Iowa's food scene runs from century-old supper clubs to farm-to-table restaurants in Des Moines and Iowa City. It is built on the state's agriculture: pork, beef, and corn. Here is where to start, from the state's signature sandwich to its bakeries, distilleries, and breweries.
The Iowa Pork Tenderloin
The breaded pork tenderloin sandwich is Iowa's signature dish. A hand-pounded cutlet is breaded, fried, and served on a bun it dwarfs, often extending two or three times past the edges, with pickles, onion, and mustard.
The Iowa Pork Producers Association runs an annual contest to name the best tenderloin in the state. Past winners include Joensy's in Center Point and Goldie's Ice Cream Shoppe in Prairie City, both of which built statewide reputations on the sandwich.
Steakhouses and Supper Clubs
Iowa is among the top states for pork and beef production, and its older steakhouses reflect that.
Rube's Steakhouse in Montour hands you a raw cut to cook yourself over a communal grill. It is part meal, part event, in a town of a few hundred people.
The Northwestern Steakhouse in Mason City has served Greek-style steaks since 1920, cooked in olive oil with a house spice blend. It has stayed largely unchanged for generations.
City Dining: Des Moines and Iowa City
The larger cities hold most of Iowa's newer restaurants.
In Des Moines, the East Village and downtown anchor the dining scene. Options range from casual spots like Zombie Burger to chef-driven restaurants such as Django and Harbinger, the latter named a James Beard semifinalist for its local, ingredient-focused cooking.
In Iowa City, a university town, casual student spots sit alongside farm-to-table restaurants and bistros near the downtown pedestrian mall.
Bakeries and Sweets
Jaarsma Bakery in Pella, founded in 1898, is known for Dutch letters: flaky, almond-filled pastries shaped like the letter S, tied to the town's Dutch heritage and its annual Tulip Time festival.
Whitey's Ice Cream, based in the Quad Cities since 1933, is known for shakes thick enough that staff hand them over upside down to show they will not spill.
Iowa Originals
Some dishes are hard to find the same way outside Iowa.
The Maid-Rite is a loose-meat sandwich: seasoned ground beef served crumbled on a bun rather than as a patty. The chain started in Muscatine in 1926.
Casey's breakfast pizza comes from Casey's General Stores, the convenience-store chain founded in Boone in 1968. Its breakfast pizza, topped with eggs, sausage, and cheese, has a statewide following.
For larger portions, the Machine Shed serves farm-style comfort plates. On the south side of Des Moines, Italian groceries and restaurants such as Graziano Brothers, founded in 1912, reflect the area's immigrant history.
Iowa's Drink Scene
Templeton Rye, made in Templeton, draws on a Prohibition-era bootlegging history and has grown into a nationally distributed whiskey. Toppling Goliath in Decorah is the best-known craft brewery, with hop-forward beers that draw collectors, alongside city breweries like Exile in Des Moines. The state also has a growing set of wineries along its wine trails.
Come Hungry
From a tenderloin bigger than its bun to a Greek steak in Mason City to a Dutch letter in Pella, Iowa's food is worth a road trip, and this is only a sample.
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