St. Burch Tavern, the restaurant and lounge that replaced longtime Iowa City favorite Atlas Restaurant and Bar, opened to the public Thursday.
With the first floor featuring a brightly lit main dining room adorned by an oyster-covered raw bar, and a brick-walled basement the sports scores of neon lights, tables and a full bar lounge, St. Burch Tavern will serve as an homage to Iowa supper clubs while still serving some fine-dining fare.
Nate Kaeding, one of St. Burch's owners, said the downtown Iowa City restaurant at 127 Iowa Ave. would officially open at 11 a.m. Thursday. It will be open every day with the kitchen open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
The Den — the basement area with dining tables and a lounge — will be open from 4 p.m. until midnight daily.
The restaurant's varied food spread was on full display at a cold-opening dinner Wednesday night. Cory Kent, St. Burch's manager, said at the core of the restaurant will be its raw bar.
On the first floor in the main dining room, the raw bar is like a normal bar but is topped with piles of ice that keep oysters, clams and shrimp cold.
"The raw bar is the first thing you see when you come in," Kent said. "We're incredibly excited to have it because I'm not sure there's another in Iowa City, let alone many in Iowa."
Oysters from the East and West coasts will be regularly available, along with a shrimp cocktail, $13, tuna tartare, $12, lobster pot pie, $15, and an oyster slider, $5.
The rest of the menu is a mix of tavern staples and high-end, but simply constructed, entrees and sides.
On the tavern side of things are cheese curds, $8, and tater-tot poutine, $11, topped with short rib gravy and white cheddar. The Blue Ribbon Pork Tenderloin, $10, is topped with dill pickles, white onion and mustard.
Steak choices, like the 8-ounce filet mignon, $27, a fish fry every Friday and prime rib every Saturday are just a few nods to supper club fare.
On the other end of the spectrum is a range of fine-dining dishes.
Even though it's a burger, the Burch Burger, $13, features bacon, raclette and white cheddar cheeses, grilled onions and black truffle aioli. The 14-ounce pork porterhouse, $28, features house-made Worcestershire glaze, white cheddar polenta, glazed onions, apple and mustard pork jus. The hot smoked salmon, $18, sits on potato puree and is served with pickled mustard seeds, arugula and olive oil.
The dessert menu features a banana split, $8, a sundae, $7, a lemon tart, $8, and a mocha tart, $8, served with white chocolate coffee ganache, espresso cream and vanilla ice cream.
St. Burch takes over nearly hallowed ground in the Iowa City food scene since it stands in the space that just recently held Atlas, a 17-year-old culinary institution at the corner of Iowa Avenue and North Dubuque Street.
To help distinguish St. Burch from Atlas, the design was drastically changed. The main dining room was given a complete makeover with a more "bright and fresh" space, Kent said, with a light granite bar and white tiles on the wall.
A second dining room on the first floor is tucked into a corner, painted blue and adorned with plants and books on the walls. Kent said it's is available for private parties and lunch meetings.
The basement embraces its name, The Den, by being darker and tinged with bright neon lights. An angelic yellow neon sign of the restaurant's namesake, Burch the bear — the mascot of the Hawkeyes football team from 1908-10 — hangs near the staircase to the basement.
The dining room area of the basement will serve the full St. Burch menu. The lounge area, with a bar, a few tables, TVs and a bumper pool table, will serve a limited menu, including the restaurant's own version of a tavern, or loose meat, sandwich.
"Any room you walk into, we wanted people to have a different experience,” Kent said.
Kent said that about 90 customers can sit on the first floor, 90 can be downstairs and 50 to 60 can dine outdoors when the patio opens.
Atlas was bought last year by the group behind Big Grove Solon and Iowa City, Red's Alehouse in North Liberty, and Pullman Bar and Diner, which is just a few doors south of St. Burch on Dubuque Street.
Chef Benjamin Smart, Kaeding, Kent, Matt Swift and Doug Goettsch all have ownership in St. Burch. They announced that Atlas would be closed and made into St. Burch in late February.
https://www.press-citizen.com/story...ns-iowa-city-former-atlas-location/506995002/
With the first floor featuring a brightly lit main dining room adorned by an oyster-covered raw bar, and a brick-walled basement the sports scores of neon lights, tables and a full bar lounge, St. Burch Tavern will serve as an homage to Iowa supper clubs while still serving some fine-dining fare.
Nate Kaeding, one of St. Burch's owners, said the downtown Iowa City restaurant at 127 Iowa Ave. would officially open at 11 a.m. Thursday. It will be open every day with the kitchen open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
The Den — the basement area with dining tables and a lounge — will be open from 4 p.m. until midnight daily.
The restaurant's varied food spread was on full display at a cold-opening dinner Wednesday night. Cory Kent, St. Burch's manager, said at the core of the restaurant will be its raw bar.
On the first floor in the main dining room, the raw bar is like a normal bar but is topped with piles of ice that keep oysters, clams and shrimp cold.
"The raw bar is the first thing you see when you come in," Kent said. "We're incredibly excited to have it because I'm not sure there's another in Iowa City, let alone many in Iowa."
Oysters from the East and West coasts will be regularly available, along with a shrimp cocktail, $13, tuna tartare, $12, lobster pot pie, $15, and an oyster slider, $5.
The rest of the menu is a mix of tavern staples and high-end, but simply constructed, entrees and sides.
On the tavern side of things are cheese curds, $8, and tater-tot poutine, $11, topped with short rib gravy and white cheddar. The Blue Ribbon Pork Tenderloin, $10, is topped with dill pickles, white onion and mustard.
Steak choices, like the 8-ounce filet mignon, $27, a fish fry every Friday and prime rib every Saturday are just a few nods to supper club fare.
On the other end of the spectrum is a range of fine-dining dishes.
Even though it's a burger, the Burch Burger, $13, features bacon, raclette and white cheddar cheeses, grilled onions and black truffle aioli. The 14-ounce pork porterhouse, $28, features house-made Worcestershire glaze, white cheddar polenta, glazed onions, apple and mustard pork jus. The hot smoked salmon, $18, sits on potato puree and is served with pickled mustard seeds, arugula and olive oil.
The dessert menu features a banana split, $8, a sundae, $7, a lemon tart, $8, and a mocha tart, $8, served with white chocolate coffee ganache, espresso cream and vanilla ice cream.
St. Burch takes over nearly hallowed ground in the Iowa City food scene since it stands in the space that just recently held Atlas, a 17-year-old culinary institution at the corner of Iowa Avenue and North Dubuque Street.
To help distinguish St. Burch from Atlas, the design was drastically changed. The main dining room was given a complete makeover with a more "bright and fresh" space, Kent said, with a light granite bar and white tiles on the wall.
A second dining room on the first floor is tucked into a corner, painted blue and adorned with plants and books on the walls. Kent said it's is available for private parties and lunch meetings.
The basement embraces its name, The Den, by being darker and tinged with bright neon lights. An angelic yellow neon sign of the restaurant's namesake, Burch the bear — the mascot of the Hawkeyes football team from 1908-10 — hangs near the staircase to the basement.
The dining room area of the basement will serve the full St. Burch menu. The lounge area, with a bar, a few tables, TVs and a bumper pool table, will serve a limited menu, including the restaurant's own version of a tavern, or loose meat, sandwich.
"Any room you walk into, we wanted people to have a different experience,” Kent said.
Kent said that about 90 customers can sit on the first floor, 90 can be downstairs and 50 to 60 can dine outdoors when the patio opens.
Atlas was bought last year by the group behind Big Grove Solon and Iowa City, Red's Alehouse in North Liberty, and Pullman Bar and Diner, which is just a few doors south of St. Burch on Dubuque Street.
Chef Benjamin Smart, Kaeding, Kent, Matt Swift and Doug Goettsch all have ownership in St. Burch. They announced that Atlas would be closed and made into St. Burch in late February.
https://www.press-citizen.com/story...ns-iowa-city-former-atlas-location/506995002/
