George’s Buffet

You’ve gotta love this place. A cozy dive-​y place that feels welcoming. I’m a sucker for the cheeseburgers. There’s just a nice vibe about this bar.

Cheeseburgers. Hot nuts. PBR on tap. Do all of the things and you won’t regret it.
Great townie bar with live music on the weekends. It’s an Iowa City must!

George’s Buffet — DBA — «George’s» = Dive bar for townies, and older students. Calm, dark, personable, cozy, friendly: all words I would readily use to describe it. Inexpensive drinks and beer. Fresh made basic burgers wrapped in paper, better than fast-​food, consistently good. For a long time they made their own patty mix, but the local supplier changed and I’m not sure who their current supplier is. If it is packed, put on your patience hat and make the best of your social time. Like any dive bar, it is not Michelin rated so don’t get all snarky when you have to wait your turn and catch the eye of your bartender so they know you need something. Go here when you want to hang out with friends and have a good time together. (or have a beer/​burger on your own when you are heading home late)

This place wins on everything a dive bar is supposed to be. Stiff drinks, hot cashews and a burger rated in the best in the country. You HAVE to get there if you get to Iowa city. I’ve been coming here since 1978, there is a reason. Classic joint!

This bar is fantastic if you’re looking for something comfortable, divey, and private. They’ve got a few tables and booths, but more importantly great prices, a custom cheeseburger to die for (the only food offered outside of chips but trust me, you want it.), and two televisions with an up to date jukebox. Located over on Market street, it’s just barely separated from downtown and worth the walk.

First of all, ignore «Paul G.‘s» review. He personifies what I hate in Iowa City. The East Coast-er’s around here in which nothing in Iowa City will live up to the East Coast «standard.» You could give them a Maserati and they would complain that it has a sticker-​tag from an Iowa City dealer on it. Anyway, onto the place itself.
George’s exemplifies all that is good in a dive-​bar burger joint. They focus on two main B’s in life, burgers and booze. I suggest ordering the cheeseburger. Is it the greatest thing you will have in your life, probably not. But is it a good-​solid burger, yes and it will leave you satisfied.
The place has your standard mixed drinks. The beer on tap is nothing to write home about except two gems…
…Lacrosse and Lacrosse Light. It is as if the nectar of the lesser beer Gods shined a light on the right amount of cheap hops and cheap barley to make a delicious God-​nectar for us to drink. These two beer options are cheap, great, and you will find them at George’s.

Don’t let the name fool you! I walked in and it definitely wasn’t a buffet, your choices were hamburger/​cheeseburger and chips… period. That’s what makes this place so cool. These days, it’s hard to tell a bar from a full service restaurant, with a bar. This place keeps it’s simple and have become masters of the few things they do. A good drink, delicious burger, good company and a small TV in the corner of the bar, this is your spot.

Ok, you people have got to be kidding. I was warned about the burger. «It’s drunk food,» my cautionary girlfriend said, «it’s not that good.» So I didn’t go in with high expectations. But I went in for lunch. Sober. To try the burger. (And, evidently, to listen to some bizarrely vibrating thing inside the wall, and some guy swilling beer and rambling on at top volume about his grandson’s academic accomplishments.)
It’s horrible. The soggy, floppy, obviously reconstituted meat that closely resembles what McDonalds puts in their «food» came in a bun closely resembling what Burger King wraps their «food» in. So, congratulations, Iowa City. Your legendary burger is midway between McDonalds quality and Burger King quality. This isn’t drunk food. It’s starving to death in the desert food. And even then, I’d rather try to carve off the flesh from a cactus. What horrible standards do you people have that this thing makes it onto the Esquire late night eats list? (Are we assuming that there is literally no other food available at night? Because I’d rather eat a microwave burger from 7 – 11, and those are usually open 24 hours, so I really don’t know what you’re talking about.)
Perhaps it’s the writers workshop. Either the owner of the joint bribed them to wax lyrical about the alleged burgers, or they all love it because it makes them miserable enough to make art. Come to think of it, the existentialist novelists would have liked this place. I can see the scene in The Stranger now, eating these burgers out of pure nihilism.
You want late-​night drunk food? There are guys on the ped mall downtown who sell gyros, grilled cheese, and the like out of carts at night. That food is much better than the burger here. And George’s has a whole building.

Come for the burgers and ambiance. Leave for the poorly mixed drinks made by the owner’s kids. Return for the burgers and ambiance, and order a beer instead.

Great Iowa City bar! It has an amazing atmosphere that other IC bars can only endeavor to obtain. Despite the limited menu, the food they do have is perfect for their clientele. The drinks are good and the staff friendly.

This place gets packed! Reasonably priced drinks! Burgers are ok! Great customer service!

The George’s burger is the stuff of legends. Individually, its constituents are humble — coursely chopped onions, thick-​sliced pickle, American cheese, porta-​grilled beef — by some divine mischief, they come together into the perfect bar burger: not quite slider small, substantial enough to pack a wallop. If you’re feeling bold, order two or three. Do note that these burgers are built by the bar staff of George’s in a tiny little cubby hole that is a kitchen. — Thus, on a busy night, you might be waiting for a bit. It’s worth every minute. You might even find yourself enjoying the ridiculous dive-​people.

Great burgers, beer, and setting.

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent bar.
If you are a cool person with ideas and interests and go to one bar in Iowa City, go to this bar! If you are a transplanted Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, or London native go to this bar!
If you are wearing Ugg boots, tights, and fleece or are a Jocko who likes to yell and bump people, please go somewhere else. A friend who lived here about 10 years ago told me to come here and I am happy I did.
Within 5 minutes I met people and had some great conversations about politics, cheating on boyfriends and girlfriends, marriage, and DH Lawrence. Great job!
I was a solo traveler in town for a few nights, and by the end of the night I bought a few rounds of shots for people, chatted with the bartenders, and went out back for a smoke with people. It felt like I fell from the sky into the perfect dive bar.
the bar, and the booths are old school, and the cheeseburgers everyone talks about were good. They cook them in pizza ovens I think, and then wrap them old school style like a midwestern In-​Out. They are worth the 4 bucks for sure.
It is called George’s Buffet, but there is no buffet, but there seems to have been one back in the day — when I was a kid I remember the bars had happy hour buffets to bring in the drinkers. I am sure that is where it came from.
They take credit cards by the way — in case you want to buy some new friends a shot or two.
Parking out back. Smoking out back.

Thise place is one of my two favorite bars in Iowa City. (The other is The Foxhead.) I enjoy the intimate setting. It’s nice and dark (not TOO dark) and you can have a good conversation. It’s not over-​run by annoying college kids barfing and screeching. The beer is cheap and tasty and the atmosphere is cozy. But the best part about this bar is the cheeseburgers. Go get yourself a beer and a cheeseburger and put them in your belly.

First off — this is the greatest bar on the planet.
My wife and I had our first date here and most of our anniversaries.
The atmosphere is second to none and their greasy burgers and mouth watering… come in a waxed paper wrap like they always have. While not as good as when Seaton’s Grocery supplied the meat… i’d down 2 – 3 of those, a bag of Cheetos and some ale anytime.
Their moving Hamm’s lights and fuzzy wallpaper make this place as good as it gets.
Comments on other reviews — it’s not a Buffet and no one calls it so. That’s the official name but it’s a remnant from days of yore. It’s not a student bar and students don’t go there except grad students… it’s a townie bar. Their burgers aren’t good in the way that a big, thick, juicy burger is good — they are good in the way a greasy, short order cook, yummy hot right off the grill burger is good. My advice, listen to the people that live in IC and frequent this place… not the out of towners who stopped in once.

It’s been over 20 years since I first set foot in George’s, and still nothing has really changed except the songs on the jukebox. Whenever I return to visit the old homestead, we stop in to George’s, mostly to make sure it’s still there. And it is. Which is a very good thing.
Cheap (in every meaning of the word) grub. Note: there is NO buffet. Cold beer. Straight-​talkin’ bartenders. No glam, no flash, no games. It’s your local neighborhood dive bar, in spades. You want to spew your latest load of existential angst? There’ll be someone there drunk enough to humor you. You want to just hang out & chitchat with old friends over drinks? Your booth awaits. You want to nurse your beer in silence? That’s cool too, just don’t get surly. Morose is fine, but surly stinks. Now, name your poison, pal.
P. S. I can’t talk about George’s without mentioning the Foxhead, a place that functions as the dive bar’s red-​headed stepchild, yet remains my other favorite watering hole. The Foxhead is a much-​maligned, yet poorly-​kept secret in this town (its real name isn’t even the Foxhead), but its ethos is such that I feel like I’m blaspheming by Unilocaling about it, even obliquely. ‘Nuff said.

Burger is still the best for what it is. A $ 3.75 wad of delicious meat. No it’s not healthy and there are no fries and appetizers but if you;re there to discuss politics over cheap beer why not try the burger people! Love George’s.

Cheeseburgers=Awfulness. At $ 3.75 a pop, save your money and get a buck double at Burger King. I’m serious.
Or, if you don’t want to make the drive to George’s, go to your nearest Burger King, buy a Buck Double, throw $ 2.75 out the window on the way home. Next when you get home throw one of the patties away, now put the remaining patty in the microwave for about five minutes on high. Take the patty out of the microwave, put the burger back together and presto changeo! A George’s burger!
If you like dives, then this place is certainly a dive, but that alone isn’t reason enough to visit. I must say again how awful the food was. The patty in my cheeseburger more closely resembled a burned rubber disc as opposed to anything that might reasonably pass as food. Mine was not alone. Of the four cheeseburgers that were brought to our table, everybody got the same awfulness.
I wonder if the reason so many people rate this place highly is because they’re thoroughly soused by the time the burger finally gets to the table. We went on a Thursday night, it was nowhere full, and they took forever. I think it may have been that they were running the patty through a pizza oven an extra dozen or so times.
The only redemption this place has is cheap LaCrosse Lager. But nobody ever accused LaCrosse Lager of being good.
In closing: Awful, Awful, Awful.

When I attended the University of Iowa in the late 1970s, George’s patrons included engineer types like me and Writer’s Workshop folks. I stopped by yesterday and not much has changed within this beloved dive bar. A place doesn’t get much better when it offers a low key neighbourhood vibe, good booze and decent pub grub at good prices, friendly staff, great conversation opportunities, and a safe walk home.