Permanently Closed - Popoli Ristorante & Sullivan's Bar

The food was excellent. The setting is fun and unique. We are very sad that this place is closing.

It hurts us to know that our favorite restaurant is closing soon. It has always been our go-to restaurant when we were in Cedar Rapids. The atmosphere was fantastic and the food was always delicious. Additionally, the waiters and waitresses were extremely friendly. We will miss Popoli Ristorante. With tears in our eyes we say goodbye.
Mark C. and family....

Great atmosphere but the food quality does not equal the price. You should never overcook Salmon. Ever.

Place is closing in December. Too bad, it’s a nice place to eat.

I'm so sad to see Popoli closing at the end of next month, as it's by far the best food with the coolest atmosphere in town. I hope the owners find success in their new endeavors, and that this beautiful space is put to great use!

Entree butternut gnocchi with Italian sausage was very unappealing; gnocchi was burnt and Italian sausage was more like grocery store smoked sausage. The Neopolitan pizza would have been very good if the dough was cooked through; it was raw in the middle.

We have been to Popoli's a couple times in the last month and found the environment and experience to be great but sadly the food was below average. We thought that perhaps on our first visit we caught them on an off night so we tried a second time and intentionally order different entrees, on both visits the food was below average.

We will wait for new management or a new chef to be brought in before we visit again.

Perhaps a little pricey, but honestly, the food and ambiance made it worth it! What a fantastic place to eat!

Excellent Food, Service and Great Management! The drink menu is outstanding and their steaks are a great addition to their menu.

The building and interior is beautiful, the food is subpar and not as flavorful and bland. The staff is delightful and friendly and very very nice. The short rib is tough and not seasoned and dry. There were dead flies on the window sill right next to our booth.

Would not recommend this place.

While entrees were excellent the side dishes were not. Garlic mashed potatoes were dry and flavor-free and the mushrooms on the steak were dry and chewy. With more attention to such detail this would definitely be five-star dining.

We had dined here once before when we were visiting Cedar Rapids and on our recent trip wanted to bring family members that had not been to the restaurant before even though on our previous experience we knew the food was good but the prices were inexplicably high. The atmosphere is top notch in the restored, historic bank building and the service was very high quality with enough attention but not hovering. The beet salad my husband and I had was adequately tasty but suffered from skimpy amounts of beets and blue cheese. All four of us ordered steaks and 3 of the 4 were noticeably past the requested temperatures. Fortunately the steaks were flavorful even though cooked too long. While I appreciate the good service and candor, at the end of our meal our server shared with us that this was the first night on the job for the grill chef; perhaps when charging $50 for a steak a bit more supervision is needed for the first day on the job. Unfortunately the brussels sprouts that had previously been excellent lacked flavor and seasoning. Due to the atmosphere, company and flavor of steaks we had an enjoyable evening but with a bill of almost $350 for 4 people I would hope to be giving a 5-star rating. The lack of value (over-pricing) drops 1 star, the lack of attention to detail on the steak temperatures drops a 2nd start, therefore the 3-star rating. I could only recommend this to someone with a huge warning about the over-pricing.

Crab legs were skimpy for $89. Bone in ribeye was just ok for $89 and salmon was overcooked. Cost for two of us was over $300 with tip.

Beautiful building with a lovely staff. We dtarted with the caprese salad which was not great. The tomatoes were soft and mealy so I knew they weren't fresh cut. They also forgot the balsamic.... I got the salmon which I was told would be medium but it was very dry and overcooked. Staff was wonderful and willing to sub my risotto for carrots which I appreciated. My dad got the sea bass which was delicious, juicy, and had a flavorful sauce. I would not recommend the salmon as it was dry and bland (could not taste any salt or seasoning). However the sea bass and staff were wonderful.

We dined al fresco and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Around 90 degrees early evening but in the shade and on the river.

~Very pleasant.

The service was outstanding as well as the fare

Host and wait staff were very attentive and accommodating. Drinks were good, though I had to go with my second choice as they were out of mint for mojitos this night. We sat outside and were glad to see a table between ours and the next one. Ambiance is a bit lacking as a large truck parked adjacent to our table blocked my husband's view of the river front. Our side salads were large and fresh. My husband's meat lover's pizza was a little sparse on the meat. My margarita flatbread was good, though not exceptional. Both of us had plenty leftover for more than another meal.

The overall experience was nice. However, the food was not spectacular and there was a considerable issue with flies around the table. Seeing that we were sitting out on the patio, we had a good time but I think the price point was too high for what was offered.

We began our evening by enjoying a drink at the bar. A bottle of Miller Lite for me (it was Ice Cold like beer is supposed to be served) and my wife enjoyed a Caribbean Kiss which she enjoyed very much (recommended by the excellent bartender, Thank you!)
We moved to a booth for dinner and started out with the Spinich and Leek Flambeau which was a melt in your mouth delicious experience. A House Salad for me and a Beet Salad for my wife readied us for the main course. I chose the Rib Special and my wife went for the Salmon both of which were tremendously prepared. My wife chose the Rhubarb/Berry Crisp with Ice Cream and Whipped Cream for dessert while I polished off a couple more of those cold Miller Lites.
Our bartender became our server and he was OUTSTANDING !
Thank you for a wonderful experience on our Anniversary !
We will be back soon !

Hardly any customers (that I could see). Our waiter did a fantastic job. Disappointed in some of the food. My seafood bake had a negligible amount of seafood... bits. There were three shrimp tails (no meat) sticking out from the dish but I seriously found one tiny bit of shrimp in my bowl of noodles. Glad to have it deducted from my bill, not so glad that I left hungry.

Popoli was wonderful. Excellent food and very accommodating on special requests.

We sat outside as it was a beautiful evening. Service and food were stellar!

Very good service, great environment, and excellent food.

Air conditioning on too high

We dined outside on their patio. The service, professionalism, food--was outstanding

My husband had the ribeye, was tough and no flavor. Paid over $40 for this.
On the other hand, I had the seafood bake and it was delicious and beef nachos were great with wontons.
Martinis were great too!

This is a very special place to eat as it is a Louis Sullivan-designed bank. The building's renovation for dining is especially well-done for showcasing the historic setting. Food and service continue to improve, though pricing may seem a bit aggressive.

The short ribs were hard and dry but with good flavor. The ice cream could have come from. HyVee carton. But the salad was great as were the margaritas

My wife and I ate here for the first time for our 10th anniversary. Due to the COVID19 situation, the restaurant was not crowded. It was however, rather noisy for the number of people. We were seated right away. Our server was friendly and courteous, but seemed to be a bit overwhelmed. Things weren't timed the best. Another person came to our table with drinks, but they were the wrong drinks. That issue was quickly resolved. It just seemed like the whole time the staff were not communicating well and maybe there were some new folks. That said, they did bend over backward to make our meal the best it could be. As for the food, it was quite good, though my wife ordered the shrimp scampi, which had absolutely no taste. The manager however, replaced her meal with a filet, which my wife absolutely raved about. We received a free dessert for our anniversary which was nice, though the choice was limited to three items. All things considered, it was not an outstanding meal, but a very good one, and the willingness of the manager and staff to make it right was greatly appreciated. I think we will try again sometime, hopefully after all the coronavirus thing is past.

Wonderful dining experience and would recommend to friends

The staff were amazing (Danny and Abbey) but the food was even better. Cole they executive chef was so accommodating with the wine pairing meal that it made he picky eater feel comfortable eating there. Both my husband who ate everything exactly as planned and myself who does not eat seafood, loved the meal. This is a Manhattan quality restaurant right here in the middle of Cedar Rapids, Wow! Amazing!

It's a great setting, staff was wonderful. The food was just okay, it didnt come close to matching the steep price tag.

As usual the four and the service was outstanding

Service was fabulous. The food was average and extremely overpriced because of that.

We had the seafood special and all three were very good. The steak nachos was a very big portion enough for 4 people. Service was excellent as well.

Was sat a table that was added in between bar and dining area. Felt we were sitting in a hallway with no lights. Asked to be moved but hostess said the were unable even though there were open tables.

It was awesome food was next level and service was great

Delicious food!

We didn’t get waited on for about 10 min. We had someone ask if we had been waited on and said no but we were ready to order. They took our order. Someone else brought our food, he spilled my water all over the table. No one checked on us for over 30 min. Then another guy asked if we wanted dessert. We ordered dessert and he brought it out and our check. Terrible service, it was a special get together with my daughters and I wanted it special for them to go somewhere we had never been together. They were not impressed. Very pricey for the amount of food you receive.

We were not greeted for a while once sat. Drinks refilled once in the hour and a half we were there. It was a set menu and the wrong food was brought out. Waited just over 30 min for our check and in that time nobody came by our table. The food and nice setting really saved our Valentine’s Day date. The food was absolutely amazing and we loved the atmosphere beyond the service but for $190 for the two of us...service could have definitely been improved. We know places can have off nights and try not to base it on a single experience or individual so we wanted to compliment all other aspects.

We visited for the first time on Valentine's evening. As hyped up as the restaurant is we were a bit dissatisfied. We didn't think the food was as amazing as it could have been considering the cost. When we go to dinner, we're not impressed by presentation but rather by taste and service. My tasting palate is broader than my wife's, but we both feel as though we have a solid appreciation for expanding ones taste buds. Here they are into expanding taste but more into presentation, which is fine if you're into looking at your food as art; we're not. The service was okay... For the type of restaurant and cost I would have expected better wait service. Oh, and according to the menu on the website, we were supposed to each receive a glass of champagne, that never happened. The online menu even suggested asking about the beer flight option and I was told they didn't do flights. We may try it again when the menu isn't limited.