Iowa City restaurants serving late-night palates
When the bar lights go out downtown, some of Iowa City’s kitchens start heating up. Catering to the late-night cravings of partiers, studiers, and graveyard-shift employees, downtown eateries serve up a wide variety of flavors sure to satisfy any palette.
Once limited to midnight McDonald’s drive-throughs or gas-station snack stops, the city’s crowd of night owls are now welcomed with a creative variety of edible options.
For some downtown locations, the clock doesn’t dictate how late gourmet ingredients can make an appearance on moonlit plates.
Since opening in February, Mesa Pizza, 114 E. Washington St., has wowed its fans with low prices and some risky crust-top flavor combinations.
Some of the restaurant’s busiest hours are after midnight. Thursday through Saturday, and Mesa’s doors are open until the post-bar rush dies down. That rush, usually following a smaller one at 12:30 a.m., makes for an insane atmosphere, workers said.
“It’s great to see people come in here to try something totally new at night,” said David Brown, a Mesa Pizza employee.
Scantily clad college students waltz their way just steps or blocks to the little pizza-by-the-slice shop to bite into feta crumbles, lamb, and avocado wedges, to name just a few of the many unusual toppings.
The business gets packed with hungry customers, most in line for two big slices, often for popular styles such as mac ’n’ cheese or buffalo chicken, Brown said. At this joint, pepperoni is passé.
“It’s an improvement to the typical late-night options,” said UI graduate student Kevin Nielson, biting into a vibrant slice of Southwestern-style black-bean pizza. “It’s no longer just the same old fast-food burrito you’re offered.”
Just around the corner, another restaurant, Shorts Burger and Shine, 18 S. Clinton St., has extended its kitchen hours, now serving burgers until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. With the option to order high-quality beef cooked well, medium, or rare, late-night customers flock to the pub as much now for sandwiches as they do the beer, employee Kelly Warner said. Kitchen hours at the pub were extended after locals discovered a variety of burger favorites, including a blackened burger with bacon, and one served with an egg on top.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that so many people come in just for food at night,” Warner said.
When burgers alone are not enough to satisfy carnivorous cravings, meat lovers are able to travel several blocks away to the Pit Smokehouse, 130 N. Dubuque St. Barbecue flames burn until 3 a.m. at the sit-down restaurant. The full menu is available at all hours, with heartier options including beef brisket or barbecued ribs.
Even with a wide variety available, the traditional snacks are still prospering with the bar-closing crowds. Such places as Pancheros and Pizza on Dubuque continue to see a profit after midnight.
“There’s definitely a late-night demand around here, and it’s big enough that we’re still doing fine even with new restaurants opening,” said Pizza on Dubuque co-owner Josh Silver.
Iowa City resident Ian Ronsing said a late-night food stop is just another bullet point on his friends’ downtown itineraries on weekends.
“Sometimes, I spend more time deciding where to eat after the bar than I do picking an actual bar to go to in this town,” the 24-year-old said. “What a delicious decision it is.”
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