ADEL, Iowa — After more than 10 years of serving soups and sandwiches on the south side of the courthouse square, Brick Street Books and Cafe has closed its store at 803 Main St.
The cafe opened in 2011 as a microbusiness of Optimae Life Services, providing sheltered employment to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to the workforce. Employees at the cafe received one-on-one job coaching and the support they needed to build skills and be successful on the job.
The River to River Bakery and Pizza shop at 109 N. Ninth St. is another Optimae Life Services outlet. The pizza and bake shop, formerly known as the Brick Street Bakery, opened in 2016 and underwent a name change in July 2021.
The new name is a nod to the old River to River Road that created the first direct route from the Missouri to the Mississippi rivers, passing through Adel along Main Street and the courthouse square.
Optimae Life Services also runs Raccoon Forks Farm in rural Redfield and a number of other microbusinesses, such as a food processing facility in Ames, a Des Moines coffeehouse, a retail furniture store and others.
