Tailgators Sports Bar & Grill Menu

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  • Bill B.

    My wife and i went there to watch the husker football game. The place was filled with drunk (broken beer bottles on the ground and people being escorted out by security drunk) hawkeye fans. If you are reading this you are probably a hawkeye fan...i have nothing against the hawkeyes. I cheer for them as long as they aren't playing the huskers. After asking the waitress if they could put the game on (one of their 20-30 tvs) i was told she "didnt know if that was possible." The bartender came over after 15 min to try and treated me like i was an asshole for even asking. Granted the hawkeyes lost to iowa state that day..sorry but they have no offense this year, but the game was over 4 hours previously. After trying for 30 seconds she said they didnt have the channel (cbs sports...tailgaters is a "sportsbar"). We left without paying for our drinks. That is the first time we have ever done that. Very rude service and the atmosphere is nice....if you like to be surrounded by people who will likely try to fight you or vomit on you depending on how much they have had to drink. Avoid at all costs.

    (1)
  • Matt U.

    We'd heard from a friend that Tailgators boasts the best burgers in the area, but after frequenting shorts, we were skeptical. After trying Tailgators, it's a much closer race for the best grilled cow around! After walking into Tailgators, you're greeted by 70's decor with more modern tables likely procured in the early 80's. There are ample dart boards, pool tables and the game changer - a ski ball machine! For dinner we started with some gator tails - fried pickles to the layman. Surprisingly good for what they are. The beer selection is decent with some good specials most nights. We money here was the burgers - as previously advertised. Each of the specialty burgers is named after a Big Ten team. The Nebraska themed burger - The "Gotta Be Nuts" burger graced my plate. The combo of bacon - beef - fried egg and peanut butter was much better than expected and the pretzel roll was a nice addition. My fine wife took down "The Swarm" - a half pound of awesome topped with cheese thrice and a fried egg - she's quite the connoisseur of egg topped burgers! Overall, the burgers sizeable and delcious. Well worth trying out. Tailgators is a solid middle of the road place for burgers and fried goodness. Plenty of TVs and pass the time sort sports as well as decor that reminds you of shows from the 80's. We're looking forward to seeing what other burgers they come up with! Well worth trying.

    (3)
  • Jon K.

    Only place on 1st avenue near the hotels open until 2am. Drink specials were a bonus to this weary traveler, as was the pleasantly bad karaoke singing to all the old standby songs.

    (4)
  • Jacob C.

    Great burgers most of the time, and the appetizers are no joke. Most of the staff are very good:)

    (4)
  • Nan K.

    first and last time i went. place was packed our table had about 8 people (there was a iowa basketball game in a few hours, reason for it being busy) we waited over a hour for the food. we told the wait staff just box every thing we will eat in the car on the way to the game. they didn't listen and brought it then we said get us a few boxes, 20 min later the boxes showd up after we all stuffed down the burgers wait staff said 'sorry for the long waits not sure whats going on tonight' if the name of the business is tailgators sports bar you should prob keep tabs on local sporting events and have the business well staffed.

    (2)
  • Jim I.

    This is a friendly townie bar in Coralville that we stopped at when we were stranded due to a snowstorm ahead of us. It is a sports themed bar and everybody in there seemed really friendly.

    (4)
  • Sarah G.

    This review is for Karaoke on Wednesday nights. The Karaoke DJ has a pretty sweet setup and tons of songs. The sound is great. The only problem I had with it was that it was too loud. The sound filled the bar, which is two rooms, so if you sat in the room with the karaoke it blew you away. Unlike most other places except Blue Moose, this place has a stage. Nice if you like that sort of thing. The screens around the room showed the words to the audience so I could sing along. The crowd was half in the other room by the bar trying to ignore the karaoke and half in the karaoke room. The karaoke people were definitely into it but the crowd didn't respond well to the performances (see comment about it being too loud above). There were probably only about thirty people in the whole bar. For such a big space, that's not many. I could see this place being really fun if the DJ turned it down a little and more people showed up.

    (3)
  • Mark O.

    When I lived in Iowa City, this is where I'd go at least two or three times per week. They have the Sunday Ticket which makes it a fun place to go on Sundays. Decent beverage specials are available on a daily basis and there's usually a food special too. A lunch/late night menu is available with reasonable food prices, but the stuff in the evenings is overpriced...$11 for a burger and fries. I think wings are $11 as well. I only make it back three or four times a year now, but the evening bartender still remembers me, which is nice. Drink specials are pretty good for Iowa City, but the overall bar scene has gone down in the area since they changed the law a few years ago.

    (4)
  • B C.

    GREAT Hawkeye bar - unless you're a person of color. Had friends go there recently for trivia night, as we've done before, only to have one of the group go up to answer a question and she had to choose between categorizing something as a Christian Rock Band or White Supremecy group. The category was CLEARLY offensive - not sure who, exactly, is idiotic to think white supremacy is even REMOTELY funny. And of course, the trivia 'host' just HAD to keep repeating "white supremecy group" over and over again like it was just a common phrase to be thrown around, and not something that evoked emotion and pain. When my friends tried to explain it the trivia host, he basically justified why he thought it was okay, tried to deflect the issue, and turned the hostility back on us like we were the ones being offensive. I am in the process of sharing this information with all of my friends and alumni of UI, particularly those that have used this venue for reunion activities. I only wish I could give this place a NEGATIVE RATING OF ABOUT -10 STARS.

    (1)
  • Chris R.

    Does anyone care about quality service anymore!!! Seriously....I like to eat out and do it almost daily, due to my job, but lately, it's not worth it! To start, we sat down to one table and realized that it was sticky, crummy, and just plain disgusting so we moved to one closer to the kitchen. It took over 5 minutes for us to get acknowledged....mind you it was NOT crowded and our "soon to be server", walked by more than 5 times! Our server took our drink order (after the table next to us chased her down to get their bill), and never asked what size drink we wanted. Really?!?! Furthermore, when she asked if we were interested in dinner menus, we replied, yes. She immediately took the menu off of the dirty table, next to us, and gave us that ONE menu. One fuc@ing menu?!?! Is it that hard to give us 2???? After 20 minutes of being ignored, while our waitress typed a paper on her computer, we had enough. We called her over and said that we were no longer interested in dinner, especially since she had ignored taking our order... And ignored us in general! Her response, "oh, sorry about that (In a total bitch attitude).....it'll be $10." Then she tried to run off. I quickly gave her a $20. She had the balls to give me a 5 dollar bill and 5 ones. No f@cking way was she getting a tip!! Just wish I would've waited for the bill, so I could get her name, but I may still be there waiting for it. For a reference, the last time I was there, I spent over $70 on two of us having dinner and drinks....this will NOT happen again!!! They lost a loyal patron.

    (1)
  • Lauren S.

    I'm giving Tailgators two stars but... there's a good chance I'll be there this weekend. I live across the street. If it weren't for my cynicism about the downtown Iowa City bar scene (as a UI grad-turned-townie), I doubt I'd hang out at this place. But so it goes. Tailgators always seems like it's struggling with an identity crisis. On any given night the scene can be completely different: One night they'll have a halfway decent band, or a guy playing acoustic guitar. The next night is karaoke. The next night is hip hop blaring from the speakers. The next night it's nothing but country on the jukebox. Variety is the spice of life, or something, but it's a little confusing. You never know what you're about to walk into at this place. You won't run into many students here; it's an older crowd (not geriatric old, just older than college students). A table of drunk middle-aged dudes spent a night at Tailgators once crafting paper airplanes and throwing them at neighboring tables. That might paint a more vivid picture of the type of person that frequents Tailgators. More power to them? Regarding the food: Don't do it. I've heard the pizza and burgers aren't half bad, so maybe I'm missing something by not having tried either. But the one time I attempted food at Tailgators I had the most lackluster, sloppily-constructed buffalo chicken wrap of my life, along with what I'm fairly sure were store-bought, frozen fried pickles. For the price, it wasn't worth it. From then on out I've played it safe and stuck to beer. I encourage you to do the same.

    (2)
  • Timothy B.

    I was just looking for a "neighborhoodie-type" bar to have a couple of beers and watch Sports Center. Seeing that Tailgators listed itself as a Sports Bar and Grill, I though I had found the place. (My normal watering hole is undergoing renovations and is currently closed.) My advice to anyone looking for the same . . . skip this place! First of all, it does have a Big Ten decor, lots of Big Ten Banners, etc. But when I was in there on a Friday afternoon, the female bartender had some tv station on five of the 10 or so tvs playing "The Top Sexiest Videos of all Time" with the sound qued to that show. Drinks were impossible to get since her attention was on the TV sets and not on her four customers. It was the only bar I have ever been to where a guy could die of thirst. I's not a prude and really do not care what someone watches in their own time, but it lists itself as a sports bar! If I wanted to go to a strip club, I would have went elsewhere. Skip this place.

    (1)
  • Mike D.

    Good Hawkeye bar! The bat has a lot of different games and activities to do during the night. The food isn't very good. Love the idea of all the different burgers from the different teams in the Big Ten but I just wish the quality of the burger was better. Decent bar but the food needs some work.

    (3)
  • Ottis B.

    Nice place & the new owners are very hands-on & great with everyone. They do a nice job of interacting with the customers & offering daily specials. The only down side to this place is their location & image (old Charlie's). When you walk in it's still too dark during the day & gives that feeling that there was a big crowd last night. It's tough to run a restaurant/bar during the day & night. Wear & Tear of the night crowd while trying to impress the daytime crowd. But overall, a great place to eat, drink & have fun.

    (4)
  • Stephanie B.

    Best burger in Iowa City. We stumbled in this place trying to find a good bar to watch NFL games. It's a bit of a dive bar, but the food makes up for it. We have tried all the burger spots in the city, and this is always our favorite. We also love the wings. It's a great place to watch football on the weekends with all the tvs. You can see at least 5 from every seat. Good beer specials, too.

    (4)
  • Dan S.

    Sunday is the best day to be here if you just want to hang out with friends in a somewhat chill environment. $2 domestic pints and pint-and-pizza deal that's hard to beat. Food is otherwise overpriced.

    (4)
  • Art P.

    Good place for burger & beer, though music is a bit loud! The ownership changed awhile back, it is not called tailgators.

    (3)
  • Robert S.

    Decent place to go, remodeled nicely after the flood. Was fairly reasonable for pricing before the flood, since the flood has become outlandishly expensive for the location and atmosphere. Place is much cleaner, but much, much more expensive. Recommended as a last resort for a night out.

    (3)

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Map

Opening Hours

  • Mon :11:00 am - 2:00pm

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : No
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : Yes
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Lunch, Late Night
    Parking : Private Lot
    Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
    Good for Kids : No
    Good for Groups : Yes
    Attire : Casual
    Noise Level : Loud
    Music : DJ, Live, Juke Box, Background, Karaoke
    Good For Dancing : Yes
    Alcohol : Full Bar
    Happy Hour : Yes
    Best Nights : Thu, Fri, Sat
    Coat Check : No
    Smoking : Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
    Outdoor Seating : Yes
    Wi-Fi : Free
    Has TV : Yes
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : No

Tailgators Sports Bar & Grill

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