A Healthy Cedar Rapids Restaurant is Being Forced to Close

We have some bad news to report for fans of healthy restaurant options in Cedar Rapids. According to a new article from the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Rawlicious, a popular vegan restaurant in Cedar Rapids, is closing its doors this spring. The news came earlier this week when Rawlicious posted a lengthy update on their Facebook page. The post reads:

"Unfortunately, WE ARE CLOSING & not because we want to!!!!! Or aren’t doing 'well.' You all have been amazing in making sure that Iowa’s ONLY raw vegan restaurant stayed in business all throughout Covid & we definitely feel like it’s a real sucker punch to put us out now. And not for reasons you would think like 'they haven’t paid their rent,' 'they have damaged the building,' or 'they want to quit'… oh no, the reason… 'you aren’t a good fit and we need a bustling business in that space, the survival of CSPS depends on it)."

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the building that Rawlicious is located in (1101 3rd Street SE) is owned by CSPS, a local non-profit organization. The chair of the CSPS board Monica Vernon, who is also the director of the NewBo/Czech Village District, told KCRG that her goal is to improve the organization's financial situation by bringing in a catering business. She said:

“This is a business decision. This is an organization. This isn’t a charity.”

According to the Sunday post from Rawlicious, the restaurant will be expanding their hours until they close in less than 60 days. They will be open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Co-owner Jessica Lafayette says that they are hoping to move into another permanent location, but that they will need a significant amount of money in order to do that. You can check out the Rawlicious Facebook page for the latest updates.