Iowa
The ultimate Iowa City game-day guide of places to eat, drink and root for the Hawkeyes
The Hawkeye ‘Wave’ brings hope to healing kids
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Zach Boyden-Holmes, Des Moines Register
Fall Saturdays in Iowa City are more than just raucous football games and large tailgates. A long history of game-day traditions attracts nearly 70,000 to Kinnick Stadium, and the downtown corridor and beyond is a thriving hub for foodies, locals, and tourists alike.
The 2024 football season begins Saturday, Aug. 31, when the Iowa Hawkeyes host the Illinois State Redbirds.
Here are a few establishments the Iowa City Press-Citizen recommends when in town for a football game, whether you’re looking for a hearty breakfast, a celebratory dinner, or the perfect place to bask in game-day ambiance.
Restaurants that are a short trek from Kinnick Stadium
Details: Stella, 1006 Melrose Ave., Iowa City
Steps away from Kinnick Stadium, Stella is a contemporary spot that combines American classics with Cajun fare. It is also one of Iowa City’s most vegetarian-friendly establishments, serving game-day spirit in a reinvented atmosphere and offering a variety of black bean burgers.
Details: Sidekick Coffee & Books, 310 1/2 Melrose Ave., Iowa City
Less than a 15-minute walk from Kinnick Stadium, Sidekick Coffee & Books is a vibrant hub in the University Heights neighborhood. The café boasts a robust menu, perfect for all occasions from lattes and smoothies to quiche and scones and yogurt parfaits, whether browsing the bookstore or before game day.
More: Where to find five of the best places to drink in Iowa City
Where to cater your Hawkeyes tailgate in Iowa City
Details: Graze Gourmet To-Go, 345 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City
Whether you are hosting a tailgate at Kinnick or watching the game at home, consider ordering in. The restaurant often collaborates with University of Iowa teams to provide game-day nutrition for athletes, but the restaurant also takes care of the community. The food at Graze Gourmet is designed to be taken to-go, as hinted in its name, by creating a menu of classic takeout items with a surprising array of options. Pizza, chicken lips, tacos, Mexican fried rice, and dim sum green beans are a few of the standouts, perfect for a game-day celebration.
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Restaurants that are worth the wait before the Hawkeyes play in Iowa City
Details: Micky’s, 11 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City
Located in the heart of downtown, Micky’s has been a game-day tradition serving Iowa City for more than 30 years. Opening at 8:30 a.m. on Saturdays, the local pub is the perfect spot to swing by for breakfast before the game, though it is also open until 2 a.m. for a late-night bite. Lines can be long, but the food and energy are worth the wait.
Details: Donnelly’s Pub,110 E. College St., Iowa City
The downtown corridor is packed on game day, but Donnelly’s Pub is well worth the wait. Donnelly’s Pub has a wide selection of beer and whiskey but also boasts a robust traditional pub menu from burgers to Irish stew and one of the best Reuben sandwiches in town. Donnelly’s is a good stop before the game or even as a place to hunker down and watch.
More: From falafel to pupusas: Iowa City’s top rated restaurants according to Yelp
Where to find a quick game-day bite in Iowa City
Details: Kindred Coffee, 287 N. Linn St., Iowa City
Kindred Coffee, located on the north side, is the place to go if you want something quick and easy. The coffee shop is best known for its specialty brews, from espresso tonics to classic lattes. Kindred Coffee also has a small but mighty breakfast menu, perfect for eating on the way to the game.
Details: The Encounter Café, 76 S. Clinton St., Iowa City
The Encounter Café first opened its doors in August 2017 and has become a premiere brunch spot in the seven years since. There are plenty of brunch options, from homemade pastries to breakfast burritos and skillets, whether you are keener on sweet or savory. Diners can either sit and eat or take their food to go while walking to Kinnick.
Where to watch the Hawkeyes game in Iowa City
Details: 2 Dog’s Pub, 1705 S. First Ave., Iowa City
For folks unable to make it to Kinnick Stadium or those who just want to avoid the crush of fans on Saturdays can venture outside of the downtown corridor for a variety of options, including 2 Dog’s Pub, one of the top spots to catch every Hawkeye touchdown. You’ll surely not miss a single play with TVs showing the game on every wall, whether home or away. With more than 20 beers on draft and an expansive menu filled with elevated bar eats such as wings and burgers, 2 Dog’s Pub has something for everyone.
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Details: Big Grove Brewery 1225 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City
With plenty of seating inside and out, Big Grove Brewery’s Iowa City taproom is one of the best places to watch Saturday’s game. Known for its Easy Eddy hazy IPA, Big Grove offers dozens of TVs and even a projection screen for viewing pleasure, and a bar anchored by a rotating list of Big Grove’s well-regarded beers. The food menu is rather expansive as well. The brewery’s regular watch parties often include DJs on the ones and twos during commercial breaks.
Details: 30 Hop, 900 E. Second Ave., Coralville
Located in the Iowa River Landing, the rooftop brewpub and restaurant offers an immaculate array of craft beers, a full bar, and a food menu. The atmosphere is top-notch, with dozens of TVs on the rooftop, perfect for watching the Hawkeyes win.
Details: Coach’s Corner, 749 Mormon Trek Blvd., Iowa City
Coach’s Corner’s Instagram bio refers to itself as the “The #1 place to catch a game in Iowa City!” Located on the west side of town, Coach’s Corner is a quintessential sports bar serving classic bar food fare from wings to a variety of sandwiches that will make you want to come back time and time again.
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Classic eats for the early birds before a Hawkeyes game
Details: Bluebird Diner, 330 E. Market St., Iowa City
Want to get to Kinnick as early as you can? Bluebird Diner is perfect for fans looking for a high-quality breakfast. Open at 7 a.m. daily, it is the ideal place to fuel up before kickoff, serving classic diner breakfast and lunch from open to close.
Details: Hamburg Inn No. 2, 214 N. Linn St., Iowa City
The Hamburg Inn No. 2 has been a cornerstone in the Iowa City community for 90 years. Last year, the joint found new life and has remained a favorite under new ownership since it reopened on Homecoming weekend. Enjoy classics from The Hamburg Inn No. 2 like Hamburg Inn pie shakes, fried chicken, celebratory cups of bottomless coffee, or the classic Presidential Breakfast with two eggs your way, hash browns, sausage or bacon, and toast. Since reopening, the Hamburg Inn No. 2 often has long wait times even on non-game days, so come early to secure a spot.
More: Here’s where to find some of the best fried chicken in Iowa, from Balltown to Donnellson
Where to find late-night bites in Iowa City
Details: George’s Buffet, 312 E Market St., Iowa City
If you are looking for a place to kick back after the game, try George’s Buffett. The bar serves late-night bites including cheese sandwiches, hot nuts, chips, and cheeseburgers on its limited-food menu. These are the perfect re-up after any long day.
More: Discover the 6 best burger restaurants in Iowa City, from gourmet to classic delights
Details: Sanctuary Pub, 405 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City
Sanctuary Pub has been an Iowa City mainstay since 1972. Reminiscent of a traditional British pub, the bar emulates its namesake, being a sanctuary for a welcoming place to enjoy the company of others over good food and drinks. The restaurant has a menu rooted in classic bar fare, with elevated options like baked brie and vodka shrimp. The restaurant is open until 11 p.m. on weekends; it is a great option after a long day to refuel.
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_.
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Repeat offenders convicted of multiple serious crimes would receive a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a bill passed by House lawmakers.
House lawmakers debated for more than an hour about high costs, lack of prison space and the bill’s impact on Black Iowans before voting 68-23 to pass House File 2542, sending it to the Iowa Senate.
Seven Democrats, including Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, joined Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.
“It will put public safety first,” said the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison. “It will ensure that the debt to victims and society is paid. It will prioritize victims and public safety over criminals. It will establish real and effective deterrence that is nonexistent in our current system. It will reduce chaos and violence in our society.”
Here’s what to know about the bill.
What would the House Republican three strikes bill do?
Iowans who accumulate three strikes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence, with no parole, under the bill.
That would replace Iowa’s current law that says habitual offenders must serve a minimum three-year prison sentence before they are eligible for parole.
All felonies, as well as aggravated misdemeanors involving sexual abuse, domestic abuse, assault and organized retail theft would be considered level-one offenses that are worth one full strike.
Other aggravated misdemeanors, as well as serious misdemeanors involving assault, domestic abuse and criminal mischief would be considered level-two offenses worth half a strike each.
Lawmakers amended the bill to remove theft, harassment and possession of a controlled substance from the crimes that would count toward a person’s strikes.
And the amendment specifies that the bill would only apply to convictions that occur beginning July 1, 2026.
If someone is arrested and convicted of multiple offenses, only the most serious charge would count towards the defendant’s strikes.
Convictions would not count toward someone’s total if more than 20 years passes between a prior conviction and their current conviction.
Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that only a violent crime would qualify as someone’s third strike, but Republicans rejected the amendment.
“The bill still scores murder, felony embezzlement and felony theft the same, even though they are very different crimes,” Wilburn said. “One point is one point and three gets you 20 years with no ability for parole or judicial discretion.”
Holt said the legislation leaves room for judicial and prosecutorial discretion.
“There are deferred sentences, there are plea bargains,” he said. “There is plenty of opportunity for grace and judicial discretion in the legislation that we are proposing.”
Bill could cost millions, require Iowa to build a new prison, agency says
A fiscal analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency said it could cost Iowa nearly $165 million more per year by 2031 based on the cost of housing inmates for longer prison stays.
- FY 2027: $33 million
- FY 2028: $66 million
- FY 2029: $99 million
- FY 2030: $132 million
- FY 2031: $164.9 million
The agency said if the bill had been in effect between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2025, there would have been 5,373 people who qualified for the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.
“An increase in the prison population due to increased (length of stay) will require the DOC to build additional prison(s),” the agency states. “The size, security and other features that a future prison may require cannot be determined, but costs would be significant.”
The analysis noted that South Dakota appropriated $650 million last fall to build a 1,500-bed prison.
As of March 1, the Iowa Department of Corrections’ website describes the state’s prison system as being overcrowded by 25%, with 8,705 inmates compared to a capacity of 6,990.
The Office of the State Public Defender could see a projected cost increase of $1.6 million due to an increased number of trials resulting from the legislation.
But the agency’s estimates come with a caveat — the Department of Corrections did not respond to its requests for data.
“The LSA has not received a response to multiple requests for information from the DOC,” the note states. “Without additional information, the LSA cannot estimate the total fiscal impact of the bill.”
Holt called the fiscal note “an embarrassment to the Department of Corrections” and “an agenda masquerading as math.”
“It is clear, in my judgment, that because they did not like the legislation they went all out and extreme to create a fiscal note that cannot be taken seriously in its assumptions,” he said. “It assumes that nothing will change, that there will be no deterrent factor and that the numbers will continue as usual.”
Black Iowans would be disproportionately impacted by the law
The Legislative Services Agency analysis says the bill “may disproportionately impact Black individuals if trends remain constant.”
Of the 29,438 people convicted in fiscal year 2025 of felonies and aggravated misdemeanors that constitute a level one offense under the bill, the agency said about 70% were White, 22% were Black and 9% were other races.
Iowa’s overall population is 83% White, 4% Black and 13% other races, the agency said.
It’s not clear how the bill’s impact would change to account for the House amendment removing some crimes from counting towards the three strikes.
“Expanding three-strike laws will intensify disparities — and that’s what this statement shows — by mandating longer sentences, limiting judicial discretion,” Wilburn said. “We already have a habitual offender statute. We already have one in place. We have a 10-year low in recidivism in our correctional system.”
Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, said California’s three strikes law, passed in the 1990s, worsened racial disparities, and “Iowa is about to repeat the same mistake.”
“I urge every member here, do not pass legislation that our own minority impact statement tells us will deepen inequality in our state,” Ramirez said.
Holt said minority communities in Iowa are impacted by crime and that the legislation “will make citizens of all colors safer.”
And he said the minority impact statement “tells only one side of the story, doesn’t it? It tells the criminal’s story. What about the victim’s story?”
“What about the mother who will continue to tuck her kids in at night and read them Bible stories because she never became the next victim of a violent career criminal?” he said. “Where is that data point in the minority impact statement?”
House lawmakers also approved separate legislation that would increase Iowa’s statewide bond schedule, Senate File 2399.
That bill passed on a vote of 74-19.
Iowans could see more information on judges’ rulings
Iowans would have access to more information about judges’ rulings ahead of the state’s judicial retention elections under a separate measure, House File 2719, which passed on a 73-19 vote.
The Iowa secretary of state’s office would be required to publish information including:
- The percentage of cases in which the judge set a bond amount lower than the state’s bond schedule
- The frequency that the judge releases someone on their own recognizance for a violent offense compared to a nonviolent offense
- The frequency that the judge’s final sentence is lower than statutory recommendations or a prosecutor’s recommendations
- The number of times the judge issues a deferred judgement, deferred sentence or suspended sentence
- The number of times the judge’s rulings are reversed on appeal due to abuse of discretion or error of law
- The average time it takes the judge to rule on a motion or case
- The number of cases the judge has resolved compared to the number of cases on the judge’s docket
The data would have to be displayed with a five-year trend line beginning five years after the bill takes effect.
The Secretary of State’s Office would also be required to maintain a searchable database of all judicial opinions and orders for the judge’s current term and the preceding six years. The decisions would be redacted when appropriate.
And judges would have the opportunity to write a 2,000-word personal statement on their judicial philosophy or data trends present in their rulings.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Luke Truesdell’s attorney has filed as of Sunday to appeal his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Truesdell was sentenced last week to three consecutive life sentences plus 50 years for the deaths of four people killed in rural Linn County.
A jury convicted Luke Truesdell, 36, in November on the first-degree murder of Brent Brown, 34; his girlfriend, Keonna Ryan, 26, of Cedar Rapids; and Amanda Parker, 33, of Vinton. They also found him guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Romondus Cooper, 44, of Cedar Rapids.
His attorneys previously argued multiple reasons for a retrial that could potentially be brought up again.
They said that one juror was overheard talking about news on the case.
They also said the prosecutors inflamed the jury, rather than focusing on the facts.
His lawyers said there is no direct evidence that Truesdell committed the murders.
Truesdell’s defense also pointed to Truesdell’s father, Larry Tuesdell, who was found covered in blood at the scene but never fully investigated. Authorities have not been able to locate Larry.
The state disagreed, citing overwhelming evidence including DNA on the murder weapon, eyewitness testimony and video of Truesdell entering the garage where the four people were found dead.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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