Huge diverse menu. Large portions. Good food. Friendly Staff. I recommend this restaurant. Good bar selection includ wine selections.
Huge diverse menu. Large portions. Good food. Friendly Staff. I recommend this restaurant. Good bar selection includ wine selections.
Three of us came for dinner at about 6:00 on a Sunday football game day. One part of the restaurant has televisions, the other does not. So you can watch the game if you want to, but you don't necessarily have to do that. The...hostess started to seat us right next to a television, but was quick to change that when I requested a table away from them. Good! We didn't order any drinks. We each sampled the other 2 person's dishes. One person ordered macaroni and cheese. She was very happy with her choice. Creamy, cheesy, good portion size and well flavored. Not over salted. We all liked it. Sometimes this kind of dish is too dry and can be pretty flavorless. This was not. It was perfect. One person ordered a chicken dish. It came with a choice of side dishes. she chose asparagus and roasted potatoes. Asparagus was nicely crunchy; not at all overdone. Potatoes were well done and flavorful. Chicken was not at all dry and was well seasoned, but not with excess salt. One more plus. I ordered 2 seafood dishes. Perhaps a mistake in Iowa, but I wanted to try. The cajun tilapia was well-prepared. The seasoning was good, but clearly was not a house-mixed flavoring and was a bit heavy on the salt. I chose a mixed vegetable side dish and roasted red potatoes. Both were very well prepared. Good flavor and nicely seasoned. Potatoes were extra crispy, but were also on the salty side. Still I was happy with my choice. Nice to find flavorful dishes in a cheery atmosphere with enough noise to feel energetic without being conversation challenged. 2 disappointments, though. Being from Maryland, I was pretty excited to see Maryland crabcakes on the menu. After a bit of discussion with the waitress, I decided to try them. The crabcakes were pretty good, as she said, but they are not at all what one gets in Maryland. That is completely false advertising. Maryland crabcakes have little to no filling, are seasoned with Old Bay, get a thin soda cracker (saltine) breading, are fried in butter, and are always served with Rémoulade sauce. They are made from either all lump crab meat or a combination of lump and backfin from Blue crabs. These were covered with panko crumbs and deep fat fried at a high temperature. They had a good seasoning mixture, but it was nothing like Old Bay. The cakes were made entirely from backfin, which really cannot take high heat and requires more filler. The amount of filler was tolerable (this is Iowa) but backfin has less flavor than lump meat, so it blocked the crab flavor. It was definitely not from Blue Crabs. The deep fat frying method made the outside of the cakes tough and also reduced the crab flavor. The accompanying sauce was not the flavorful Remoulade that is subtle enough to bring out the crab flavor. It was a creamy sauce flavored with capers. Quite good! But not a Maryland thing and sort of overpowered the crabcakes. So if you want a Maryland crabcake, avoid these. But if you just want a pretty good crabcake, this fits that description. Maybe "Maryland' should be taken off of the menu description for purposes of truth in advertising. Last point - we all ordered the creme brulee and we all had the same opinion about it. It had enough vanilla and just the right amount of crust. But....2 quibbles. It was cold, not warm. So the texture was off. It should be creamy. This was somewhat rubbery. Good flavor, wrong temperature and, as a consequence, wrong texture. Even so, our visit was a good experience overall. Good service. Mostly well-prepared food offered without ostentation. But 2 disappointments in my case.More
This spot is a perfect place for friends to spend the afternoon for cocktails appetizers and lunch. The atmosphere is great and is quieter than most other restaurants. Service has always been top notch! My only concern is that the food this visit was not...as good as it has been in the past.More
We chose this restaurant because of their gluten free menu. The gf roll before the meal was excellent however I was charged a dollar without being told there was a charge. My gf pasta was very over cooked and mushy. It came out so quick...I think it could have been precooked and then reheated which just kills gf pasta. My husband said his regular pizza was excellent. If ever in the area again I would order the gf pizza.More
We went here for supper and this food is really good. I had Cajun shrimp salad and it was so good. The liver and onions and it was so tender. The canon shrimp salad was also very good.
Love, love, love this restaurant! Great food and wait staff. This is our go to place when we go to the VA hospital.
Absolutely top food, service and atmosphere. I had an entrée size salad along with the best tomato basil soup I've ever had. It was a southwest I think. My wife had a salad also very good. bread with the meal. We had great service. I...wish I could remember her name but she was awesome Definitely a five and we are definitely coming back.More
I’ve been here before, also with a great experience, today was more of the same. The waitress was very helpful and attentive but not over the top. The martinis, cosmo and crab artichoke dish were all delicious.
It’s fine. Food is ok. Not great, but not terrible. I definitely can make better comfort food at home. Very over priced, in my opinion. But if you don’t want to cook, and don’t mind the price, go for it.
Quite possibly the worst meal I’ve had in years. I was there Sunday Aug 21. The wait staff was entirely college kids and they were very earnest, so no fault there. But the food. The bread was dry and stale. There was this weird honey...butter with it. I could live with that but the entree was horrible. I ordered the pot roast. The sauce had this bad metallic taste to it. The vegetables were frozen carrots. Mashed potatoes were ok. Could not finish it. This place was advertised as the best of for five years in a row but I cannot believe that unless the other restaurants in Iowa City are worse.More
Food tastes good and comes in a nice amount, at an affordable price. Free delivery is faster than CHOMP or DOORDASH. Suggestion: always give the driver a well deserved tip.
I had lunch with friends and had high expectations, especially after hearing about their burgers. The servers were nice and the room was well-lit. The meat was good; however, two of us ordered burgers cooked to medium rare. Both burgers were cooked to well-done. And...what restaurant only carries yellow mustard in this day and age? Next time, if there is one, I'll try the meatball sandwich or salads. Okay.More
Our group of 3 arrived around 5:30 pm. It was not busy at all. We were greeted right away, and seated. Our server did a great job with us, start to finish. I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. Our meals arrived in good time. The...spaghetti looked tired. For my liking, there was not nearly enough tomato sauce for the dish. And it did end up having a very bland taste. I brought home quite a bit of it as leftovers, and hope to revive it a bit. The menu they have is quite impressive, with plenty of options. The prices seem to me to be a bit on the high end. It’s been a few years since I last visited. It will probably be as many years until I visit again.More
I have frequented Monica's for years. At one point, the food was really good. Now, almost every aspect of dining there was poor. Monica’s has been considered are one of the best in the area. Not even close. The quality on almost every level was...substandard except for the wait staff who are good. I would be embarrassed to taking someone from out of town to Monica’s as it reflects poorly on the overall quality of restaurants in Coralville. Everything served was nearly inedible including the initial biscuits. The appetizer was dry and completely tasteless. The entree was overcooked but seemed more like it was recooked from the day before. It took forever to get served the food which for the entire group remained mostly uneaten.More
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but Monica’s advertises their “Best of” a lot so I expected more. Don’t get me wrong, the food and service was very good - but certainly not the best in the Iowa City area. Atmosphere was more like a...diner than fine dining, with the lighting level way too high for an intimate meal. Staff doing prep work at a table just inside the door was also a surprise. The menu was huge, service was good, beer selection was good, food was good. But I’m not exactly sure how it has garnered the “Best of” awards - I guess I just don’t get it.More