Niland's Cafe

Niland's Cafe Historic Cafe, motel, and gas station museum located proudly at 24 Lincolnway in the small community of Colo, IA. The restored Colo Motel reopened in 2008.
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Full service restaurant with homemade comfort foods! Motel reservations or questions contact kelsey 6415218311 "Great Food With A Side of History" -Niland's Cafe was restored in 2003 along with the Reed Service Station. Outside self-guided tours and information, Station open during special events, historic Jefferson and Lincoln markers on site, museum displays inside restaurant. At the intersection of the historic Lincoln and Jefferson Highways. The Lincoln was the first east-west transcontinental road running from Times Square, NY to San Francisco and the Jefferson the first north - south running from Winnipeg, Ontario to New Orleans, LA. On the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway.

09/29/2026

That sunshine yesterday had me so distracted that I forgot to post specials 🤦‍♀️
Tues/today- Turkey bacon club w/ side $12.95
Wed- Boneless wings, veggie sticks, and side $12.95
Thurs- Chicken n noodles/mashed potatoes w/ veggie or cold side $12.95
Fri 11am-8pm- 1/2lb Made to order fish &/or shrimp, fries & coleslaw $14/17combo (grilled, original, b**r battered)
Fri- 4pm-8pm- $10 TENDERLOIN BASKET (drink not included)
Sat- Italian pork cutlet sandwich w/ side $12.95

All daily specials include any drink in the price ☕️ 🍺 🥤 🍸

Also, next week kicks off SOUP SEASON!!
Please comment your favorite soup requests.

09/21/2026

Autumn is in the air!! We have hearty and delicious specials planned for this week!

Tues- Chicken stew / biscuits w/ cold side $12.95
Wed- Smothered Chopped steak, mashed potatoes, gravy and veggie or cold side $12.95
Thurs- Shepherd's pie w/ cold side $12.95
Friday 11am-8pm 1/2lb fish &/or shrimp, fries & coleslaw $14/17combo (grilled, original, b**r battered)
4pm-8pm - $10 Tenderloin basket (drink not included)
Sat- Chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, country gravy & veggie or cold side $12.95

All daily specials include any drink in the price ☕️ 🍺 🥤 🍸

09/15/2026
09/15/2026

For any confusion, with our winter hours we will be doing a soft close/last call at 130 and 730 pm. You are welcome to walk in until those times and still be sat and eat. We will officially close at 2 and 8 pm.

09/15/2026

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

In the restaurant industry, winter is particularly hard. The weather is crappy, people don’t want to leave their warm house or drive on the bad roads. And our parking lot seems to get plowed nearly last in town. Preventing us from opening early on a regular basis. We have a lot of young staff who are new to driving, and we have several staff that have almost an hour drive to get to work.
We want to keep hours easy to remember for all of you but we also want to be profitable to keep the doors open for many more years to come!
We also want to keep everyone safe.

With that being said we are adjusting our winter hours.

EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 1ST 2026.

**We will not be serving supper Tuesday through Thursday and will be opening an hour later on the weekends.**

Hours will be:
Tuesday: 11 am to 130 pm last call
Wednesday: 11 am to 130 pm last call
Thursday: 11 am to 130 pm last call
Friday: 11 am to 730 pm last call
Saturday: 9 am to 730 pm last call
Sunday: 9 am to 130 pm last call

We have to have time to shovel our sidewalks and get staff to and from safely. Also in the market for a GOOD used snowblower.

Also, if anyone has something planned ahead of time with a group of 15 or more, please call and ask. We will make accommodations to open for you at night.

*** I would like to add, that we will still be there until 2 pm and 8 pm. We are just going to do a soft close/last call at 1:30 and 730 pm. We will stop accepting tables at those times.

09/14/2026

I've had some requests for specials this week and I'm happy to accommodate 😀

Tues- Chicken fried chicken n waffles w/ cold side $12.95
Wed- Memphis mac n cheese w/ veggie or cold side $12.95
Thurs- Beef sirloin tips/potatoes w/ veggie or cold side $12.95
Fri- 11am-8pm- 1/2lb fish &/or shrimp, fries & coleslaw $14/17combo (grilled, original, b**r batter)
Friday night lights- $10 TENDERLOIN BASKET (drink not included)
Sat- Tx house turkey melt w/ side $12.95

All daily specials include any drink in the price ☕️ 🍺 🥤 🍸

09/09/2026

I'd love to say that yesterday was a social experiment to sell out of specials that I never told you about. However, I just forgot to post them 🤦‍♀️
We have an AMAZING line up this week!!

Today- Cheesy potatoes n ham w/ cold side $12.95
Thurs- John's famous meatloaf, mashed potatoes n gravy w/ cold side or veggie $12.95
Fri- 11am-8pm- 1/2lb fish &/or shrimp, fries and coleslaw $14/17combo (grilled, original, b**r battered)
Fri- 4pm-8pm- $10 Tenderloin basket (drink not included)
Sat- TX house roast beef n cheese w/ side $12.95
Sunday- Meatlover omelet w/ $ cakes or hashbrowns $12 95

All daily specials include any drink in the price ☕️ 🍺 🥤 🍸

09/04/2026

Due to the heat and everyone staying home in the nice ac we will be closing a half hour early tonight. 730 pm. Thursday.

09/01/2026

Sorry, it's so late. We've been making pies and prepping all day. I'm pretty excited for this week's specials!

Tues- Fish sandwich w/ cold side $12.95 (1/2lb filet, cheese and coleslaw on a grilled hoagie)
Wed- Cavetelli w/ side salad $12.95
Thurs- Tx house crispy chicken sandwich w/ cold side $12.95
Friday 11am-8pm- 1/2lb fish &/or shrimp, fries and coleslaw $14/17combo (grilled, original, b**r battered)
Friday 4pm-8pm 10$ TENDERLOIN BASKET **drink not included
Sat- Sirloin steak sandwich w/ side $12.95

Daily specials include any drink in the price ☕️ 🍺 🥤 🍸

08/24/2026

Just a couple quick announcements before I post specials.
***Football season has kicked off and with Friday night lights comes $10 tenderloins!! 4pm-8pm every Friday night, we're offering our classic tenderloin and a side for only $10!!
AND
***We're now offering double meat on any sandwich for just $6!!

Tues- Frito pie mac n cheese w/ veggie or cold side $12.95
Wed- Chicken salad sub or salad w/ cold side $12.95
Thurs- Chopped swiss steak, mashed potatoes & veggie or cold side $12.95
Fri-11am-8pm 1/2LB fish &/or shrimp, fries & coleslaw $14/17combo (grilled, original, b**r battered)
4pm-8pm- $10 tenderloin basket (drink not included)
Sat-8am-11am Biscuit n gravy omelet w/ $ cakes or hashbrowns $12.95
11am-8pm- Tenderloin bowl w/ green beans or cold side $12.95

All $12.95 specials include any drink in the price ☕️ 🍺 🥤 🍸

Address

24 Lincoln Highway
Colo, IA
50056

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 7pm
Wednesday 11am - 7pm
Thursday 11am - 7pm
Friday 11am - 8pm
Saturday 8am - 8pm
Sunday 8am - 2pm

Telephone

+16413773662

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