The Saloon: Downtown Iowa City's Southern Experience

When my friends came into town this past weekend, they told me to find something new, fun, and unique for us to do on Saturday night. Since all three of them had graduated from the University of Iowa, and, thus, had lived in Iowa City for the past four years, I was initially struggling to come up with something exciting and, at the same time, unique in downtown. I knew the three girls would not be up for some wild and overly drunk evening, so I had to find something that would be a little calmer than the typical bar in Iowa City. I decided to take them to the Saloon, even though I had never actually been there myself, and we were all presently surprised.

The first thing I noticed when I walked in is the long, wooden bar that extends from the front of the restaurant all the way to the back. The facing wall is lined with large booths that comfortably seat six people. The atmosphere is relatively dark, and, besides the lack of smoke, I almost felt like I was in an old Western film. The walls were decorated with artwork and other objects that added to the southern, Wild West theme. When the waitress brought the menus, the girls and I were initially confused with all the different choices for tequila and the flavored margaritas. With over fifty different kinds of tequila, and with the little knowledge I have of tequila, I was not sure where to begin. We decided to start off with margaritas.

Besides the original, house margarita, the Saloon offers infused margaritas which come in flavors like black raspberry and lime-orange. The waitress recommended the black raspberry if you like sweet drinks. Two of the girls with me ordered the lime-orange and one ordered the black raspberry. I wanted to get a full experience so I told the waitress to bring me an original, classic margarita.
As the drinks arrived, I was happy to see the glasses were tall. The Saloon does not offer blended margaritas, so all the drinks are served on the rocks, with ice and a lime or orange, depending on the drink you order. After our initial tastes, I was happy I chose the classic margarita, because it was by far the strongest margarita of the three. The black cherry was sweet and fruity and it had a real nice and smooth taste. I figured the lime-orange margarita was going to be very similar to the classic, but I was surprisingly wrong. The orange was very distinct in the drink, but not overly fruity, and the drink was very tasty, but not nearly as strong as my classic.

When I say my drink was strong, I don't mean it was undrinkable, but, when I drink a margarita, I want to taste the tequila, which I could, much to my pleasure. The larger chunks of salt around the rim of the glass were a nice accompaniment to the drink as a whole. After finishing the first round of drinks, the consensus at the table was that the classic was by far the best tasting of the three margaritas. We had to order a second round, which we did.
While waiting for our second round of drinks, we decided we each had to order a shot of their special, infused tequila.

I am not a tequila connoisseur, but I do know the difference between your well tequila and a nice shot of Patron. On Saturday night, the infused tequila was offered in three flavors, watermelon, apricot, and pineapple-pepper. The pineapple-pepper sounded strange at first, but, upon further deliberation at our table, we figured we might as well try something totally new since it was the theme of the night, and we were delightfully happy that we did.

The shots were large and the waitress recommended not taking the entire shot at once, but, instead, taking it slow and enjoying the flavors, almost like a wine. As I raised the shot glass to my mouth I could smell the bold, almost tobacco like aromas from the dark tequila. The tequila gave off a smell almost like that of a cigar, but with a subtly hint of sweet citrus. And the tequila tasted exactly the same way. The taste was exceptional. The tequila was strong but smooth at the same time. The pineapple-pepper was a great choice, and I think it is a great alternative if you are looking for something new. Now, it is important that you drink the infused shots slowly, for they are $9 per shot, but well worth the price.

When the bill came, I was surprised to find that each of my margaritas was priced at $9 as well. I asked the waitress why my margarita was so expensive and she said that I since I had ordered the classic margarita, it was made with Patron which is the reason for the price. If you are not are not a tequila connoisseur, like I am not, then I would chose wisely and order the house margarita, which is served just the same, and has no noticeable difference to the classic. Overall, the Saloon was a great experience for something new in downtown, and, despite the price of the shots and the confusion with the margarita, the place is great if you are looking for a quieter, less smoky evening.