The owners of Mami’s Authentic will close their current Iowa City location and open a new restaurant, Estella’s, sometime in late August or early September. The new Mexican food joint will be located at 184 E Burlington St, next to Zombie Burger and close to Mami’s current location at 221 S Gilbert St.
Food & Drink
Posted inFood & Drink
Iowa City’s Fuji Steakhouse location for sale
Fuji Japanese Steakhouse, a restaurant on the westside of Iowa City specializing in sushi and hibachi, will soon be closing, owner Kyle Chen said.
Posted inFood & Drink
PiZan Pizza opens in downtown Iowa City
Craving a slice? PiZan Pizza opened today in downtown Iowa City in the space formerly occupied by Pita Pit (113 Iowa Ave.). The owner of the new shop is local restauranteur Brian Flynn, who currently owns and operates several Iowa City-based locations including Donnelly’s Irish Pub, Joe’s Place, BlackStone, Brix Wine and Cheese Shop and 30hop, among others.
Posted inCommunity/News, Food & Drink
Motley Cow Chef David Wieseneck to join Maggie’s Farm Pizza Iowa City location
Chef David Wieseneck of Motley Cow Café will have a new gig after the Northside establishment closes its doors on June 17. Carolyn Brown, Jerry Zimmerman and Roc Kemmerer, owners of Maggie’s Farm Pizza, have hired Wieseneck to join their growing team as their new Iowa City location prepares to open its doors at 1300 Melrose Ave.
Posted inCommunity/News, Food & Drink
Sonny’s Northside Tap to expand into former Taste of China location
Sonny’s Northside Tap owners Cassie and Tracy Barkalow purchased the 208 N Linn St space next door, formerly occupied by Taste of China. They plan to expand Sonny’s into that space by August and begin serving casual pub fare.
Posted inDining Recommendations, Food & Drink
LV Recommends: Nile Ethiopian Restaurant
“Finally” seems to be the most frequently expressed response to the recent opening of Nile, an Ethiopian restaurant just off the Coralville strip. Finally Iowa City transplants who once hailed from big cities rich with international food scenes can reconnect with a long-lost comfort food. Finally Eastern Iowa natives, young and old, can again enjoy a lesser-known cuisine without a long drive — or trial-and-error in one’s own kitchen.
Posted inFood & Drink
Mother Lovers Ride takes bicyclists on a gastronomical tour of Cedar Rapids May 14
On Sunday, May 14, RadTour LLC will host the Cedar Rapids RadTour Bike Ride (formerly known as Culinary Ride), a 52-mile bicycle tour and celebration of farms, food and fermentation.
Posted inFood & Drink
All signs point to Beer Burger heading to Iowa City’s Northside
We’re filing this under “might happen,” not “is happening,” but several sources close enough to the situation to be considered reliable are all nodding their heads yes: the new restaurant going into the former Motley Cow Cafe space (160 N Linn St) will be a fast casual version of the North Liberty restaurant Beer Burger…
Posted inFood & Drink
LV’s May Beer of the Month: Your favorite beer, outside, with friends
After finishing some business on a warm, sunny, summer Saturday in downtown Davenport a few years ago, a couple friends and I stopped at the Great River Brewery. We each got our pints at the bar, walked outside and sat at a picnic table on the brewery’s front patio.
Soft music played on the outside speakers and the water flowing through a tap line fountain lulled us into serenity. The bike rack on the sidewalk was full and bicycles were chained to the brewery’s fence, their spandex-clad riders nursing plastic cups filled with stout and brown ale.
Posted inFood & Drink
Made from the market: Strawberry-Rhubarb Cocktail
Spring is finally here! That means it’s time for the farmers market. Rhubarb is one of the first crops up, and I’m always looking for new ways to use it. Pies and jams are great, of course, but sometimes you need something a bit more adult. Why not a cocktail? Rhubarb and gin are a wonderful combination. Both are subtly floral and highly fragrant — they just need another ingredient or two to make them pop. It’s the same reason that rhubarb pie is boring, but rhubarb and strawberry is brilliant. As I was brainstorming this, my friend Andy suggested adding basil, and a springtime cocktail was born.
Posted inFood & Drink
Something for everyone at Take a Bite food festival in the Amanas
Take a Bite food festival in the Amanas this weekend features cooking classes, wine and beer tastings and special meals from a variety of European cuisines. Some events require reservations.
Posted inDining Recommendations, Food & Drink
LV Recommends: Caucho
Tacos are perfect, no matter what form they take: Whether hard shell or soft, spicy or mild, meaty or vegetarian, a taco’s deliciousness and convenience are peerless. I’d argue that, like sex, even a bad taco is still pretty damned good.
A margarita, on the other hand, is easy to ruin. Too often, the flavor of tequila is barely discernible in the too-sweet tang of frozen sour mix, and the whole thing amounts to nothing more than a mediocre Slurpee. A middling margarita can dull the shine of even the most stellar taco.
This is part of why Caucho is such a gem: Their margaritas are perfection. Whether delivered as a mixed-from-scratch top-shelf cocktail rimmed with smoked paprika salt, or as a frozen, blended house margarita straight from a machine, the drink combines perfectly with their fresh, farm-to-table, eclectic selection of Mexican favorites.
