An ongoing collective document with comments by various contributers*.

Close to the University of Iowa campus

Airliner
22 S. Clinton St.
profile: Bar that also serves good sandwiches and excellent pizza (DD)

Atlas World Grill
127 Iowa Avenue
341-7700
profile: Nouveau Midwestern, this restaurant relies on local organic farms and cheese makers. Excellent gourmet burritos at lunch (just order half!) and lovely, changing dinner menu. (TM) Food is good but smoking is allowed with no separation or real distance from non-smoking section.(KT)

Baldy's Wraps
18 S. Clinton St.
338-1010
profile: 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. Funky but clean, good, reasonably priced hot & cold wraps and smoothies.

Bread Garden Bakery and Cafe
224 S. Clinton St.
354-4246
profile: 8am-8pm. Better than average sandwiches and homemade soups, bread baked on premises. (KT) Delicious soups and sandwiches. The grilled veggie sandwich is divine. (TM)

Brown Bottle (menu online)
115 E. Washington
337-4703

Devotay (menu online)
117 N. Linn St.
354-1001
profile: Small, intimate tapas restaurant owned by chef Kurt Friese, a leading member of the international "Slow Food" movement. His wife is a potter who makes most of their dishes, and they also serve lunch and full dinner entres and nice Spanish wines. Good place to go with a small group to sample an array of tapas. (DD)

Givanni's
109 E. College St.
338-3783
Perhaps the best Italian restaurant in town in a beautiful old building along the ped mall. Reservations recommended on the weekend. (DD)

Hamburg Inn #2
Market at Linn
profile: Old time college town student-oriented hamburger place. Ronald Reagan once ate here, and the booth where he sat is named after him. It is noted in local lore that he ate his dessert first "pie" and then went on to the special, which is always something like roast beef with mashed potatoes. (DD) Clinton outdid Reagan by tackling one of the specialties, a "pie milkshake." (TM) Highly overrated, indifferent service, many flies in the summer (KT)

India Cafe (menu online)
227 E. Washington
337-5512
profile: Indian food, both vegetarian and dishes made with fish, chicken and lamb. Quiet atmosphere - Bollywood music plays softly in background. Smoke Free. Lunch buffet on weekdays.(KT)

Linn Street Cafe
121 N. Linn St.
337-7370
profile: Highly rated restaurant with a menu ranging from Continental to American Southwestern. Extensive wine list. Smoke Free. Reservations recommended.

Masala
9 South Dubuque St.
338-6199
profile: Vegetarian Indian, mostly vegan. Noisy ambiance recently muted with carpet - food is good. Lunch buffet on weekdays, evening menu changes daily. Choose your own spice level. (KT)

Mickey's
11 S. Dubuque
338-6860
profile: Irish pub that also serves sandwiches, bar food.

Mondo's Downtown
212 S. Clinton
358-0776
profile: "We specialize in Eclectic American cuisine with homemade pasta, sandwiches, pizza, salads & Mexican entrees." Smoking.

One Twenty Six
126 E, Washington St.
887-1909
profile: Midwestern nouvelle cuisine in the evenings. Excellent upscale soups, sandwiches, and salads for lunch. The woodwork and French windows create a lovely ambience for drinks and dinner.

Panchero's Mexican Grill
32 S. Clinton St.
338-3101
profile: A fast food place but Iowa City's best attempt at Mexican food. Menu is limited but burritos and soft tacos are made from fresh ingredients. (KT)

Farther from campus but walkable

Aoeshe
624 S. Gilbert St.
351-7000
profile: Japanese & Korean - sushi along with other Asian dishes. Excellent fish pond.

The Brewery
525 S. Gilbert St.
356-6900
profile: Microbrewery with a full restaurant.

Lou Henri
630 Iowa Avenue
351-3637
profile: This a good place for breakfast if you want eggs, ham, and all that stuff. It is very comfortable, with a slightly hippiesque feel.

The Mill (menu online & delivery)
120 E. Burlington
351-9529
profile: Bar and restaurant serving Chicken, Pizza, Italian, Steak and folk music, smoking,

Motley Cow Cafe
327 E. Market St.
688-9177
profile: Intimate café that draws produce and meats from local farmers.

Pagliai's Pizza
302 E Bloomington
351-5073
profile: no frills, very popular, good traditional pizza - no delivery.

Red Avocado (menu in PDF)
521 E. Washington St.
351-6088
profile: Organic vegetarian cuisine - very sixties and very good. Closed Mondays. No smoking, no TVs. Just up the street from the New Pioneer Food Coop.

The Sanctuary
405 S. Gilbert St.
351-5692
profile: smoking allowed. Fundamentally, a bar. A traditional meeting place for writers and others who like to drink their beer (lots of international selections) in either silence or to the strains of folk music, blues, etc. (DD) One of the best for pizza in town and a heavenly place to sit by the fireplace in the winter. (TM)

Thai Flavors
340 E. Burlington St.
339-8900
profile: Most varied Thai menu in town. One visit definitely showed promise. A great lunch buffet - very fresh, cooked anew each day, more Chinese, sometimes than Thai, but in a very friendly and politically correct atmosphere. The restaurant hosts fundraisers for local groups regularly. (DD)

The Wedge Pizzeria (menu online)
5178 S. Riverside Drive
337-6677
profile: Gourmet pizza with several vegetarian specials. Traditional ingredients and more interesting ones like pine nuts, eggplant, fresh basil, black bean base, rice and soy cheeses. Delivery or carry out, no on-site dining. (KT)

Driving distance from campus - Iowa City

Café Z
1705 S. 1^st Ave. (near Sycamore Mall)
338-1738
profile: Mediterranean restaurant. Plain atmosphere but delicious Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes. One weekend a month, the restaurant features rotating international cuisines. The kind owner also hosts a free Thanksgiving dinner every year with an especially warm invitation to international students.(TM)

Midtown Family Restaurant
200 Scott Court (left off E. Court Street just one block short of Scott Blvd)
351-9303
profile: No nonsense meat & potatoes - home cooked, not processed - great onion rings - popular all-you-can-eat Sunday buffet personally fussed over by the owner/cook. (KT)

Taste on Melrose
1006 Melrose
339-9938
profile: A new addition at the high end, by a chef who used to work for the Mondanaro restaurants, but went on his own. Located in a former corner grocery in University Heights - on the West Side-- it is a "neighborhood bistro,: expensive by Iowa standards, but well worth it. Along with Linn St. and Givannis' it is the top of the line. Reservations are absolutely essential, and well in advance. Good wine list. (DD)

Thai Spice
1210 S. Gilbert St. (across from Nagle Lumber)
profile: Thai restaurant tucked away at 1210 S. Gilbert St . Extensive Asian menu. (DD) Excellent Thai, less likely to be confused with Chinese than other "Thai" offerings in the area. Amazing papaya salad. They will cheerfully replace any of the meat or fish ingredients with tofu. Quiet, unless it's really crowded. No smoking. (KT)

Driving distance from campus - Coralville

Mekong Restaurant
222 First Avenue
337-9910
profile: Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese. One of the better Asian restaurants in the area. Smoke free.

Mondo's Tomato Pie (menu online)
516 E. 2nd St. - on the Coralville strip
338-3568

Szechwan Village Japanese Chinese & Thai Restaurant
412 10 Ave. (half a block off the Coralville strip)
338-2888
profile: One of the better Asian restaurants in the area. No MSG. Delivery.

*mini review comments by (DD, TM & KT) University of Iowa faculty, staff, and students should feel free to contribute signed comments. Send e-mail to karla-tonella@uiowa.edu -- only uiowa.edu addresses willl be accepted.