Three blocks from the bar colony of downtown Iowa City sits the Northside Market, a neighborhood some of the quieter and more niche businesses call home. There’s Dirty John’s Grocery, the endless kitsch of Artifacts and the town’s only falafel joint, Oasis. There is also a little place called George’s Buffet.
A slender two-story frame that stands between a modern high rise and a metered parking lot, the 85-year-old bar looks as if its existence is in defiance of urban modernization. Inside is a dark yet cozy dive, full of maps and Christmas lights and old wooden booths.
When game time comes, cozy becomes cramped. Football game days share the same bump in clientele as all the other bars in town, but for years there has also been a respectable amount of people paying close attention to the details of the Iowa women’s basketball game. All this before it caught on with the rest of the nation.
I asked George’s manager Alex Karr if they’ve noticed an uptick in business over the past two, storybook seasons for Lisa Bluder’s Hawkeyes. “Oh, do you mean have we had the busiest ‘slow time’ ever? Yeah, I think you could say we’ve seen an increase.”
“We’ve had to open early on Sundays for the women’s game,” added Corin, a bartender for the last 18 years.
I visited George’s during Iowa’s Final Four match-up with UConn on April 5. The bar is shoulder to shoulder, a combination of those waiting to see the game and Mission Creek Festival attendees having a drink between shows. This mixture of people is common at George’s, a place where everyone can find a comfortable place to hang out. Maybe that is the reason the bar was named in a recent ESPN feature on Caitlin Clark as a place where Lisa Bluder and her staff of Jan Jensen, Raina Harmon and others come to celebrate.
“We love having them in,” Corin told me. “They’re always friendly and very organized when they order. I think that’s from being coaches.”
Most will agree that this rise in popularity for women’s sports is great and long overdue. It is rare to have the level of celebrity that we are seeing in this town, this state, really for anywhere in the country. Yes, most of the focus is on Caitlin Clark and her record-redefining year, but as millions of eyes turn to watch her play, the rest of the team and coaching staff have also received an unprecedented but not undue amount of attention.
There can be a downside to losing all anonymity, something the George’s staff is well aware of.
“We’re pretty protective of her time here,” Corin added. “They’re nice enough to say hello and be in pictures, but we want to make sure that there is space for them to be comfortable, too.”
Last year, when Bluder became the winningest coach in Big 10 history, the coaching staff came to George’s after the game to celebrate. Their entrance into the bar was met with cheers. The packed room had an organized chaotic feel. For the most part, Bluder and company were left to their own celebrations, though once in a while you could see her posing for a picture with local patrons.
While sports talking heads debate whether this popularity will sustain after Clark leaves (a debate mostly among middle-aged white guys), in the little area of the Northside Marketplace, the George’s staff don’t seem concerned.
“I mean, it’s always been popular here. More so now, sure, but people have always come out for the women’s game,” Rani, a bartender of 10 years, assures me.
In true inspirational-movie fashion, the Hawkeyes pulled off a win against UConn on April 5. Most of the Mission Creek revelers had moved on, but a good-sized crowd filled the bar with cheers. Watching the last two seasons, there was quite a bit to be happy about.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s May 2024 issue.
