Food & Drink in Waterloo
Steamboat Garden
$10 for $20 Worth of American Food at Steamboat Garden
Since 1933, Steamboat Garden has been serving affordable, family-friendly food, including burgers, chicken wings, and housemade chili
Waterloo
$20 $10
Select Local Merchants
Nominated for Best Family Restaurant on CityVoter's 2011 A-List, Steamboat Garden has been serving up affordable family food since 1933. Today, guests at the boat-shaped restaurant can peer through its bright red portholes to watch as the friendly staff fills tables with steaks and seafood, breaded pork loin sandwiches known as Tug Boats, and seven incarnations of a signature hamburger that has been a Falls Avenue favorite since the 1940s. Between bites, diners sip old-fashioned floats made with 1919 draft root beer and then send instant photos of their empty plates to mom by accessing the restaurant's WiFi with a laptop or aluminum foil helmet.
Southern Smoke Shack's culinary artisans cake fresh cuts of quality meat with dry rubs concocted from family recipes, slowly smoking the porcine and bovine delicacies that appear on the menu over select wood pairings and slathering the creations with house-made sauces upon request. Cherry-smoked bourbon baby-back ribs seal in their succulent flavor with a rub, as well as a delicate glaze of 4 Brothers bourbon normally reserved for adult-back ribs, decorating tables for dinner (half rack, $9.99; full rack, $18.99) or lunch (lunch rack, $5.99). The smoky sweetness of mesquite radiates from the texas brisket sandwich ($5.99–$8.99), and the pork of the smokestack sandwich arrives buried beneath strata of roasted peppers, jack cheese, and diablo sauce ($5.99–$8.99).
Mama Mimi's Take 'N Bake Pizza has been filling homes with the aromas of fresh-baked pizzas and lasagnas since 2000. That year, Jeff and Jodi Aufdencamp built the company from the ground-up with a commitment to family values and recipes from their Grandma Mimi's cookbook. The young couple set out with other young couples in mind?specifically, those trying to properly balance work and family time without having to move weekly movie night into their cubicle. Mama Mimi's makes it easier to do just that with a collection of ready-to-bake pies that includes award winners, such as a primo vegetarian with spinach, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and roasted garlic. Cheesy lasagnas, fresh salads, and other pastas round out the Mama Mimi's menu, and select locations also carry wine and craft beers from around the country.
The combinations are nearly endless at Brick House Frozen Yogurt. The shop's self-serve frozen yogurt machines dispense a rotating selection of 21 flavors, with options such as cookies 'n cream, peanut butter banana sandwich, and strawberry lemonade. Then, there's the toppings bar, loaded with more than 50 types of candies, cookies, nuts, and fresh fruits so customers can bedeck their frozen creation however they choose. As if the custom treats weren't sweet enough, the shop also offers daily specials nearly every night of the week. On Tuesdays, for instance, guests enjoy free toppings on their yogurt from 6-9 p.m., while an on-going monthly promotion awards a free cup of yogurt to anyone who can fit the most flavors in one cup or suit-jacket pocket.