CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Ridge’s annual Bourbon and Blues Festival is expanding this year and moving to Cedar Rapids’ McGrath Amphitheatre as it joins forces with the Linn County Blues Society. Tickets for the multiday event starting Aug. 20 go on sale May 1 through the McGrath Amphitheatre box office. Cedar Ridge winery and distillery began hosting its Bourbon and Blues Fest in Swisher in 2010 to celebrate the brand’s first bourbon whiskey release. The Linn County Blues Society, formerly ...

MARION — A new cuisine typically available only in cities the size of Minneapolis and Chicago has joined the eclectic selection of restaurants in uptown Marion. MIX, previously located in the Armstrong Centre in downtown Cedar Rapids, marks a few firsts of its kind: the first Chinese hot pot restaurant of its kind in the Corridor, the first Korean restaurant in Marion and likely the only restaurant in Iowa with hot pot, Korean and sushi under one roof. “Cities the size of Cedar Rapids or ...

MARION — Trading Grounds Coffee in Marion is opening slowly this week ahead of a grand opening on Saturday. The new cafe at 917 Barrington Parkway, Suite B, started serving coffee Monday. Staff will continue to train throughout the week with a soft opening planned for Thursday and a grand opening planned for Saturday. The new coffee shop, owned by Shawn Keating and his parents, Tom and Amy Keating, transformed the space in the MAC Express building previously home to a health club. It will ...

CEDAR RAPIDS — Popoli Ristorante & Sullivan’s Bar, brought back by popular demand in September after a long closure, is closing again. The restaurant announced last week plans to close for good on May 8. Staring June 1, the space at 101 Third Ave. SW, the historic People’s Bank building, will become an event center operated by Peppercorn Food Company, owned by Jude Villafana, who also was managing partner of Popoli. Popoli first closed in December 2020. “We wish to thank all of ...

IOWA CITY — Short’s Burger and Shine, known for its specialty burgers, has closed its original downtown Iowa City location. The restaurant posted a sign on its front door last week saying that Short’s would be closed “for the foreseeable future,” according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen. A representative for the restaurant told the Press-Citizen that the owners are not willing to finance the upkeep the building needs at 18 S. Clinton St., with severe damage to certain walls that have been ...