refrigerators and freezers for peak-season produce, plus sandwich prep tables and work tables for the line. Bakers and market vendors selling from a counter use countertop display cases and glass door merchandisers.
Waterloo Pork, the Brown Bottle and SingleSpeed
Rath Packing opened a pork plant in Waterloo in 1891, employed nearly 9,000 people in 1956 and closed in 1985. In 1988 IBP announced plans for a large hog plant in Waterloo, and Tyson bought IBP in 2001. In the 1990s, about 3,000 Bosnian immigrants arrived in Black Hawk County, according to Iowa Public Radio. Downtown, the family-owned Brown Bottle has served Italian food since 1972 in the grand lobby of the historic Russell Lamson Building at 5th and Commercial streets. Also on Commercial Street, SingleSpeed Brewing works out of the former Hostess Wonder Bread bakery at 325 Commercial St., which keeps its original floors and reuses its proofing-room doors and parts of the old conveyor belt.
Italian kitchens need ranges and ovens, pizza prep tables, and reach-ins for sauce and fresh pasta. Taprooms and brewpubs need draft beer coolers, back-bar coolers, and ice machines, and their kitchens run fryers and charbroilers.
Restaurant Supply Store in Cedar Rapids
We ship straight to your Cedar Rapids restaurant. Most Eastern Iowa orders arrive in 1 to 3 business days from our Chicago warehouse, with free freight and free lift gate service. Will-call pickup in Chicago is available for verified restaurant businesses, but most kitchens skip the drive to Chicago and let us ship it. Most Eastern Iowa calls are for a fast replacement, like a reach-in or prep table that quit before a Saturday market rush, or for a full package for a new taproom kitchen, pizzeria or food truck. Tell us what you are cooking and how much space you have, and we will help you size the line.
Why Cedar Rapids Restaurants Buy From The Restaurant Warehouse
Every piece of new Atosa equipment we sell is run-tested for 24 hours at the factory before it ships. It carries Intertek's ETL Sanitation and cETLus listings, which certify it to the NSF/ANSI food equipment standards and US and Canadian safety standards that inspectors from Linn County Public Health, Johnson County Public Health, the Black Hawk County Health Department and the City of Dubuque Health Department look for. Refrigeration comes with a 3-year parts and labor warranty and a 5-year compressor warranty, gas cooking equipment comes with a 1-year parts and labor warranty, and extended warranties are available.
- Free freight on qualifying orders, no lift gate fees
- Built for scrappy startups, food trucks and independent kitchens
- Founder Sean Kearney answers calls, texts and email at (206) 419-5801 or therestaurantwarehouse@gmail.com
Serving Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo and Dubuque
Cedar Rapids is our hub for Linn, Johnson, Black Hawk and Dubuque counties. Restaurants in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Dubuque get the same equipment, free lift gate freight, and warranty, and they talk to the same team.
Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids has Houby Days in Czech Village every May, a Downtown Farmers Market with about 200 vendors, and NewBo City Market for new food businesses. Operators searching for a restaurant supply store in Cedar Rapids usually need a fast replacement, so we ship reach-in refrigerators, freezers, sandwich prep tables, and fryers.
Iowa City
Iowa City's restaurant history runs back to Hamburg Inn No. 2, which opened in 1948, and the Pizza Palace, which Armond Pagliai opened downtown in 1962. Diners, pizzerias and taprooms there order griddles, pizza prep tables, ovens, and bar refrigeration.
Waterloo and Cedar Falls
Waterloo has the Brown Bottle, SingleSpeed in the old Wonder Bread building and the Saturday market at RiverLoop Expo Plaza, and Cedar Falls has its Saturday market at Overman Park. Kitchens in both towns order charbroilers, draft beer coolers, ice machines, and reach-in refrigerators.
Dubuque
Dubuque's farmers' market dates to 1845, the Millwork Night Market runs monthly from May through October, and dining history runs deep in Dubuque County, where Breitbach's Country Dining in Balltown says it opened in 1852. Restaurants and bars in Dubuque order freezers, back-bar coolers, griddles, and fryers.
Cedar Rapids Restaurant Equipment FAQ
Do you ship restaurant equipment to Cedar Rapids?
Yes. The Restaurant Warehouse ships commercial restaurant equipment to Cedar Rapids and the rest of Eastern Iowa by freight, with lift gate delivery to your door.
Do you deliver to Iowa City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Dubuque?
Yes. We deliver across Eastern Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Dubuque.
How fast is delivery to Cedar Rapids?
Most Eastern Iowa orders arrive in 1 to 3 business days from our Chicago warehouse, depending on item availability and carrier routing. Contact us if you need equipment urgently.
Do you offer free freight?
Yes. Free freight is available on select models and qualifying orders. Contact us to confirm freight options for a specific item.
Do you charge lift gate fees?
No. We do not charge lift gate fees.
What types of restaurant equipment do you sell?
We sell commercial refrigerators, freezers, prep tables, griddles, charbroilers, deep fryers, ovens, ice machines, bar refrigeration, and food truck equipment, plus many other categories for professional kitchens.
Can I get help choosing the right equipment?
Yes. If you can't find what you need, call or email us and we'll help you source the right product for your kitchen.
Can I pick up my order?
Yes. Verified restaurant businesses can arrange will-call pickup at our Chicago warehouse. But why lose a day renting a truck, strapping it down and unloading it yourself? With free freight and free lift gate service, most Eastern Iowa orders arrive at your door or curb in 1 to 3 business days. Call (206) 419-5801 to set up either option.
Headed west, our Des Moines page covers Des Moines, Ankeny and Ames, and to the north our Minneapolis page covers Minneapolis and the West Metro.
Restaurant Equipment Across Iowa and the Midwest
The Restaurant Warehouse delivers commercial restaurant equipment across Iowa and the Midwest from our Chicago warehouse. Find the page for your region: