When I first moved to Iowa City half a lifetime ago I had never eaten Indian food. The first time I fearlessly dove into the buffet at India Cafe would be the beginning of a lifelong love of Indian spices and preparations. I crave those crazy Indian pickles like other people do chocolate, and I’m […]
Tucked between a meat market and a physical therapy clinic in Paul’s Discount Strip stands La Michoacana Taqueria, quite a find amidst a typical splattering of businesses in Iowa City. A step inside is a step out of the rush of the day and into a different kind of rush—very friendly bilingual staff hustling around […]
It wasn’t long ago that a trip to the Lincoln Cafe also meant spending two hours noodling around Mt. Vernon while waiting for a table to become available. Waits were long and, after peeking into a kitschy shop or two, it wasn’t uncommon to end up down the street at the cafe’s wine bar where […]
For the uninitiated, which I assume is none of you, The Mill is, according to a tweet from Menomena, “the most fun [you will have in a restaurant] in years, if not decades! great place, great peeps.” The “great peeps” during my Friday lunch at noon were just me and the waitress. She did not […]
On August 27, XIE (pronounced “shay”) hosted a grand reopening after receiving a makeover from Restaurant Redemption, a yet to be aired program that will be showed on The Cooking Channel. There was promise of a “celebrity chef” and a free meal for up to 100 people. Chicken Little would like to go on record […]
As a new semester approaches and Iowa City begins to fill with students again, leaving town can recoup and extend the blithe feelings of summer that seem to… […]
On a rare rain-free afternoon in early June, I was feeling peckish and decided to risk crossing the road for a bite at Brix, one of Iowa City’s newest Northside eateries. Brix is a place I often overlook for lunch, partly because it’s only been open since last December, and also because I have never […]
Every Saturday from May through October, Iowa City’s main brunch event is served outdoors on a closed-off block of Washington Street, where the smell of bacon wafts over lines of hungry, stroller-wielding market goers. Here at the Iowa City Farmers’ Market, one can feast upon a dinner plate-size blueberry pancake from Griddle Me This for […]
El Banditos is a Northside restaurant that is capturing authentic fiesta flavor in their inventive, fresh cuisine. Holding its own in a growing pool of quality Mexican joints (La Michoacana on Hwy 1, along with new-ish arrivals to downtown Cactus and Mami’s Authentic), El Banditos is affordable, laid back and fun. […]
Last weekend, I followed my beak down Lower Muscatine Road, just past Sycamore mall to one of Iowa City’s favorite BBQ joints, Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack. Owned and operated by James Adrian and Jack Piper (co-owners of Atlas and Basta Pizzeria Ristorante), Jimmy Jack’s is housed in a red and white barn-like structure that features […]
When planning a night of fine dining in Iowa City, one often gravitates north. The Motley Cow, Devotay and Linn Street Café have built their reputations on serving elevated cuisine with a focus on local flavor. But there’s a downtown option that offers classic upscale Italian fare in an atmosphere that counters the Northside’s trendy ambiance with a traditional, elegant setting. […]
Located across the street from Horace Mann School and conjoined with our friendly local Ace Hardware store, Nodo is one of the odder and more overlooked sandwich spots in Iowa City. Walking in the door, you will likely be met by the proprietor, Bryan Asklof, who will either be working diligently on an order or standing, arms crossed, in rapt attention to the latest international soccer game (which he will be happy to fill you in on.) […]