Along with ice and snow, temporary tow-away zones are part of winter in Iowa City. Snow removal will begin in downtown Iowa City at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, and three hours later — 2 a.m. Wednesday morning — cars parked in metered spots from Prentiss Street to Market Street, Madison Street to Gilbert Street, as […]
Downtown Iowa City
Posted inEastern Iowa
With La Wine Bar, ShanShan Kong has turned an unlucky block into a downtown IC oasis
ShanShan Kong has been making hard-to-come-by Korean and Chinese dishes available in downtown Iowa City for three years. She opened La Wine Bar & Restaurant in fall 2019 at 180 E Burlington — the short-lived home of a Zombie Burger and a BeerBurger franchise — and mustered through the pandemic. She now operates several other […]
Posted inEastern Iowa Arts & Entertainment
Hancher to debut Infinite Dream Festival this fall — two weeks of music, conversation and a spaced-out art installation
Infinite Dream Festival, a new two-week, multidisciplinary festival will debut in Iowa City this October, organizers announced Wednesday. The festival is a collaborative effort between the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium and the Office of Performing Arts and Engagement. Infinite Dream will include orchestral, jazz and alternative music; a conversation with Iowa Writers’ Workshop alums […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Fortuna Board Game Cafe in the Ped Mall is closing
After 16 months hosting gamers in its Ped Mall location, Fortuna Board Game Cafe will close permanently on Sunday, Jan. 29, owner Justin Ford announced Wednesday in posts on the cafe’s Facebook and Instagram pages. “We understand that this news may come as a disappointment, but please know that it was not an easy decision […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Why three longtime downtown Iowa City business owners decided to make a change in 2022
Yotopia marks its 11th anniversary this year at the Clinton Street entrance of the Iowa City Ped Mall. The locally owned shop serves frozen yogurt sourced from the Country View Dairy in Hawkeye, Iowa, non-dairy vegan desserts and full-fat options “for those who want a more decadent indulgence,” as Veronica Tessler, owner of Yotopia, told […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Street closures for the University of Iowa’s Homecoming Parade start Friday afternoon
“No Parking” signs will start going up downtown at noon on Friday, as Iowa City gets ready for the University of Iowa’s Homecoming Parade. Street closures for the event will begin at 4 p.m. The city crews will block off the streets in three stages. 4 p.m. street closures: • Van Buren Street, between Jefferson […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
The Iowa City Soul and Blues Festival takes over downtown this weekend — here’s what streets will be closed
There will be live music and “culinary delights” in the streets of downtown Iowa City this weekend as the Soul and Blues Festival returns to close out the Summer of the Arts. The festival kicks off at 5 p.m. on Friday, when the Culinary Delights and Beverage Garden opens. The music starts 90 minutes later […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Photo Gallery: Trashapalooza is back in Iowa City
I wholeheartedly promise that nobody is checking for your six-year-old Swiffer Wet Jet that you just plopped on the side of the road next to the off-putting beige chair with three missing legs. Look me in the eyes: We are not interested. The season has commenced: summertime is over and there are 33 couches lined […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Every summer, lease gaps leave Iowa City renters scrambling for housing and storage
Paul Holdefer faced a worrying prospect. The University of Iowa graduate research assistant’s lease was set to expire July 25, a week before his new one began. He tried to negotiate a longer stay in his original apartment, “just to not be unhoused with all my stuff and my partner,” he said, “even offering to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Street closures and bus route changes for Iowa City Jazz Fest start on Friday
The music starts at 5 p.m. on Friday for the Summer of the Arts Jazz Festival in Iowa City, as the Mike Conrad Trio takes the Weatherdance Stage on the Ped Mall, but downtown street closures for the festival start even earlier. City crews will close Iowa Avenue from Dubuque Street to S Clinton Street, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Dumpling Darling in downtown Iowa City is closing
Dumpling Darling, a farmers-market favorite turned downtown Iowa City eatery, is closing. “As many of you know, it has been a rough couple of years for the restaurant industry,” Dumpling Darling management wrote in a post on the business’s Instagram page Monday. “Between the product shortages, labor shortages, the overall rising costs of doing business […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Beadology, a fixture on E Washington Street for 15 years, has moved
“My life pattern has been every 10 or 15 years, a new opportunity presents itself to me,” Karen Kubby said, taking a break from packing up inventory at Beadology. At various points in her life, Kubby has been a high school science teacher, the executive director of the Emma Goldman Clinic and a member of […]
