I really want to love this place. I love the Java House next door, also owned by the Heirloom owner. I like the decor with the historic photos of Iowa City. I agree with other posters that the way you order is odd, with different lines for different kinds of food. Weird and awkward, but hey, if that's how they do it, then, that's how they do it. I've never been very impressed with the place. It's quite expensive for a lunch place, in a downtown chock full of interesting dining options.Yesterday, we decided to give Heirloom one more try. I ordered a half BLT, cup of soup, chips and a drink. My dining partner ordered a whole Cuban sandwich, drink and chips. The bill was $24.90. Pricey, yes, but no one is forcing you to eat there. What bothered me was that my companions' whole Cuban sandwich was on at most, a 5" long baguette cut in half with very little meat on it. The poor guy was still hungry after eating his $8.50 sandwich. My half BLT didn't come out when his Cuban did. The person who brought it out said that it was burned, so they were making a new one. Well, they really may as well not have. My sandwich was on bread that would have been great, I'm sure except that it was so over-grilled that it was difficult to eat. The 1 1/2 strips of bacon (I really don't think bacon should be a mere decoration on a BLT, but that's just me) were burned black. The lettuce was one dark green, wilted, tough, outside leaf from a head of romaine. The chipotle mayo that was supposed to be on it was absent as was the avocado that I paid extra for. So, basically I received a burned, dry sandwich with old lettuce. I will say on one very positive note, that my soup was great. It was delicious and homemade. I really don't understand how this establishment stays open, except for it's busy location in downtown Iowa City. As I said before, there are literally dozens and dozens of awesome places to eat in Iowa City. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this is not one of them. $25.00 is too much to spend on a less than mediocre meal and I won't be back.
(1)
Pam T.
Fresh, unique soups and salads. Didn't look at sandwich menu. I had a salad with blue and cranberries, feta, walnuts, and more with mango cilantro dressing. The salads r prepared in front of you. Also, they can add or subtract items. Highly recommend !
(4)
Susan S.
Yummy spot that's menu reminds me of a mash-up of Panera and Noodles and company. I had the tortilla soup and the southwest salad. Tortilla soup was a little thinner than others that I've had---and I liked it that way! Nice broth and good shredded chicken. The salad had great ingredients, but the dressing was much too thick and mayo laden. Next time, I'd either it on the side or try something different. Very cute atmosphere and aweome coffee smells coming from the Java House next door. Bottom line, I'm sure I'll be here again with daughter on the next college carpool run.
(3)
Rachel G.
Convenient, charming spot if you need a refreshing meal. Staff are always nice and welcoming. When I go, I usually buy a beef type sandwich, caesar salad, and jersey tomato soup. It has never disappointed me. You can also add chicken to your salad. If you do a combo meal it does not include a drink and can get up to the 10 dollar range. But to me, that is worth it to eat something fresh while suppprting local business. There is also patio seating and you can get a nice coffee at the Java House directly next door. A gem of Iowa City.
(4)
Ashley W.
I eat here at least once a week. They have AMAZINGLY salads and they are HUGE! I also really love their chicken salad, you can tell the chicken is fresh and never frozen. But my absolute two favorite things are their scotcharoos and Rice Krispie treats! They are made at their bakery and purchased from a supplier. They use fresh ingredients in all of their menu items and it shows!
(5)
Rachel L.
The Fiesta Salad and a cup of Mango Soup is my favorite lunch so far, but partly because there aren't very many vegetarian options. why?! I love the fiesta salad - the chipotle dressing is way too delicious, the chip strips are a perfect crunch, and the corn is always perfectly sweet. But, I talk myself out of coming here for lunch a lot of the time because this is the only vegetarian salad... well, there's the house salad and caesar salad, but they're too blah to count. Especially at a cafe that's specifically a salad company. I also think the menu and ordering system are confusing. I've asked the staff on multiple occasions how the ordering process is supposed to work and I have yet to get the same instructions from anyone.
(3)
Cynthia M.
Yay!!! Love this place The food is always good. We live in Texas and always eat here when we visit family. We brought our 2 yr old grandchild and she ate the soup AND sandwich. We definitely were the heroes! I had the protein salad and it was great. We will be back next visit!
(4)
Maria S.
Fresh and crisp ingredients and wonderful variety! Build your own or choose from the menu. You can get your salad tossed or chopped. Definitely tasty... Perhaps a little pricey though.
(4)
Megan M.
My friend and I were just in town for one night and were new to the area. We looked online a bit for a place to eat but couldn't really make a decision. We walked past this cute restaurant downtown and decided almost immediately to try it. Their combos are a great way to try two different things. It's a little expensive, but I thought the portions and food quality were definitely up to par for the price. I got the southwest salad and the turkey avocado sandwich, both portions halved as a part of their meal combo deal. Even halved the portion sizes were great. The salad was fresh and not doused in dressing like other restaurants. The half sandwich was filled with turkey and avocado - I could barely take a full bite! Overall, a great place for fast, fresh and healthier options for dining out.
(5)
Christian T.
I've been here several times and I still haven't gotten used to the ridiculous ordering system they have in place. They have multiple lines for different types of food and they're oriented in a way that forces you to read the menu at an awkward angle, from a distance, if you don't yet want to step in line. In addition to that, for some reason the restaurant has a very distinctive and unappetizing smell that sits somewhere between the scent of sawdust and soldering fumes. Is it enough to drive me out of the restaurant immediately? Not at all, but it never fails to dampen my appetite a little, so I prefer to get my food to go and walk next-door to eat it at Java House. Now, onto the food: everything I've had here so far has been, for the most part, fairly good. Their breakfast sandwiches are what you'd expect and not too greasy, so in the morning they're definitely satisfying, especially on a croissant. Their sandwiches are right on par - my favorite being the chicken salad sandwich - and can be ordered with some delicious spreads, including chipotle mayonnaise and avocado spread. Ironically enough, their salads are really quite average and can get far more expensive than they deserve to be. All said and done, I might give this place 4 stars if I could stand dining in, but for non-sub sandwiches this isn't a bad place to get take-out from in Iowa City.
(3)
Christine H.
We decided to stop in Iowa City because I noticed it was a college town. In general, college towns have the food and drink establishments that I like in addition to funky clothing stores and a nice vibe :) It had been a long day driving and we were about 3-4 hours from our destination and this place saved me from having to eat crappy food on the road. I had run out of the healthy food I packed for the 24 hour drive and was so thankful to see fresh salad choices like field greens, spinach, romaine, and baby kale. Then the toppings were plentiful and right up my alley. The workers there were very attentive and did not work like they were stoned; perhaps I was lucky? Either way I enjoyed my salad and didn't have to finish my drive with a heavy, nasty feeling in my belly. We came back on our way home but I got a burger elsewhere in town because I was craving protein. If we ever come back I will visit!
(4)
Lee G.
Food tastes good, good quality, a tad expensive. Also, I got avocado in my salad and they didn't slice it. They just threw half an avocado in the salad. I thought that was weird.
(3)
Melissa Z.
I'm not sure why I tried this place again, to be honest. I just ordered a 'full' ham sandwich, not warmed up, to go. After getting down to my office to eat, I discovered I had a warm 'half' turkey sandwich instead. More annoying than getting the wrong sandwich is the fact that I paid for twice the amount of food than I received. Plus, the incorrect sandwich wasn't even very good (who heats up a sandwich with the lettuce/spinach already on it? I guess someone that likes slimy, limp produce. What kind of mayo are you using? It tasted kind of funky). So even if I had the time to trek back up to the store, I concluded that it wasn't worth my time to most likely receive a different, if correct, mediocre sandwich. Normally, service isn't that important to me if the food is of good quality or special in some way, but here the bad service + mediocre food + high prices = the last time I visit.
(1)
Mike O.
The food is very good. The prime rib sandwich is amazing and the salads are good. It's a little pricey, but that is to be expected for good stuff. The ordering setup is ridiculous. It seems to take forever to get through the line. The cashier station is a huge bottleneck. Seating is another issue. It's nearly all bar seating which would be perfect if you were there solo, but its impossible to have a private conversation. I'll go back to pick up food, but eating in is a disaster
(3)
Aaron P.
What's there not to love about Heirloom? Whether you're looking for a delicious chopped salad containing all of your favorite vegetables in it, a customized sandwich or salad, or just a cup of soup, Heirloom is another must-stop in Iowa City. I strongly recommend it for lunch...not much beats a salad and cup of soup from here. I stop in Heirloom at least twice with my girlfriend every time I'm in IC to visit. Easily one of my favorites!
(5)
Paul G.
Every time I try to go to this place, I find that I can't get what I want. Invariably, they've either taken what I wanted to order off the menu, or just randomly stopped serving it by the personal fiat of some stoned employee. (On that latter point: dudes. I'm from California. I get it. You're trying to create an atmosphere, you tell your staff there's a two-doobie minimum to start their shift. It's cool. But dude, you gotta maintain.) Today's experience was typical. I walk in. There's one person ahead of me in line. (This place is always empty, probably because it's designed to make customers unhappy and have the overwhelming urge to flee.) It's 10:45am, and I'm there to order a salad and a breakfast sandwich. The menu says breakfast sandwiches are available until 11. First, I stand around for a minute trying to figure out which line to stand in. You see, they have three, or maybe four. I can't really tell. There are a bunch of ropes strewn around the place, with signs saying "sandwiches" and "pasta" and "salad." Apparently they have a different line for each menu item, despite the fact that the place has probably never been crowded since the day it opens. Being there to order both a breakfast sandwich and a salad, I wonder: "do I have to stand in all the lines? Perhaps at once?" Eventually I spot a new sign (because obviously they didn't have enough before) saying "breakfast sandwiches." It's on the little gap in the ropes leading directly to the cash register. It's also where the only other person is. So I go stand there. Seems as good as any option. The person ahead of me pays with a hundred. They give her her change. She leaves. I stand around for another five minutes while two stoners behind the counter have a very lethargic discussion as to what to do about the fact that the cash register doesn't have much change anymore. They eventually decide to do nothing. Then they deign to turn their attention to me. I order a breakfast sandwich. They say I can't have one. They stopped serving breakfast sandwiches at 10:30 today. Unavoidably reminded of the last time I was there, when I showed up half an hour before closing and was informed that they'd already decided to stop serving pasta, I involuntarily spat out "I'm done with this place" and walked out. I then went to the wedge, where they happily sold me both salad and a breakfast, out of one line, by employees who did not look like they had consumed marijuana before beginning work. I just pray that this place isn't being subsidized by the well-earned profits of java house, the well-run branch of their business. Because if it isn't, it will doubtless go bankrupt within a couple more months after driving all their customers away, and then maybe it'll be replaced by something not comparable to a flight of root canals.
(1)
Wendy and Andrew B.
All short reviews of this place made me sad, so i thought I'd write a detailed one. And although i feel the place is a 4-and-a-half star salad and sandwich shop I'm giving it 5 stars for the concept and to offset some not very accurate reviews.) The good! Fresh as crap, healthy as the dickens and the salads and especially the dressings we had were great. (The Raspberry!) and there are A LOT OF CHOICES! The bad It's not as cheap as Mcdonalds. the pricing makes it difficult to estimate your cost, although wasn't really paying attention. and there are a lot of choices (this isn't really bad although you wouldn't know it by the other reviews... i consider myself a pro choice foodie:) (this is Andrew) This is going to be a long review... but needless to say we will come back for the pasta and as the concept of this restaurant evolves our 4 star review may THANK YOU to the Heirloom, HERE IS MY BACK STORY if you don't care skip down for THE FOOD. I'm allergic to things. Stupid things like apples and carrots and tofu, cilantro and celery sometimes. When i go to a normal restaurant or the Co-op where the stuff is prepackaged there are often things i can't eat (I would pick them off but shredded carrots are impossible to separate.. so is cilantro). WENDY on the other hand has none of those issues, and loves salads:) I try to make salads at home to avoid things I can't eat (SALAD SPINNER YEAH!) but when we get 2 kinds of lettuce and all of the trimmings half of it goes bad before we can eat it, and shopping at the farmers market or co-op lets you know how much all of those ingredients actually cost. And then Wendy can't have some of the stuff she likes and i can't have unless they're prepared separately. So we were glad to see this place open close to the Englert Theater (where we got married:) If you read our other reviews you can see that we like fresh healthy good tasty food, and places that look cool. (I'm looking at you Tuscan Moon! and NODO) And after circling this place for weeks and not going in due to the line during the lunch rush we hadn't tried it out. Then I read a review in the LV that wasn't really bad, it just didn't talk about how the food was at all, but thanks to them i decided to make up my own mind. THE FOOD The food is great. I went "build your own," had the mixed green salad, added chicken, olives, onions and cucumber (onions and cucumber and carrots are free, but no carrots for me:) and Wendy had the Salmon and Egg salad from the menu. It tasted like raw fresh food does, good and healthy and the dressing wasn't overpowering (although i will get more on mine next time as you are in charge of saying "when") We both got smalls although i thought i had pulled the large from the shelf, the small is big, the large is huge. We were both full FROM A SALAD! when we were done and will come back again to try the pasta and sandwiches. THE PLACE The place is new so it's obviously clean, the decor is simple, track lighting and huge windows. Cool pictures of old timey iowa city on the wall and i love old timey pictures. The Lines are a little confusing if you aren't paying attention but once you've been there once it's pretty intuitive. Right side for salad (which is what we got) and the others were to the left. The service was fast, they weren't busy at the time but i can imagine people would be confused if it was the first time visiting and the place was packed. But if you've ever been to PORTOS! in LA then this place is a cake walk. The place is also set up to be "to go" as your bowl comes with a lid and all the drinks are bottled. THE COST Cost is relative, and you get what you pay for. We got 2 salads that filled us up for 16 bucks. But is that expensive? Well not for organic produce, or really any healthy food in general and by YELP standards it's "Moderate." Shop around... Wendy LOVES the soup at Bread Garden, and the last time we ate there i got a salad and my plate cost 12 bucks. McDonald's is cheaper, but then you have to eat at McDonald's (i still love burger king:) This is a local restaurant putting fresh healthy produce that's grown as close to home as possible, and that costs money, not a ton of money, but you get what you pay for. In the future i hope that Heirloom streamlines their prices so it doesn't confuse some people. And maybe add numbers next to the salads so those who think that having too many choices is a negative can order by number instead:) Other than that, good on ya guys keep going, we don't go to Java much because we don't drink coffee but we will surely go to Heirloom again. Wow glad I got that off my chest. EAT WELL MY FRIENDS!
(5)
Stella A.
Came here on a Saturday morning and this place was poppin'! Although it's called Heirloom *Salad* Company, I didn't get a salad. I got their vintage chicken sandwich. They offer it in a half and whole sandwich. I was splitting it with my sister so I decided to go with the whole. I should have really gotten the half. It would have still been enough to split. The whole is a whole lotta sandwich! The bread was crispy. The pesto was tasty. The chicken was good. KInda messy to eat but worth the effort! I wish there was an Heirloom Salad Company here in Chicago. Make it happen owners!
(4)
Eric S.
We were driving through Iowa on a cross country road trip and planning to stop at a different sandwich shop in Iowa city. After finding out it was closed we found heirloom salad company and decoded to try it out. We both tried the BBQ chicken salad with mixed greens. After seeing the massive amount of salad in my large, my girlfriend switched hers to a small salad, which ended up being almost the same size. All of the toppings tastes great and there were hefty portions of chicken, cheese and fried jalapeños added in. The BBQ ranch and BBQ sauce combo also were very flavorful but didn't overwhelm anything. All of this plus a drink also cost a fairly reasonable $19. Other comments have mentioned that the setup is confusing and that is definitely something they should improve. Luckily it was mostly empty when we were there but if it was more crowded the three or four lines for different items would be very tricky. It also was not a problem for us to get water cups from the connected coffee shop but that also would have been very annoying to need to get back in that line if it were a busy day. Overall we would definitely stop again and this would be a five star restaurant with some minor changes to the setup
Very good tasting salad, and the concept fits the current healthy food market craze. My chopped creation consisted of black beans, avocado, green pepper, red onion, and tortilla strips..topped with the 25 calorie pet serving mango cilantro dressing-this dressing is superb! Only complaint-rather pricy for the amount of food you get. $7 for just the small romaine lettuce salad.
(4)
Dolan M.
I tried out Heirloom during Arts Fest today. While looking over the menu, my first thought was that the pricing intentionally makes it difficult to calculate the total in your head. Some ingredients cost $0.59, some cost $1.29, some cost $1.89, and a few cost $2.49 (premium proteins like salmon). Sigh. Ending your ingredient price in a 9 just feels scammy. Just make it easy for us and use round numbers. On the positive side, carrots, cucumbers, red onions and croutons are free. But the cook fills out the pricing sheet for you, and many customers won't have any idea what they're paying until they get to the register. I decided on a large mixed greens salad with salmon, carrots, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes. It was pretty massive and cost about $8.50. The cherry tomatoes and mixed greens were great and tasted pretty fresh. The cucumbers were a bit on the chewy side, probably due to the waxy skin left on the cuts. The carrots were standard matchstick out of a bag and were very dry. The salmon was way overcooked -- definitely wasn't worth what I paid. Some of the vegetables I didn't pick also looked a bit dry: the apples and sprouts, for instance. Other ingredients just looked like they were out of a can. It's cool to have 50 different ingredient options, but I'd much rather have a slightly smaller ingredient list with a greater focus on quality. Plus, the stakes are raised with the increased cost of ingredients at Heirloom. I was careful with my choices, but someone could easily put together a salad that costs $10+ here. Heirloom is still very new, and I hope the ingredient quality will improve as the staff gets more comfortable. It has a lot of potential, but it just didn't blow me away today.
(2)
Angie C.
This place has great food, but the staff and management need to get their act together. Every time I go in, it's like none of the employees have an assigned duty. In the course of 10 minutes, a given employee will make a sandwich, make a salad, ring up someone else's pasta and then stand around looking confused. It's like they're all lost and don't know what to do next and nobody comes along to steer them in the right direction. While your order is being prepared, you're kind of left in limbo.. it's not clear whether you should sit down and wait for your order to be called, or stand off to the side akwardly until its finished. If you go early in the day.... say 11:00 they may or may not have everything set up and ready to go. For the food itself, again it's great! Everything tastes fresh and there are a wide variety of choices.... although I would like to see french dressing. The prices are a little high, but the food quality reflects the price. Its not much more expensive than anywhere else worth eating in downtown Iowa City.
(4)
Nicholas T.
Awesome salads! Great Ruben. Healthy fresh options and great hearty sandwiches to please everyone. Soups are also killer.
(5)
Marsha G.
Love the concept - I have picky tastes and like getting a salad with exactly the ingredients I want on it. I picked the small romaine base salad, added some free cucumbers (carrots and onions are also free adds), then grilled chicken, feta cheese (premium ingredients), mushrooms, dried cranberries, and some crunchies on top and creamy garlic dressing. I had my salad chopped (tossed is also an option) because I love having everything in bite-sized pieces. The number of choices was a little overwhelming on my first trip, and I wasn't sure exactly how much I was spending until the end. But the serving size was very generous (similar to a sit-down casual restaurant dinner salad in finished size) for about $9.25, which I thought was fair for a similar quality meal. Soups are amazing. They also have a nice selection of sandwiches and pasta dishes but I haven't tried those yet.
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Street Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Trendy Noise Level : Average Alcohol : No Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : Free Has TV : No Dogs Allowed : No Waiter Service : No Caters : Yes
Cristina L.
I really want to love this place. I love the Java House next door, also owned by the Heirloom owner. I like the decor with the historic photos of Iowa City. I agree with other posters that the way you order is odd, with different lines for different kinds of food. Weird and awkward, but hey, if that's how they do it, then, that's how they do it. I've never been very impressed with the place. It's quite expensive for a lunch place, in a downtown chock full of interesting dining options.Yesterday, we decided to give Heirloom one more try. I ordered a half BLT, cup of soup, chips and a drink. My dining partner ordered a whole Cuban sandwich, drink and chips. The bill was $24.90. Pricey, yes, but no one is forcing you to eat there. What bothered me was that my companions' whole Cuban sandwich was on at most, a 5" long baguette cut in half with very little meat on it. The poor guy was still hungry after eating his $8.50 sandwich. My half BLT didn't come out when his Cuban did. The person who brought it out said that it was burned, so they were making a new one. Well, they really may as well not have. My sandwich was on bread that would have been great, I'm sure except that it was so over-grilled that it was difficult to eat. The 1 1/2 strips of bacon (I really don't think bacon should be a mere decoration on a BLT, but that's just me) were burned black. The lettuce was one dark green, wilted, tough, outside leaf from a head of romaine. The chipotle mayo that was supposed to be on it was absent as was the avocado that I paid extra for. So, basically I received a burned, dry sandwich with old lettuce. I will say on one very positive note, that my soup was great. It was delicious and homemade. I really don't understand how this establishment stays open, except for it's busy location in downtown Iowa City. As I said before, there are literally dozens and dozens of awesome places to eat in Iowa City. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this is not one of them. $25.00 is too much to spend on a less than mediocre meal and I won't be back.
(1)Pam T.
Fresh, unique soups and salads. Didn't look at sandwich menu. I had a salad with blue and cranberries, feta, walnuts, and more with mango cilantro dressing. The salads r prepared in front of you. Also, they can add or subtract items. Highly recommend !
(4)Susan S.
Yummy spot that's menu reminds me of a mash-up of Panera and Noodles and company. I had the tortilla soup and the southwest salad. Tortilla soup was a little thinner than others that I've had---and I liked it that way! Nice broth and good shredded chicken. The salad had great ingredients, but the dressing was much too thick and mayo laden. Next time, I'd either it on the side or try something different. Very cute atmosphere and aweome coffee smells coming from the Java House next door. Bottom line, I'm sure I'll be here again with daughter on the next college carpool run.
(3)Rachel G.
Convenient, charming spot if you need a refreshing meal. Staff are always nice and welcoming. When I go, I usually buy a beef type sandwich, caesar salad, and jersey tomato soup. It has never disappointed me. You can also add chicken to your salad. If you do a combo meal it does not include a drink and can get up to the 10 dollar range. But to me, that is worth it to eat something fresh while suppprting local business. There is also patio seating and you can get a nice coffee at the Java House directly next door. A gem of Iowa City.
(4)Ashley W.
I eat here at least once a week. They have AMAZINGLY salads and they are HUGE! I also really love their chicken salad, you can tell the chicken is fresh and never frozen. But my absolute two favorite things are their scotcharoos and Rice Krispie treats! They are made at their bakery and purchased from a supplier. They use fresh ingredients in all of their menu items and it shows!
(5)Rachel L.
The Fiesta Salad and a cup of Mango Soup is my favorite lunch so far, but partly because there aren't very many vegetarian options. why?! I love the fiesta salad - the chipotle dressing is way too delicious, the chip strips are a perfect crunch, and the corn is always perfectly sweet. But, I talk myself out of coming here for lunch a lot of the time because this is the only vegetarian salad... well, there's the house salad and caesar salad, but they're too blah to count. Especially at a cafe that's specifically a salad company. I also think the menu and ordering system are confusing. I've asked the staff on multiple occasions how the ordering process is supposed to work and I have yet to get the same instructions from anyone.
(3)Cynthia M.
Yay!!! Love this place The food is always good. We live in Texas and always eat here when we visit family. We brought our 2 yr old grandchild and she ate the soup AND sandwich. We definitely were the heroes! I had the protein salad and it was great. We will be back next visit!
(4)Maria S.
Fresh and crisp ingredients and wonderful variety! Build your own or choose from the menu. You can get your salad tossed or chopped. Definitely tasty... Perhaps a little pricey though.
(4)Megan M.
My friend and I were just in town for one night and were new to the area. We looked online a bit for a place to eat but couldn't really make a decision. We walked past this cute restaurant downtown and decided almost immediately to try it. Their combos are a great way to try two different things. It's a little expensive, but I thought the portions and food quality were definitely up to par for the price. I got the southwest salad and the turkey avocado sandwich, both portions halved as a part of their meal combo deal. Even halved the portion sizes were great. The salad was fresh and not doused in dressing like other restaurants. The half sandwich was filled with turkey and avocado - I could barely take a full bite! Overall, a great place for fast, fresh and healthier options for dining out.
(5)Christian T.
I've been here several times and I still haven't gotten used to the ridiculous ordering system they have in place. They have multiple lines for different types of food and they're oriented in a way that forces you to read the menu at an awkward angle, from a distance, if you don't yet want to step in line. In addition to that, for some reason the restaurant has a very distinctive and unappetizing smell that sits somewhere between the scent of sawdust and soldering fumes. Is it enough to drive me out of the restaurant immediately? Not at all, but it never fails to dampen my appetite a little, so I prefer to get my food to go and walk next-door to eat it at Java House. Now, onto the food: everything I've had here so far has been, for the most part, fairly good. Their breakfast sandwiches are what you'd expect and not too greasy, so in the morning they're definitely satisfying, especially on a croissant. Their sandwiches are right on par - my favorite being the chicken salad sandwich - and can be ordered with some delicious spreads, including chipotle mayonnaise and avocado spread. Ironically enough, their salads are really quite average and can get far more expensive than they deserve to be. All said and done, I might give this place 4 stars if I could stand dining in, but for non-sub sandwiches this isn't a bad place to get take-out from in Iowa City.
(3)Christine H.
We decided to stop in Iowa City because I noticed it was a college town. In general, college towns have the food and drink establishments that I like in addition to funky clothing stores and a nice vibe :) It had been a long day driving and we were about 3-4 hours from our destination and this place saved me from having to eat crappy food on the road. I had run out of the healthy food I packed for the 24 hour drive and was so thankful to see fresh salad choices like field greens, spinach, romaine, and baby kale. Then the toppings were plentiful and right up my alley. The workers there were very attentive and did not work like they were stoned; perhaps I was lucky? Either way I enjoyed my salad and didn't have to finish my drive with a heavy, nasty feeling in my belly. We came back on our way home but I got a burger elsewhere in town because I was craving protein. If we ever come back I will visit!
(4)Lee G.
Food tastes good, good quality, a tad expensive. Also, I got avocado in my salad and they didn't slice it. They just threw half an avocado in the salad. I thought that was weird.
(3)Melissa Z.
I'm not sure why I tried this place again, to be honest. I just ordered a 'full' ham sandwich, not warmed up, to go. After getting down to my office to eat, I discovered I had a warm 'half' turkey sandwich instead. More annoying than getting the wrong sandwich is the fact that I paid for twice the amount of food than I received. Plus, the incorrect sandwich wasn't even very good (who heats up a sandwich with the lettuce/spinach already on it? I guess someone that likes slimy, limp produce. What kind of mayo are you using? It tasted kind of funky). So even if I had the time to trek back up to the store, I concluded that it wasn't worth my time to most likely receive a different, if correct, mediocre sandwich. Normally, service isn't that important to me if the food is of good quality or special in some way, but here the bad service + mediocre food + high prices = the last time I visit.
(1)Mike O.
The food is very good. The prime rib sandwich is amazing and the salads are good. It's a little pricey, but that is to be expected for good stuff. The ordering setup is ridiculous. It seems to take forever to get through the line. The cashier station is a huge bottleneck. Seating is another issue. It's nearly all bar seating which would be perfect if you were there solo, but its impossible to have a private conversation. I'll go back to pick up food, but eating in is a disaster
(3)Aaron P.
What's there not to love about Heirloom? Whether you're looking for a delicious chopped salad containing all of your favorite vegetables in it, a customized sandwich or salad, or just a cup of soup, Heirloom is another must-stop in Iowa City. I strongly recommend it for lunch...not much beats a salad and cup of soup from here. I stop in Heirloom at least twice with my girlfriend every time I'm in IC to visit. Easily one of my favorites!
(5)Paul G.
Every time I try to go to this place, I find that I can't get what I want. Invariably, they've either taken what I wanted to order off the menu, or just randomly stopped serving it by the personal fiat of some stoned employee. (On that latter point: dudes. I'm from California. I get it. You're trying to create an atmosphere, you tell your staff there's a two-doobie minimum to start their shift. It's cool. But dude, you gotta maintain.) Today's experience was typical. I walk in. There's one person ahead of me in line. (This place is always empty, probably because it's designed to make customers unhappy and have the overwhelming urge to flee.) It's 10:45am, and I'm there to order a salad and a breakfast sandwich. The menu says breakfast sandwiches are available until 11. First, I stand around for a minute trying to figure out which line to stand in. You see, they have three, or maybe four. I can't really tell. There are a bunch of ropes strewn around the place, with signs saying "sandwiches" and "pasta" and "salad." Apparently they have a different line for each menu item, despite the fact that the place has probably never been crowded since the day it opens. Being there to order both a breakfast sandwich and a salad, I wonder: "do I have to stand in all the lines? Perhaps at once?" Eventually I spot a new sign (because obviously they didn't have enough before) saying "breakfast sandwiches." It's on the little gap in the ropes leading directly to the cash register. It's also where the only other person is. So I go stand there. Seems as good as any option. The person ahead of me pays with a hundred. They give her her change. She leaves. I stand around for another five minutes while two stoners behind the counter have a very lethargic discussion as to what to do about the fact that the cash register doesn't have much change anymore. They eventually decide to do nothing. Then they deign to turn their attention to me. I order a breakfast sandwich. They say I can't have one. They stopped serving breakfast sandwiches at 10:30 today. Unavoidably reminded of the last time I was there, when I showed up half an hour before closing and was informed that they'd already decided to stop serving pasta, I involuntarily spat out "I'm done with this place" and walked out. I then went to the wedge, where they happily sold me both salad and a breakfast, out of one line, by employees who did not look like they had consumed marijuana before beginning work. I just pray that this place isn't being subsidized by the well-earned profits of java house, the well-run branch of their business. Because if it isn't, it will doubtless go bankrupt within a couple more months after driving all their customers away, and then maybe it'll be replaced by something not comparable to a flight of root canals.
(1)Wendy and Andrew B.
All short reviews of this place made me sad, so i thought I'd write a detailed one. And although i feel the place is a 4-and-a-half star salad and sandwich shop I'm giving it 5 stars for the concept and to offset some not very accurate reviews.) The good! Fresh as crap, healthy as the dickens and the salads and especially the dressings we had were great. (The Raspberry!) and there are A LOT OF CHOICES! The bad It's not as cheap as Mcdonalds. the pricing makes it difficult to estimate your cost, although wasn't really paying attention. and there are a lot of choices (this isn't really bad although you wouldn't know it by the other reviews... i consider myself a pro choice foodie:) (this is Andrew) This is going to be a long review... but needless to say we will come back for the pasta and as the concept of this restaurant evolves our 4 star review may THANK YOU to the Heirloom, HERE IS MY BACK STORY if you don't care skip down for THE FOOD. I'm allergic to things. Stupid things like apples and carrots and tofu, cilantro and celery sometimes. When i go to a normal restaurant or the Co-op where the stuff is prepackaged there are often things i can't eat (I would pick them off but shredded carrots are impossible to separate.. so is cilantro). WENDY on the other hand has none of those issues, and loves salads:) I try to make salads at home to avoid things I can't eat (SALAD SPINNER YEAH!) but when we get 2 kinds of lettuce and all of the trimmings half of it goes bad before we can eat it, and shopping at the farmers market or co-op lets you know how much all of those ingredients actually cost. And then Wendy can't have some of the stuff she likes and i can't have unless they're prepared separately. So we were glad to see this place open close to the Englert Theater (where we got married:) If you read our other reviews you can see that we like fresh healthy good tasty food, and places that look cool. (I'm looking at you Tuscan Moon! and NODO) And after circling this place for weeks and not going in due to the line during the lunch rush we hadn't tried it out. Then I read a review in the LV that wasn't really bad, it just didn't talk about how the food was at all, but thanks to them i decided to make up my own mind. THE FOOD The food is great. I went "build your own," had the mixed green salad, added chicken, olives, onions and cucumber (onions and cucumber and carrots are free, but no carrots for me:) and Wendy had the Salmon and Egg salad from the menu. It tasted like raw fresh food does, good and healthy and the dressing wasn't overpowering (although i will get more on mine next time as you are in charge of saying "when") We both got smalls although i thought i had pulled the large from the shelf, the small is big, the large is huge. We were both full FROM A SALAD! when we were done and will come back again to try the pasta and sandwiches. THE PLACE The place is new so it's obviously clean, the decor is simple, track lighting and huge windows. Cool pictures of old timey iowa city on the wall and i love old timey pictures. The Lines are a little confusing if you aren't paying attention but once you've been there once it's pretty intuitive. Right side for salad (which is what we got) and the others were to the left. The service was fast, they weren't busy at the time but i can imagine people would be confused if it was the first time visiting and the place was packed. But if you've ever been to PORTOS! in LA then this place is a cake walk. The place is also set up to be "to go" as your bowl comes with a lid and all the drinks are bottled. THE COST Cost is relative, and you get what you pay for. We got 2 salads that filled us up for 16 bucks. But is that expensive? Well not for organic produce, or really any healthy food in general and by YELP standards it's "Moderate." Shop around... Wendy LOVES the soup at Bread Garden, and the last time we ate there i got a salad and my plate cost 12 bucks. McDonald's is cheaper, but then you have to eat at McDonald's (i still love burger king:) This is a local restaurant putting fresh healthy produce that's grown as close to home as possible, and that costs money, not a ton of money, but you get what you pay for. In the future i hope that Heirloom streamlines their prices so it doesn't confuse some people. And maybe add numbers next to the salads so those who think that having too many choices is a negative can order by number instead:) Other than that, good on ya guys keep going, we don't go to Java much because we don't drink coffee but we will surely go to Heirloom again. Wow glad I got that off my chest. EAT WELL MY FRIENDS!
(5)Stella A.
Came here on a Saturday morning and this place was poppin'! Although it's called Heirloom *Salad* Company, I didn't get a salad. I got their vintage chicken sandwich. They offer it in a half and whole sandwich. I was splitting it with my sister so I decided to go with the whole. I should have really gotten the half. It would have still been enough to split. The whole is a whole lotta sandwich! The bread was crispy. The pesto was tasty. The chicken was good. KInda messy to eat but worth the effort! I wish there was an Heirloom Salad Company here in Chicago. Make it happen owners!
(4)Eric S.
We were driving through Iowa on a cross country road trip and planning to stop at a different sandwich shop in Iowa city. After finding out it was closed we found heirloom salad company and decoded to try it out. We both tried the BBQ chicken salad with mixed greens. After seeing the massive amount of salad in my large, my girlfriend switched hers to a small salad, which ended up being almost the same size. All of the toppings tastes great and there were hefty portions of chicken, cheese and fried jalapeños added in. The BBQ ranch and BBQ sauce combo also were very flavorful but didn't overwhelm anything. All of this plus a drink also cost a fairly reasonable $19. Other comments have mentioned that the setup is confusing and that is definitely something they should improve. Luckily it was mostly empty when we were there but if it was more crowded the three or four lines for different items would be very tricky. It also was not a problem for us to get water cups from the connected coffee shop but that also would have been very annoying to need to get back in that line if it were a busy day. Overall we would definitely stop again and this would be a five star restaurant with some minor changes to the setup
(4)Gregory J.
Nice selection. Nutritious options. Friendly staff.
(4)Ani P.
Very good tasting salad, and the concept fits the current healthy food market craze. My chopped creation consisted of black beans, avocado, green pepper, red onion, and tortilla strips..topped with the 25 calorie pet serving mango cilantro dressing-this dressing is superb! Only complaint-rather pricy for the amount of food you get. $7 for just the small romaine lettuce salad.
(4)Dolan M.
I tried out Heirloom during Arts Fest today. While looking over the menu, my first thought was that the pricing intentionally makes it difficult to calculate the total in your head. Some ingredients cost $0.59, some cost $1.29, some cost $1.89, and a few cost $2.49 (premium proteins like salmon). Sigh. Ending your ingredient price in a 9 just feels scammy. Just make it easy for us and use round numbers. On the positive side, carrots, cucumbers, red onions and croutons are free. But the cook fills out the pricing sheet for you, and many customers won't have any idea what they're paying until they get to the register. I decided on a large mixed greens salad with salmon, carrots, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes. It was pretty massive and cost about $8.50. The cherry tomatoes and mixed greens were great and tasted pretty fresh. The cucumbers were a bit on the chewy side, probably due to the waxy skin left on the cuts. The carrots were standard matchstick out of a bag and were very dry. The salmon was way overcooked -- definitely wasn't worth what I paid. Some of the vegetables I didn't pick also looked a bit dry: the apples and sprouts, for instance. Other ingredients just looked like they were out of a can. It's cool to have 50 different ingredient options, but I'd much rather have a slightly smaller ingredient list with a greater focus on quality. Plus, the stakes are raised with the increased cost of ingredients at Heirloom. I was careful with my choices, but someone could easily put together a salad that costs $10+ here. Heirloom is still very new, and I hope the ingredient quality will improve as the staff gets more comfortable. It has a lot of potential, but it just didn't blow me away today.
(2)Angie C.
This place has great food, but the staff and management need to get their act together. Every time I go in, it's like none of the employees have an assigned duty. In the course of 10 minutes, a given employee will make a sandwich, make a salad, ring up someone else's pasta and then stand around looking confused. It's like they're all lost and don't know what to do next and nobody comes along to steer them in the right direction. While your order is being prepared, you're kind of left in limbo.. it's not clear whether you should sit down and wait for your order to be called, or stand off to the side akwardly until its finished. If you go early in the day.... say 11:00 they may or may not have everything set up and ready to go. For the food itself, again it's great! Everything tastes fresh and there are a wide variety of choices.... although I would like to see french dressing. The prices are a little high, but the food quality reflects the price. Its not much more expensive than anywhere else worth eating in downtown Iowa City.
(4)Nicholas T.
Awesome salads! Great Ruben. Healthy fresh options and great hearty sandwiches to please everyone. Soups are also killer.
(5)Marsha G.
Love the concept - I have picky tastes and like getting a salad with exactly the ingredients I want on it. I picked the small romaine base salad, added some free cucumbers (carrots and onions are also free adds), then grilled chicken, feta cheese (premium ingredients), mushrooms, dried cranberries, and some crunchies on top and creamy garlic dressing. I had my salad chopped (tossed is also an option) because I love having everything in bite-sized pieces. The number of choices was a little overwhelming on my first trip, and I wasn't sure exactly how much I was spending until the end. But the serving size was very generous (similar to a sit-down casual restaurant dinner salad in finished size) for about $9.25, which I thought was fair for a similar quality meal. Soups are amazing. They also have a nice selection of sandwiches and pasta dishes but I haven't tried those yet.
(4)