Salsa Guy Cafe

03/09/2026

Reminder: TONIGHT is KCRG-TV9, Joe Winters KCRG, KCRG-TV9 Coats for Kids event at Salsa Guy Cafe!!

4-6:30! We’d love to have you stop by. I’ve been getting messages from many of you asking how you can contribute if you are unable to attend in person.

Please use the link below and THANK YOU FOR YOIUR GENEROSITY! I truly have the world’s best customers!

Coats for Kids

02/09/2026

Thursday from 4-6:30 p.m. stop by Salsa Guy Cafe and support a GREAT CAUSE!

Bring your appetite, your generosity and any extra coats you have at home that just never seem to make it out of the closet. They will be expertly cleaned and donated to someone in need!

We have all your favorites ready to serve and you get to meet and mingle with Joe Winters KCRG and his tribe from the station.

Always one of our favorite annual events here at the cafe!

01/09/2026

There is nothing quite as beautiful as a generous heart!

Last week when Justin stopped by and bought up the remaining supply of Salsa Guy Cafe Cinnamon Rolls, he told me his one wish was that we would have had more of them for him to share with you.

So guess what? Lightning strikes again! This time Justin stopped in and bought 50 of these delicious beauties to share with all of you!!

Same rules apply as last week. Stop by the cafe while supplies last and you can enjoy a free Cinnamon or Caramel Pecan Rolls on Justin with any purchase of a sandwich or entree!!

I love the power of Facebook! Justin was stopped many, many times in public by our customers who recognized his picture and thanked him even though they were unable to enjoy their own treat!

I’ve had several of you ask me who he is and what he does so I’m happy to oblige with a business “plug” for this man with the generous heart.

First, you can find Justin at the Downtown Farmers Market at his own stall that features engraved wood creations that are absolutely stunning and very creative!

His day job is Service and Sales Manager with the Rice Companies in Cedar Falls.
https://ricecompanies.com/locations/cedar-falls-ia

Justin. One more time. THANK YOU for making this fun and very delicious for so many of our customers!!

31/08/2026

Mark your calendars for THIS THURSDAY, September 3, as KCRG-TV9 First Alert Weather and Joe Winters KCRG will be at Salsa Guy Cafe for our 2nd Annual Coats For Kids Tour!!

A portion of our sales from this event goes to a great cause that we are most pleased to support! We will have a special dinner menu available that night along with several unbelievable desserts to choose from!!

Plan to stop by and bless our community, eat some great food and enjoy the festivities!!

30/08/2026

Welcome back to Sunday stories: Volume 1 - Edition 3.

To recap from last weeks post: “Health is the new wealth!” I’ve lost count of the funerals I’ve attended this summer. 4 in 10 days back in July.

It does get your attention.

Be GRATEFUL for each and every new day. That’s why they call it the PRESENT!

I’m grateful that at the age of 49, I made an INTENTIONAL decision to do something about my declining health. If you read my story, you know that my first training run for an IronMan Triathlon was intended to be 3 miles. And as you know, it was mostly a 3 mile walk.

But I started. And I finished.

START SMALL. Enjoy the journey! The finish line, or to rephrase, the ultimate completion of your goal is certainly a key part of your mental framework, but the day to day exercise and efforts need to be just as important. GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT for starting and validate yourself for small measures of progress.

Let me be clear, you do not have to train for and compete in a triathlon to reclaim your health, joy and well being. That was my outrageous goal.

But you DO HAVE TO START!

Make a decision today. Let’s make that our starting line. Better sleep, better diet?

This is what I call a universal truth: MOTION IS EMOTION! Move your body. Walk, lift, run, jog, stretch, swim, bike……

Make a goal, see your “finish line” and make sure you don’t make it so easy that you don’t experience a sense of fear and/or sacrifice as you begin this journey to vibrant health!

If it was easy, everyone would do it right?

Believe it or not, one of the first steps to good health is actually the quality of your breathing. Yes! Breath work is a key. It reduces stress dramatically and lets your body heal and restore itself. Do a google search on box breathing and that can be a simple starting point. Even 4-5 minutes a day is a great start.

Stop by Salsa Guy Cafe and say hello! Tell me what your goal is and let me be one of your biggest fans. I’m going to have a guest book you can sign where you tell me what your goal is and set a deadline.

For those of you who really want to “go deep” on this I have a proposal. Yes, it does involve a triathlon but nowhere near the distance of an IronMan.

It’s called the Pigman Sprint Triathlon and the next race is the first Sunday of June 2027. You have plenty of time to train and prepare for this. It’s basically a 600 yard swim, a 15 mile bike ride and then a 3 mile run.

Let me get you connected with the Midwest Extreme Tri Club right here in Cedar Rapids.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MidwestXtremeTriathlonClub/

You can find a supportive community of great friends and athletes who will help you prepare for your first race. If you sign up and complete the race, I will be at the finish line next year to congratulate you and then even better, feed you a delicious post race meal which we’ve done for several years now.

Enough for today.

You know what to do. Smart wth a goal. But start!

Go look in the mirror and say it out loud. My journey to better health began TODAY!!

I’ll see you at the cafe…..Can’t wait to hear your goals!!

29/08/2026

One of the legendary Salsa Guy Cafe stories from our days at the Downtown Farmers Market was from the Night Market several years ago. This was the only event each year that we served our FAMOUS MEXICAN STREET CORN.

There were over 400 hungry customers in our line waiting patiently for the chance to devour one of these unique and delicious creations. Ultimately, the line became so long that our customers backed up to one of the streets that had traffic zooming by and the Cedar Rapids Police had to tell about 50 of my customers to "walk away!" They call that "breaking the line." I've never forgotten that story and every now and then, one of you will come up to tell me you were one of the "unlucky" ones who had to walk away.

I have GOOD NEWS FOR YOU!

TODAY ONLY: Buy any sandwich or entree at Salsa Guy Cafe and we will treat you to our Mexican Street Corn for just $1.00!! Limit one per person of course. It. Is. That. Good!

Of course, our sweet corn is picked fresh from Knights Sweetcorn. Gary just delivered a very large order of fresh corn for today's special!!

As you probably know, I retired from markets after 19 seasons of serving you there! So we won't be at the night market tonight. But you can sink your teeth into that delicious and savory summertime treat all day at the cafe!!

28/08/2026

I had no idea…

24 years ago at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon…..

Jerry Dill grabbed his famous “honking horn” and opened up the Noelridge Park Farmers market for that day.

If there were such a thing as a “birth certificate” for a business, it would say time of birth: 8-28-2002 4:00 p.m.

I had a folding table, some chips and 36 containers of Original Summer Salsa. Just like Henry Ford back in the day, you could have any flavor you liked as long as it was original.

I was unsure if this would be a fit. All you can do is show up and find out.

20 minutes later, I was sold out and blown away by the way you received my “special recipe” salsa with lots of healthy and unique ingredients.

One week later, long before I signed contracts to buy pallets of glass jars from distributors, I was spending my days driving to every farm store in a 3 county area buying up all the glass jars I could find just to keep up with your insatiable demand for Fresh Summer Salsa.

I had two of the best vendors on either side of me on that first day. Jerry and Ruthann Dill on my left and Denny and Lea Rehberg of Rehberg's Pork on my right.

I’ll say it again. I had NO IDEA.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

YOU are the reason we have become the mighty small business that we are today that strives and thrives on giving back to our community.
Salsa Guy Cafe
You blessed me and my family with a mighty blessing!!

27/08/2026

GOOD NEWS SPROUT LOVERS!

We have selected a new sprout supplier in Michigan and just now received our first order of Alfalfa Sprouts so they WILL be on your Alfalfa’s Experience Sandwiches today!

This facility has an impeccable safety record and is so clean you could eat off their floor! I love that!!

Come on over and enjoy your favorite sandwich today at Salsa Guy Cafe!!