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    The Brown Bottle

    3.5 (102 reviews)
    ModeratePizza, Italian
    Closed 4:00 pm - 9:00 PM

    The Brown Bottle Photos

    Business Info

    THE BROWN BOTTLE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Intimate
    Romantic
    Classy
    Quiet

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    the exterior of a hotel
    Sherwin C.

    A reasonable option if you're looking for a more upscale feeling restaurant with a nicer set of menu items. The brown bottle provides a comfortable atmosphere for dining with others and very friendly service to match. The food here is alright - a little more expensive than other local options but not unreasonably so. The flavors are fairly basic, heavily dependent on sauces but the herb and spice combinations didn't really come through very strongly. The textures were also a bit indistinct, with most of the items a bit overdone. However, portion sizes are quite generous with plenty of food to take home after. Overall, a reasonable option if you need a nice setting for a conversation and a meal.

    Kristy D.

    The food was delicious and the portions don't disappoint. The service was really nice and attentive asking how our food was and refilling our waters when passing by, they were also very nice. The ambiance is really low lit fancy vibes, definitely a place to go to celebrate something but I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere.

    Baked Feta Dip
    Paige S.

    The only reason why I travel to Iowa is to visit family. I happened to be there for a wedding, and was able to also meet up with my immediate family. We are now all in different places so it was nice to meet up with them. We decided to have a dinner with just us and thought that Italian was a good idea. Others recommended The Brown Bottle. It was....OK. The service was a little on the side on nonexistent. There was basically no one in the restaurant and yet we barely saw our waitress and it took forever to even put in an order. The food was basic. It wasn't overcooked nor undercooked, but seasoning was not balanced. The marinara sauce basically only tasted of oregano, and the Chicken Marsala only tasted of Marsala. Even when eating the mushrooms they only tasted of Marsala. I will say that the bread was very good and extremely plentiful. That was really the only thing worth coming here for. Overall, this place has a lot to work on.

    Chicken

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    3 months ago

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    3 days ago

    Food and ambiance are amazing for a nice cozy dinner. Portion sizes were good and everything met or exceeded expectations.

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    3 years ago

    Was seated for 23 minutes and no one came to my table for an order of any type. Avoid this place.

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    Via Sofia’s Italian Kitchen

    Via Sofia’s Italian Kitchen

    4.4
    (21 reviews)
    4.4 mi

    New to the area! Husband I love eating out and love going to new places to find regular places to…read morefrequent. We get a lot of our suggestions from door dash orders and from driving around. So far this is top of our list. So many options and so much food is provided at such a small cost! The food is FANTASTIC! Didn't even need to ask for extra sauce as plenty was given, but ended up using the extra that I ordered for the bread. The perfect way to describe this food is adult sized public school lunch. If you did not like the spaghetti and bread at school you probably won't like it here, but it brought me back to nostalgic school lunch and I am ALL FOR IT!!!!! CHEESE BREAD IS A MUST!!!! Can't wait to make this a weekly place to visit! Thank you so much to the staff for also getting this completed quickly! You rock! -The Ridenstein's

    My first time here and it was a cool spot to grab a casual dinner! Sandwiches and pastas are their…read moremain deal. I got their lasagna dinner which includes a salad and 1/2 loaf of garlic bread. All that for 12.99!! The salad was nothing great, but the lasagna was really good especially when paired with their garlic bread! Their red sauce is rich and flavorful along with plentiful to dunk the bread in (SO GOOD)!! They are super chill and helpful here too so their service is great. No complaints (except the salad) and would def go back.

    Photos
    Prep Station
    Prep Station
    Baked Lasagna Dinner
    Baked Lasagna Dinner
    Sign Outside

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    Sign Outside
    Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

    Olive Garden Italian Restaurant

    3.1
    (72 reviews)
    2.2 mi
    $$

    My wife and I are visiting Waterloo from the Quad-Cities, so we are very familiar with Olive…read moreGarden. We were very unhappy with our server, Ben, who had shoulder-length hair, all the way around. Everytime he was at our table he took his hand and put it in hair to get it out of his eyes. He did this frequently. He also let it hang when he bent over to put cheese on our salad or soup. We were lucky no hair got in our food. I am a former fast food restaurant manager, so I know about food service sanitation. He should've had his hair tied back and out of face so he wouldn't have to put his hands in his hair then handle our food. I brought this to the attention of the manager, who should've been aware of this and trained Ben not to do this. I'd be wary about going to this Olive Garden with their food sanitation practices.

    Started off with horrible service. When we walked in the hostess had been in the restroom. A lady…read moreup front says to us "there's a small wait while we clean the tables" then walks away to never be seen again. Hostess comes out, other ladies up front doing end of night prep. After about 10 minutes of waiting a family walks in and the hostess seats them immediately (no reservation). We ask why we are still sitting there and the hostess says "I'm so sorry no one told me you were waiting nor wrote you down".... Thankfully the service got much better after that. Our server was very pleasant and apologized again for the rough start. A manager came over to get details of our troubles and apologized. Breadsticks and 5 cheese dipping sauce was good. The soup was yummy. The main dish of manicotti and three meat was amazingly good. One odd thing was my raspberry lemonade came out warm lol, the pitcher and glass must have just came from dishwasher because it had ice, it was just very warm to drink. We shall return for more Italian goodies.

    Photos
    Fettuccine Alfredo: Our signature alfredo made fresh in-house every day, served over fettuccine.
    Fettuccine Alfredo: Our signature alfredo made fresh in-house every day, served over fettuccine.
    Minestrone: Fresh vegetables, beans and pasta in a light tomato broth.
    Minestrone: Fresh vegetables, beans and pasta in a light tomato broth.
    Five Cheese Ziti al Forno: Oven baked blend of Italian cheeses, pasta and our signature homemade five cheese marinara.

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    Five Cheese Ziti al Forno: Oven baked blend of Italian cheeses, pasta and our signature homemade five cheese marinara.

    The Brown Bottle - pizza - Updated August 2026

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