Iowa City Restaurant Guide

I was just scrolling through this website because I was looking up another restaurant in Iowa City that didn't get very high ratings, which led me to look up my favorite restaurant here. I am a west coast temporary (two year) transplant that loves good food. To my knowledge, I have eaten at every restaurant in Iowa City, and the only restaurant that I am a repeat customer at is One- Twenty -Six. I have never had bad service or advice as to what wine to choose or which special to try. The food is west - coast fresh, and the salads are always perfect. I have never had a fresher salad since I’ve been in town, and the prices are most reasonable for the quality of the entrees. Also, and maybe equally as important, is the atmosphere. The owner and staff are most amiable, and have just the right amount of giving a patron a neighborhood feel without being overbearing.

Good concept for haute-cuisine dining, but poor execution. We ate there with a group of friends. Great food and wine selection. The Prix Fixe 4-course meal menu option is good if you want to taste a little of everything. The service was slow. Our entree order took 1 hour to come to the table for 5 guests. The pork was cooked nicely and the steak au poivre was amazing. One of the chicken entrees was overcooked and dry, so we pointed it out, and they took the plate back to the kitchen to replace it. Rather than taking the whole plate, they should have left it there and simply put in a new order so the sides could be eaten in the mean time. Case in point : After 25 minutes, the new plate still had not come back to our table, so we had to get it in a to-go box since everyone else had finished eating. The mousse au chocolate was delish, but the butter cake was dry and hard. Over all it was hit or miss. For what is being charged to eat there, I would have expected more attention to quality for each dish.