Iowa game weekend - Advice for visitors

Burgers: Shorts

Breakfast: The Hamburg Inn (by a mile)

Tailgate: the spots by the staduim will likely be filled (boosters/season ticket holders).  There is a golf course to the west (give or take a mile) and some lots to the north that have tons of space.  

Beers: Brothers

Chill: Martinis

Rage: The Union.  Biggest bar in the Big Ten.  Be ready to rage your ass off.  

Ped mall is for college students and the like so if that suits you then you'll be happy hanging out there. For those of us over 30, I recommend the following:

1. Burgers: Shorts/Stella (same owners, one on east side, one west side, one downtown).

2. Pizza: Wig and Pen or Monica's (both in Coralville) have great pizza and other game-day type food. Both are likely to be mobbed so be prepared to wait.

3. Beer: Big Grove in Solon (20-30 min. drive northeast) and Kalona Brewing (20 min. drive south) have great beers and are worth the trip. 30Hop is ok but not my fave by a longshot.

4. Hawk fans will be drunk and happy regardless of how their team does. If you're not obnoxious they will accept you and even offer you a beer!

and you want to do something touristy and dorky and fun, go to Dyersville, which is about 90 minutes from Iowa City. It's where the Field of Dreams farm and field is located, and it's definitely worth a look if you are a fan of the movie. I am generally not into this stuff, but when we were making a crosscountry trip, we ended up stopping there and it was really sweet, though it is a three-hour, out-of-the-way drive...

I've eaten at the dorms for breakfast. Not sure you still can, but usually they are willing to take your money and it is a nice smorgasbord.

Watch out for the hot chocolate machine, though. Let your hot chocolate cool down for a minute or you will burn your tongue and feel it for weeks.

My brother-in-law lives just outside Dubuque. Cost of lodging = 1 ticket.

Had a great time in Iowa City several years back for a game.  Fans are really friendly.  We were eating dinner at a local pub after the game (which Iowa lost), and still got visited by many Iowa fans coming to our table to talk.  Nice bunch.

Only fans that are nicer are Nebraska's.  Both Nebraska and Iowa are the gold standard for fans and their treatment of visitors.

Don't drink Hawkeye vodka

Late on this but my buddy and I went to the night game a few years ago. We parked downtown early and bar hopped all day. As the game approaches just follow the people up the hill to the stadium. There were even people selling beers on the walk up there. Not sure on the legality of this but it didn't seem to be an issue for anyone else. No specific recommendations, just park and hop around and I'm sure you will have a good time. We really enjoyed the college town/bar scene.

I can't wait to see the Wolverines play in Iowa City!  This'll be my 3rd away B1G stadium to see Meeechigan play there.  Gonna be there 3 days, so thanks for all these great suggestions.  Wig & Pen, Short's, the Hamburg Inn and a few of those breweries are sounding pretty awesome.  Go Blue!!

I have 3 brothers that live there now and am an alum myself. 

 

Breakfast:

Go to the Hamburg #2. Amazing pie milkshake things, breakfast is a solid diner style joint. Not a place to take a large number of people in a party but delicious and relatively cheap food.

 

Beer/Drinks: Always been a fan of Shorts, Micky's(Irish Pub), and a little place called the Club car. Club car is a real tiny joint that is just locals, but it has sentimental value to me. Probably not what you guys are looking for. If you want a delicious margarita, go to Quinton's, it's a chain I think but their spuds(potato's) are incredible. A great cold weather food. EDIT: Almost forgot about the vine and Blue Moose. Love both of those spots. Blue Moose is right on the edge of all the other bars so not a bad spot to start at and move closer to the stadium from there.

 

Food: My favorite pizza anywhere is at Wig & Pen. I don't leave town without eating this when I'm in Iowa city. It's Chicago style pizza, think Giordano's. Used to only hire very attractive waitresses too but actually got in some legal trouble about it. Still worth a shot, last time I was there they seemed to have been returning to that sort of hiring. Other people that are thin crusters like Pagliai's. 

Those are my top spots. Someone mentioned Airliner, that's not a bad spot, if you're in the area of where the bars are though, you'll basically be by 90% of the bars so not a lot of bad choices. Younger bars for the students or people really hitting it hard would be Summit, the Fieldhouse, Brothers. Avoid those if that's not your crowd. Iowa fans can be nice, but the students can be dick's. I've had a bad experience before as a Michigan fan at an Iowa game. Given that they suck this year, I would hope they'll be relatively tame but just keep your head on a swivel folks!

One of the best t-shirts...Not everything in Iowa is flat.