Vernon Bar and Grill relocates to former Cork & Fork site

A longtime southeast Cedar Rapids restaurant has moved to a new home, bringing another longtime restaurant site back to life in the process. The Vernon Bar and Grill, which originally opened in 2008 at 3025 Mount Vernon Rd. NE after beginning operations as the Golden Egg in 2005, purchased the former Cork & Fork Deli & Grill at 2835 Mount Vernon Rd. NE earlier this year, and after extensive renovations and relicensing, opened at its new location Aug. 13. Jeremy Ward, co-owner of the Vernon Bar and Grill, said the decision to move the restaurant a couple of blocks to the west was financially based. “We've been in business so long that paying rent was getting outrageous,” Mr. Ward said. “We’ve established ourselves, so we thought we might as well buy a building and make it how we want it.” Cork & Fork closed in early 2014 after more than 30 years of operation. It reopened as Freshwraps in July 2017 before closing again in early 2020, sitting vacant until its new owners took possession. Mr. Ward said he and his ownership partners, which include his sister, his mother and his former brother-in-law, extensively remodeled the Cork & Fork building prior to the move. “We did lose some tables,” Mr. Ward said of the remodel, “but it’s very impressive how clean it looks.”

Vernon Bar and Grill’s menu will largely be the same at the new location, Mr. Ward said, but there are a few significant changes. “We actually got some of the recipes (from Cork & Fork),” he said. “We took a little poll to see which are the most popular and put a few of those on the menu.” For example, Mr. Ward said, the Turkey Garden sandwich is already on the new menu, and other popular Cork & Fork offerings could resurface periodically. “We'll probably run various specials every couple of weeks – the Toadstool here, the Hawkeye there,” he said. Mr. Ward said he and his co-owners have previous restaurant experience – all of them worked at the Country Kitchen restaurant in Marion in their younger years. “My mom managed it forever, then she put her kids to work there,” he said. “The breakfast is definitely modeled after Country Kitchen.” Mr. Ward said he’s already seeing Vernon Bar & Grill regulars patronizing the new location. “We’re even getting some people coming from across town to see what we’ve done to the place,” he said. Vernon Bar & Grill is open from 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on weekends, covering patrons from breakfast until late-night bar-goers. For more information, check out the Vernon Bar and Grill’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/The-Vernon-Bar-and-Grill-261686413899246 or call them at (319) 366-3617.