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    Moonrakers

    3.7 (62 reviews)
    ModerateGastropubs
    Closed 10:30 am - 2:00 pm, 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM

    Moonrakers Photos

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    Creme Brûlée $8 and Poppy seed cake $8
    Ty P.

    They need to hire more severs. I ordered the mixed greens salad with chicken ($16), margarita ($10),Moscow mule ($8), and creme brûlée ($8). The honey-balsamic vinaigrette was fantastic for the salad. The chicken was small and tasted weird. The marg and creme brûlée was great. The mule tasted like cologne. My friend had the pork vindaloo ($21) and that was delicious. She had the marg ($10), Dark N'Stormy ($9) and Poppy seed cake ($8), which all were good. I would recommend this place.

    Moonrakers' interpretation of "medium well."
    V S.

    Awful. Not only was the service incredibly slow, but my burger was raw. Not rare, raw. Purple and cold in the middle. The server said they were supposed to be "medium rare" -- fine, but this was raw meat. I sent it back to be reheated and they were actually kind enough to make me a new one, which would have been great and totally made up for the raw burger, if not for the fact that the replacement was nearly as bad as the original. I requested medium-well. Unfortunately, this new one was rare. Luckily not full-on raw this time, but it was still very bloody. Not medium-well as I had ordered. Not even medium-rare. I understand that interpretations of cook time vary, but this was fairly unambiguous. I will say that our server was accommodating and friendly.

    Wednesday you can get mad good tacos at great prices!
    Ethan V.

    Your friend says, "I just wanna get a couple of delicious beers in a relaxed atmosphere - maybe some appetizers." Enter Moonrakers. This place reminds me of a restaurant located in downtown Minneapolis or Chicago and sports the same types of menu options. With a fantastically deliberate rotating bottle selection, you would be hard pressed to drink your way through the menu's entirety before new bottles has been added. The menu features an exquisite selection of delicious and hand-prepared items that could be offered at a much more expensive price and yet, we feast like kings at a very reasonable price accompanied by incredible service. If you're thinking about the weekend, consider a res

    Break the Fast with spinach salad

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    1 year ago

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    3 years ago

    Amazing food. Sister restaurant to the fancier one downstairs. Can order from their menu too. Casual and great service.

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    10 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Food was amazing and ambience was great. The host/server was weird but he was a student.

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    9 years ago

    One of my favorite hidden spots in Iowa City. Their lamb burger is phenomenal. Service is kind of slow however.

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    12 years ago

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    9 years ago

    Best burger that I've had in Iowa city, better than shorts. Good drinks as well. Definitely a hidden gem of Iowa city.

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    11 years ago

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    12 years ago

    Incredible place! My friends and I like to come here for appetizers and drinks.

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    Pullman Bar & Diner

    Pullman Bar & Diner

    4.4
    (745 reviews)
    0.0 mi
    $$

    If I could give more than 5 stars, I would. We ended up at Pullman Bar & Diner three mornings in a…read morerow during our trip, and honestly, it became one of the highlights of our weekend. Every single thing we ordered felt fresh, thoughtful, and just really well done. My kids were obsessed with the chocolate chip pancakes (which says a lot), and my dad and I worked our way through a few different dishes. The biscuits and gravy were comforting and rich without being too heavy, and even the simple eggs were cooked perfectly. But the standout? The breakfast tacos. They were insane. The pork was seasoned perfectly, super flavorful without being overwhelming, and everything just worked together so well. Also, do not skip the fresh squeezed orange juice or the local sourdough with homemade preserves. You can taste the difference. It's one of those places where you can tell they really care about the ingredients. Service was warm and easy, and the vibe just makes you want to sit and stay a while. We'll 100% be back if we're ever in Iowa City again!

    Adorable restaurant on the University of Iowa campus with exposed brick walls and a masculine,…read moremodern contemporary diner feel. Food 3/5 Service 5/5 Ambiance 4/5 Croque Madame 3/5. The hollandaise sauce with jammy egg on top was fabulous, but the sandwich itself was just ok. Garganelli 2/5. I liked the mushrooms but was disappointed that this dish was rather bland, especially for this price point.

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    Table dining
    Table dining
    The Mo burger
    The Mo burger
    Ramen happy hour!

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    Ramen happy hour!
    Short's Burger and Shine

    Short's Burger and Shine

    3.9
    (311 reviews)
    0.0 mi
    $$

    THICK, perfectly medium pink (you specify your desired doneness), juicy burgers were the craving of…read morethe day. And such inventive topping combos to choose from! Note: For anything in the 'Burger' section of the menu, you can sub the beef for chicken or black bean burger. The beef patties were HUGE - probably 1/2 pound . And no skimping on the toppings here so go there really hungry or split with a friend. They were messy, drippy, and once you pick the sucker up, you hang on for dear life so the bun or toppings don't slide off. To me, this is the way a truly great burger needs to be! So, prepare yourself - lots of napkins are your friends... Burgers come w/hand cut fries that are beautifully browned. Unfortunately, I opted for carryout so I knew the fries would not be very crispy due to steaming a bit during transit. I'd recommend eating fries there on-site as they will be MUCH better. So why 4 stars vs. 5?? The burger was begging for a better sear and was barely browned.

    This is your basic chz burger..... Shorts's version = one pickle, a small tomato and a dash of…read morelettuce. After adding my own LTP I couldn't eat the burger because the untoasted bottom bun was so soggy it fell a part in my hands. This is kind of pathetic. I should have just made my own burger. I ate the rest with a fork because I was just That hungry. Disappointing. At least McDonalds gives you two pickles lol.

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    Lyddon burger
    Lyddon burger
    Cheeseburger & Beaconburger
    Cheeseburger & Beaconburger
    Short's Burger and Shine

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    BlackStone

    BlackStone

    3.7
    (256 reviews)
    2.7 mi
    $$

    I've been to Blackstone numerous times but this is the first time I've felt compelled to leave a…read morereview. The Chimichurri Steak I had last night was absolutely amazing. Steak cooked (med. rare) and seasoned perfectly and the chimichurri sauce was out of this world. The service was, and is always, really good. But that steak? Next level.

    We had booked this location for a lunch after a funeral. We were to be served half of a sandwich…read moreand a salad from a very limited menu. (3 sandwich choices and 3 salad choices) Service started off good with a waitress, taking our orders and getting us drinks. Once we had placed our orders is when the problems started to happen. We brought in a group of approximately 35 to 40 people. (We had reserved a party room) Sitting at long tables with approximately with 8 people to a table. We waited and waited for our order to be taken with some tables receiving their food before we had even ordered. The waiters and waitresses slowly went from table to table taking approximately 20-30 minutes in all to take our orders. We were the last table to place our order and people were being served prior to us even ordering. We waited for over an hour and never received our food. Some people were even done at point. Needless to say, we were a little exasperated and finally asked them just to bag our food. Believe it or not, that took them another 30 minutes. In all we were there for close to two hours without being served. And when we asked our waiter, why it was taking so long he informed us that they weren't expecting our group to be so large. I think I would've preferred a simple "I'm sorry, we messed up," or even if a manager had just shown up to let us know that they had forgotten our order completely, rather than the lame excuses that they came back with. I don't know if this was just a bad day for Blackstone or if this is what can be expected from them, but our experience there was horrible. Unfortunately, as we were from out of town, we can't go back again to see if the service will be any better. I do not recommend this place. The food may be fabulous, but we'll never know. Also be forewarned if you have any complaints the management does not care.

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    Happy hour specials!
    Happy hour specials!
    Marinated chicken
    Marinated chicken
    Dinner menu

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    Dinner menu

    Moonrakers - gastropubs - Updated June 2026

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