OT: Iowa City Recommendations
Making the trip to Iowa this year for the regularly scheduled Kinnick hellgame and am hoping to gather any food/drink/tailgating/gameday/stadium recommendations from experienced travelers. Have a room downtown so hopefully good access to any hot spots. Thanks in advance!
I've heard they only serve corn in Iowa. And beer. So enjoy the corn and beer.
And hogs. Don't forget the hogs.
bacon wrapped corn?
I would ask what one is supposed to serve a hog, but I'm guessing beer and a chicken dish of some sort?
August 1st, 2022 at 10:58 PM ^
Close.
Beer and corn.
Leave early and get a good parking spot?
And beer made out of corn.
I'm going too, so thanks for doing this. This info will be handy. Rest assured, if we lose, I'm never seeing an away game again. This will be my first one.
As far as a stadium recommendation i highly suggest you go to Kinnick. That is the stadium where the game will be played, so it just makes sense:)
All joking aside, i went to the 2013 game in Iowa City and had a blast. Fans were really cool and while the venue was certainly hostile, it was like a friendly hostile and not a dangerous hostile.
We rent an RV for road games, and one downside was that overnight RV parking was very far from the stadium. Had to take a shuttle bus to get there, which was a major pain. Since you've got a hotel, that likely doesn't matter to you.
I went to the 2009 game with a couple Hawkeyes. It helped that UM was total ass at the time, but I didn't have a single issue--their fans were hospitable AF.
Also, get ready to pour 1,000 Busch Lights down your throat as fast as humanly possible. Iowa fans DRINK.
I haven't been before either, but will be going. Would you like to meet up?
Lived in Iowa City for 30 years, looking forward to the game on 10/1! You'll be on foot from downtown, don't even think about driving up to Kinnick. It's a ~15-20 min. walk. Tailgating starts early and goes late even for (presumed) night games. Melrose Ave. outside the stadium offers the usual array of food cart eating before the game and it's quite fun just to take in the atmosphere. Iowa fans are generally very friendly and welcoming as long as you don't come across as too arrogant.
As for local eats and hangouts the day before or after, I'd recommend:
1. Pizza: Wig 'n Pen (thicker crust/deep dish) in Coralville or Pagliai's (old style/thin crust) north of downtown on Bloomington St. (walkable).
2. Breakfast: Hamburg Inn (kind of like Brown Jug, located just north of downtown on Linn St.) or Bluebird Diner (somewhat nicer but not fancy, located just north of downtown on Market St.)
3. Bar scene: anything downtown caters mostly to students so check it out if that's your thing; for a more 'adult' experience you could try Big Grove in Iowa City (south of downtown on Gilbert St.) or either Reunion Brewery or 30Hop or Backpocket in Coralville (require driving or Uber).
Be aware that the area will be very crowded (of course) for the whole weekend and sit-down restaurants will be overfilled with long wait times. In 2016 two of my Michigan roommates came for the game and we waited 75 mins. to be seated for dinner.
If you're just hungry and don't care about sitting down and making a production of a meal, I'd recommend either carrying out from Oasis on Linn St. (best middle eastern food in the upper midwest) or assuming you have a car, drive over to the east side of Iowa City to Jimmy Jack's Rib Shack on Lower Muscatine Ave. Fantastic ribs, smoked chicken and the best cornbread!
Let me know if I'm missing something that you're looking for--Iowa City is a great road trip and Kinnick is a wonderful venue (other than the home team juju). Go Blue!
If you want to escape the college crowd Friday night, I suggest Coralville landing. There are good food choices and bars there. You have to drive which might be the deal killer. I was just here during the fourth and can vouch for it. If you stay downtown, it is a pick of the bars in the ped mall. I would get for reservations if you want any of the better restaurants. Bluebird is solid for breakfast, just get there early since it is not very big.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:31 AM ^
user name chex
The Vine on Glibert and Prentiss has excellent wings and a great beer selection, there is one on 6 next to Wig and Pen but I always went to the one on campus. Usually it is jammed on game weekends, even Friday will be packed.
Unfortunately some of the best restaurants from when I was there 04-07 are long gone. Looks like there are some good new options but I can't vouch for them.
Call it Ioway. That’s what the locals do.
I'm planning on coming in but haven't yet made flight/hotel arrangements.
Just took a glance at hotels in Iowa City, and prices are already quite high!
Any recommendations from any locals on other areas just outside of downtown that would have nice hotels?
What's the situation like to get to the stadium for the game from one of these more outlying areas? Drive? Uber? Any public transportation anywhere?
Even though they keep building hotels for football and graduation weekends there aren't enough and there aren't any outlying areas either. The hotels in Coralville and North Liberty are just as expensive as in and around Iowa City and most all of them double their rates (or more) for those precious high demand weekends.
You could probably find a cheaper hotel in Cedar Rapids (30 min. north on I-380) but then you'll have to figure out parking on Saturday. You used to be able to park at Coral Ridge Mall and take the Hawkeye Express train straight to the stadium but unfortunately that is no longer available (stopped last year due to need for social distancing).
Your best bet might be to find an Airbnb/Craigslist-ed type place to stay (still won't be cheap) that's near downtown or the stadium and enjoy the day on foot.
Yeah, the search for a hotel/Airbnb has been brutal. Hard to find anything under $450 a night anywhere near campus.
It is looking like we are gonna be forced into Cedar Rapids.
August 1st, 2022 at 11:01 PM ^
If you need any help in Cedar Rapids, I’ve got the official Key to the City.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:32 AM ^
found adrian arrington's account!
Anything I need to know about these lots I'm reading about that have a shuttle to the game?
I will be driving up from KC and Cedar Rapids is my go to. Parking on game day will be a similar experience as AA.
Bring me some burnt ends and I'll tell you where you can park for free with a pleasant 30 min. walk to Kinnick.
August 2nd, 2022 at 11:37 AM ^
Not sure if serious but that's a fair deal!
Have you ever checked out, or stayed in, Grinnell? It’s definitely a smaller town - with a great college. They have a small hotel - with pretty decent accommodations. And, it’s probably about an hour to Iowa City.
I’ve stayed at the Marriott in Coralville and thought the accommodations were fine. My guess is - it’s already booked, and a “home” hotel for one of the teams.
Grinnell is an hour west and in the middle of nowhere--Cedar Rapids is much closer and hotels are cheaper there than here in Iowa City. I spent an hour or two in Grinnell a few years back for my daughter's band concert and that was plenty.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:09 AM ^
JBL, I agree with what you’re saying about Grinnell. I was there for the better part of a weekend, just prior to Covid. I just “tossed it out” as an option, because there isn’t a plethora of hotel space in / near Iowa City.
August 2nd, 2022 at 11:58 AM ^
I'll stick up for Grinnell here (I'm biased though). It's a great little town, very picturesque and surrounded by beautiful Iowa farmland. It should be pretty nice that time of year. So, if you really can't get a hotel in IC/CR for that weekend and don't mind a bit of a drive I would offer it up as a nice alternative. It's nice and calm and quiet too.
Grinnell is also a great school with a nice, small campus you could stroll around in about 20 minutes. And they have a good but small, classic American downtown with shops and places to eat. And the weekend of the Michigan game, Dari Barn should still be open which has excellent ice cream and burgers, etc. They don't call it the "Jewel of the Prairie" for nothing!
I plan to be there and I appreciate this thread. I'll be picking up people at the Cedar Rapids airport so I bothered to survey their restaurant scene.
Population is 130K+ and the dining options look pretty good. I'd be interested to hear what the locals (or seasoned Iowa travelers) think about it.
130K+ is the Cedar Rapids population; Iowa City is closer to 70K. The airport is located in between the two cities (but closer to CR) off of I-380.
It's been a long time since I ate at a restaurant in CR but I think there are a few local gems. OTOH is that where you're staying and hanging out for the weekend? The action will be in Iowa City where the restaurant scene is just fine if you're not looking for big city ethnic food or high end meals. Mostly college bars, brew pubs in Coralville, with some Mexican restaurants, pizza joints, and all-american type places sprinkled about.
We're thinking that we may as well see what CR has to offer at both ends of the trip (mid-day arrival Friday, late morning departure Sunday, so maybe lunch at the front end and breakfast at the back end). In-between, we plan to do everything in Iowa City, which is where we'll be staying. My only experience in the area is a quick fly-by many years ago, so I'm looking forward to a longer stay.
Based on the size and content of those towns, I'd expect the CR offerings to be better overall. (No idea if that's the case, which is why I asked.) I've found college towns to be curiously undemanding when it comes to restaurants. Students maybe aren't as experienced and faculty are maybe too busy chasing grants, etc. Not sure.
Well I'd say Cedar Rapids is Flint without the water problems but there are supposed to be a couple of restaurants that are pretty good. Iowa City is sort of like Ann Arbor was in the 70's when I was growing up (minus the great pinball arcades and $5 pot law).
Interesting, thanks. That definitely paints a picture. If we do CR I'll try to report back in a post-game thread.
Depending on the direction you’re coming from, Grinnell is a small college town, but - it’s west of Iowa City, so - if you driving from Michigan - it’s the “wrong side” of Iowa.
Two other “spots”, would be Amana, Iowa - or, the Quad Cities. The Quad Cities are about an hour away.
My girlfriend is from Cedar Rapids and she said to not bother with checking it out that much. There are some decent options there now compared to a few years ago but Iowa City is where it's at. She also said that the airport is between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City so you'd be going out of your way to check out CR. But if you do, downtown is getting better and Czech Town has some very cheap hole-in-the-wall bars and places to eat.
As Amazinblu said, Grinnell and the Amanas are great but even more out of your way. Grinnell is my favorite small town in America (my girlfriend is a Grinnell graduate).
If you're into it and have time, the Field of Dreams movie site is about an hour away from CR so says google. The woman and I are strongly considering hitting that up at some point.
Don't waste your time in CR. For food Iowa City is the spot, the downtown area and Coralville have the best spots.
A lot of the best places have been mentioned.
Best spots IMO are:
- Big Grove (IC). Has a really nice outdoor seating area and have some good beers. Coming from Minneapolis I compare the environment to a mini-Surly if you've ever been there. They have some games like bags you can play, a big indoor bar and a large outdoor seating area.
- If you like deep dish pizza Wig & Pen is really solid.
- 30Hop in Coralville is my favorite dinner spot and they make a great breakfast bowl. I also like Quinton's out in Coralville, they make a very good GIANT baked potato.
- A lot of the other places downtown are good as well but as you can imagine being walking distance from the stadium, they're going to be packed.
Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City is pretty great (so is the Haunted BookShop) and there are lots of options to eat and drink in downtown IC and the pedestrian mall. Iowa City is an awesome town, very similar vibes to Ann Arbor.
A friend of mine here in Iowa also says to check out La Regia Taqueria, Pullman Diner, Big Grove, Jimmy Jack's Rib Shack and Wig & Pen (I think a bunch of those have been mentioned already but I wanted to pass along info from a reliable and trusty source).
Oasis is a really good Israeli takeout joint
I loved my last trip to Iowa City, except the score.
Have a blast and bring us better luck than I did.
That is all.
August 1st, 2022 at 11:36 PM ^
Iowa City is a mediocre college town as far as these things go, especially for the prices you'll probably pay. Stay in the Quad Cities, go to the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum (10-15 minutes west of Iowa City) around noon and hit the tailgating and game at night. You'll thank me later.
People remember Kinnick and the atmosphere (which is absolutely legit).Some commenter mentioned Pagliai's Pizza. It's considered the best pizza in Iowa. I would describe it as servicable, but unremarkable . . . just like Iowa City.
August 2nd, 2022 at 12:59 PM ^
Terrible take. The quad cities suck. No one refers to Pagliai's as the best pizza in Iowa.
Seconded.
Saw one game there, the Tate/Denard snowy night game where we almost came back after deciding not to cover their TE for two huge passes down the middle. Still a good time and mostly nice fans.
Print some quirky tee shirts out that slightly mock Iowa, but aren't too mean. Make them loud and wear them with pride. You will get 10x the greetings if you do. But even without it, just wear something Michigan and you will also get greeted by nearly every single tailgater. Their fans are seriously so nice. Enjoy it.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:17 AM ^
I imagine that if somehow you can work some snark in about Sadbraska, the locals will be charmed.
To those of you going to the game or going to some other time and are going to be staying in or visiting Cedar Rapids, I'll make a shameless plug for a friend's new restaurant. "Up in Smoke BBQ" (check out their Facebook page) is a from scratch BBQ place with great meats (plus salmon), and sides. The sides are all vegan. Be sure you check the page before you visit, as real BBQ runs out (because it's freshly smoked) and you can't just throw more in the smoker or reheat in a few minutes. The owner is a great guy and he and his family care a lot about delivering quality BBQ in a friendly place. You can tell him his friend from Michigan sent you. He's a Hawkeye fan, but I still like him!
Please be kind, this is my first post after reading this awesome site for many years.