Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon, an eastern Iowa City favorite for its barbecue, live music and spacious dance-floor, will hold its grand re-opening on Saturday, September 3. The event will feature a performance by South Carolina country rockers Outshyne.
The bar and music venue has remained closed for close to a year after its previous owners decided to shut the restaurant down in light of financial burdens and legal troubles. New owners Thane and Scott Kading (owner of Gabe’s, Yacht Club and co-owner of Augusta restaurant) are excited for the opportunities this new venue brings.
“We come across a decent number of bands that just don’t fit Gabe’s or are simply too big,” Scott said. “We’ll be bringing predominantly country and Americana acts to Wildwood, but we won’t be limited to that either. John Svec has just installed the venue with a new PA and I gotta say, it sounds amazing.”
As far as the menu goes, fans of Wildwood’s barbecue will be happy to see barbecue returning to the forefront.
“They’ve got a great smoker out there,” Scott added. “We’ll still feature the fried stuff, but the barbecue is going to really be the focus of the menu now.”
The venue gives area residents an opportunity to spend a night amid the fields and hills outside of town, enjoying some live music, dancing and good food.
“Not to mention,” said Scott, “It’s only about ten dollar Uber from downtown.”
