CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Just in time for the annual Houby Days festival, a new bar has opened in the former Sykora Bakery building in Czech Village.
Horseshoe & Hide, 73 16th Ave. SW, opened Saturday, May 16, 2026, as the morning’s Houby Days Parade ended, with plans to stay open to 10 p.m. that night.
Described as an “upscale saloon where excellent food and bourbon pair together,” the bar brings the building full-circle from its opening in 1900 as a saloon called the Dew Drop Inn.
In the adjoining part of the former bakery, LoKey Hat Co., a custom hat boutique, opened its doors in November 2025.
A sign is displayed for LoKey Hat Co., during Houby Days 2026 in Czech Village. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Candy Nanke, owner of LoKey, and her husband Kory Nanke, own the historic Sykora building. Kory Nanke said Horseshoe & Hide would offer higher end dining, a whiskey and bourbon bar and patio seating.
A few touches of the iconic bakery remain, including a 1930 oil painting high on the wall, traded for food by a Bohemian immigrant artist during the Great Depression, which the couple had restored and reframed.
Read more: Painting restored inside Sykora building
A Depression-era oil painting was restored inside the former Sykora Bakery in Czech Village. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
After the Dew Drop Inn, Charles and Anna Kosek opened the first Czech bakery at the site in 1903 as the C.K. Kosek Bakery. Joseph Sykora, who worked for the Koseks, bought the business in 1927.
Sykora and his wife, Clara, owned and operated Sykora Bakery for nearly 40 years, and lived above the bakery. The couple had four children: Ernest, Elsie, Lumir and Lester, with the latter three following in their parents’ footsteps.
Elsie worked the front, while Lumir and Lester, who assumed ownership after their parents died, baked in the back. Lester continued operating the bakery after Lumir died in 1969. Elsie Sykora Elias died in 1993.
Don and Sheila Janda purchased the landmark bakery in December 1993 from Lester Sykora, followed by John and Sue Rocarek, who bought Sykora Bakery in 2001. The Rocareks had planned to sell the business to Craig McCormick, who temporarily reopened the bakery in September 2023, but they then decided to sell the building, rather than lease it out.
The Nankes purchased the building in December 2023. An online auction of bread pans, baking sheets, mixing bowls and more was held in February 2024.
Related: End of an era for Sykora Bakery
A Houby Days flier is seen inside Horseshoe & Hide on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
After the May 16 parade, morel mushroom contest, chalkfest, live entertainment, car show and more, the 48th annual Houby Days festival continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 17, in Czech Village.
Highlights include folk dancers at the Kosek Bandstand at 10:15 a.m., a kolache baking contest from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Novak Plaza, Miss Czech-Slovak Iowa queen talent performance at 12:30 p.m. and a cabbage roll contest at 2 p.m.
See more: Houby Days 2026 in Czech Village and more from the opening day of Horseshoe & Hide:
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