Second Street Cafe

Great corned beef hash breakfast! Since I was there for breakfast, that is the part of the menu I focused on. They have a wide selection of traditional and some up sized, enhanced breakfast options (add white biscuit gravy to anything, and it is even better). Fast, friendly service.

One of my favorite places to eat. Staff is fun. Food is great. Atmosphere needs work as the dining room needs an overhaul. Booths are ripped. Place hasn't aged well, but very clean.

Ordered a grilled chicken sandwich which comes with zero condiments?? Ordered pickle & tomato, charged for slice of tomato 🍅. Sandwich was good but I carry packets of mayonnaise so that sure did help. Fries were scant & no refill on drink. Had several at our table & the only one that got a refill is a "regular". Place needs a major remodel.

I gave this 5 stars because the waiter was really good. The food was okay but there wasn't a lot of. Because they didn't have what I asked on the menu as a meal they charged me for each individual item. They should have told me that just to make sure I knew. I've been there before but I've never ordered anything like that I've never known of a restaurant to do that before. The food was good but very small portions.

The Second Street Cafe is inside of the Hotel Ottumwa, but has its own entrance off of the street. There are booths and tables inside of the restaurant. The tables were spaced somewhat far apart due to COVID-19, which made it look strangely sparse. You could tell that they have attempted to make the place look elegant, but it kind of came across to me as that “fake elegance” look that you will often see at a Chinese buffet restaurant. But things were clean (with little signs that said “sanitized” on each table), and things were in good repair.

They had old photos on the walls of the buildings in town. Since the restaurant is located within the Hotel Ottumwa, I’m sure there is a lot of interest in the history of this Iowa town.

My server, Nick, seemed to be the one in charge of the dining room, and he was quick and attentive. I was amazed that the Reuben only took 7 minutes after my order to arrive at my table. So in fewer than 10 minutes after I walked into the restaurant, I was eating my Reuben.

The Reuben itself mostly tasted of corned beef and bread. The deli style corned beef slices that they used were pretty tasty. The Thousand Island and the sauerkraut were blended and added a hint of tang to the meat. Perhaps a little more of the sauerkraut and dressing would help to balance the flavors a little more.

The marbled rye was supposedly grilled, although it seemed to taste to me as though it had been toasted rather than grilled because the firmness to the bread seemed to be throughout each slice instead of just on the outside of the sandwich.

The sandwich was not very messy at all, other than a little Thousand Island dripping out here and there because it was a little runny and not thick enough to adhere to the ingredients within the sandwich.

I ordered the potato chips and they appeared to be the homemade variety, and were very good. They were nice and crispy around the edges with an occasional softer part in the middle of each chip, which I kind of enjoy.

Overall this was a good place to stop for a quick dinner. I was on the road, so I appreciated being able to spend fewer than 30 minutes in the restaurant from the time I walked in until I was walking out, having settled my bill at the cash register. It’s not an amazing sandwich in any way, but it shouldn't disappoint if you are passing through Ottumwa and craving a Reuben.

The food, for the most part, was excellent! Soups were great! but the BLT could definitely improve. Please invest more creativity, better products and quality to make it a decent product on your menu.

Ordered a spaghetti, offered a salad-I never received it. Asked for red pepper, I was never brought it, I got water and it had a fruit fly in it. Asked for sausage, and I got a cut up sausage pattie, microwaved. Subpar food, it's the only place around main street where locals can grab food to eat. Not really good but convenient if you don't want to head to riverside.

This place is a local business and usually open. You seat yourself, never seated by a waiter.

Well I hand just a little hand full of fries maybe enough for a toddler. The hostess was great took care of us better then our waiter. I remember a much happier environment when I was younger now its just well depressing 😕

I ordered a medium rare steak in return I received a well done over cooked steak that my knife wouldn't cut through, I brought the complaint to the owner who was extremely rude not understanding and she walked off while I was speaking to her needless to say I won't EVER order from here again

As soon as our server approached us I knew something was going to be off. Why because her shirt was extremely dirty and she smelt like a box of Marboro menthol 100s. The food came out fast, but that was the second thing that caught my alarm was how fast it came out. the planting was decent for what it was but then when o starting eating it tasted like rubber and cardboard I order the country fried steak that shouldn’t have never been served a human. It should be reserved for rats another test animals that the CDC can experiment on. A friend of mine got the breakfast skillet which looked like it was from a TV dinner box and French toast that look like pancakes that were dipped in hot oil. I do not recommend this facility for anyone to eat or use the bathroom for that matter other really disappointing is to say the least.