Moonrakers

I love the upstairs rustic atmosphere of Moonrakers. Our waiter was prompt and eager to answer questions. (I tend to ask a lot of questions about preferences and comparisons). The cocktail menu was poor, unless your a gin drinker. The beer list was very good however. My husband ordered the Cuban and raved numerous times. The homemade salad dressing on his side salad was delish. Absolutely wonderful. I ordered the lamb shank and risotto on a whim. I didn’t like it. Not because of it’s preparation. It was uncomfortable to my palette. We will be back soon.

Moonrakers is one of my favorite places in Iowa City, because of the atmosphere, the sensibilities of the menu, and because it has the best burger in town. (And, yes, I’ve been to Short’s; it doesn’t stack up.)
The atmosphere is relaxed and casual but with a touch of class. Along with a number of Iowa made beers on tap, the menu features locally sourced food and freshly prepared ingredients. One can really taste this, especially in the burgers which are wonderfully flavorful and in my experience excellently prepared. I like rare burgers, and when I order that at Moonrakers I get it. The fries are yummy, too.
As a few others have mentioned, the service *can* be a bit spotty and the music unfortunately loud. And I’ve been there before when the staff is more interested in cranking the music and chatting with each other rather than taking care of customers; thus my 4-​star rating. Almost every place in Iowa City — certainly at this price point — can be like this, so I take it with a grain of salt.
Overall this is a really good place for great food in a laid-​back but fashionable atmosphere for dinner out. They also have good lunch specials, so it’s a nice place if you want something out of the usual.

Awful. Not only was the service incredibly slow, but my burger was raw. Not rare, raw. Purple and cold in the middle. The server said they were supposed to be «medium rare» — fine, but this was raw meat. I sent it back to be reheated and they were actually kind enough to make me a new one, which would have been great and totally made up for the raw burger, if not for the fact that the replacement was nearly as bad as the original. I requested medium-​well. Unfortunately, this new one was rare. Luckily not full-​on raw this time, but it was still very bloody. Not medium-​well as I had ordered. Not even medium-​rare. I understand that interpretations of cook time vary, but this was fairly unambiguous.
I will say that our server was accommodating and friendly.

Great place to host a private dinner/​party. We sat upstairs in a secluded area. Food was great and reasonable prices for a prefixe menu. I recommend!

Went on a Saturday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised. Had the chicken gyro and it was delicious! Their unique drinks are also very tasty! Employees were very nice and patient. Hung out watching sports and sipping on drinks for the afternoon.

decently priced menu for awesome food. I’m a big supporter of places with great service and this one definitely had that. Ashlyn was wonderful. took care of our every need, from drink recommendations, to samples, to the food, she was knowledgable, friendly, and attentive. I never had to ask for a refill or even for the bill. service was flat out outstanding and fries were the best I’ve had in Iowa city. definitely make a stop if you’ve never tried this one before. it’s one of the good hidden treasures downtown Iowa city.

I love the feel of this place! And the staff is amazing and then you top that off with great food and you have a winning combination! They have delicious burgers, always cooked to perfection, flavorful and juicy!

Great food at this gastropub attached to 126. Service always considerate, menu is interesting and offers good variety, quality always top notch.
Had the Dutch burger with Gouda, grilled onions and bacon on fresh roll. Excellent beer selection. Really one of our goto places when visiting IC for lunch.

Moonrakers is without a doubt one of the nicest joints I have been to in Iowa City. Great cocktail list and the food is very good and the presentation is phenomenal. It’s a nice place for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night. It’s a must try.

Four of us went there after a show to get a bite and have a couple of drinks. The food and drinks were good. We were the only people in the place except some employees at the bar. It was only about 10, they close at 11, but it was quite clear they wanted us to go. In the empty restaurant they started playing the music exceeding loud so we had to raise our voices to be heard. The type and volume of the music made me think that they were getting ready for the late night crowd but they close at 11. The music seemed more suited for a busy nightclub than an empty restaurant. The music was ‘nigga, blah, blah, nigga, blah, blah’. After several of these songs at an extremely loud volume we concluded this must be the get the f**k out music. So we got the f**k out and won’t be going back.

I’m a big fan of burgers, and the Mediterranean lamb was a new spin on it for me. The mint sauce really brought it together, and I’m definitely coming back to try some other options. I wish the side options were a bit more interesting, maybe some sweet potato fries as an option, but perhaps I’ve been spoiled by living in NC where that’s pretty common. Interestingly, you can also order food from the other two restaurants that are under the same roof. Altogether two thumbs up. Would definitely return.

The quest for the best burger in town finally lead me to Moonraker’s. Outstanding quality beef and ingredients. Staff is friendly and approachable. Cocktail list, while creative, is uninspiring. Beer selection is more impressive than many around the Iowa City area.
All around great food and good service; highly recommended for burgers (the lamb burger is highly sought after, though, in my opinion, didn’t live up to the hype).

Incredible place! My friends and I like to come here for appetizers and drinks.

I liked the small grown up feel but the menu is not very diverse. Gastropubs usually have unique or exciting offerings, I wasn’t really excited about trying their pizza, burgers or salads. Their «charcuterie» was supermarket salami and faux foie gras– nice try. And their «artichoke» is actually a salad with three pieces of canned artichoke hearts, ugh. Two stars for the waiter who couldn’t do his job right and forgot to include some items on our bill!

Good food, good drinks, nice people, nice atmosphere. Too bad people don’t immediately think of this place

Incredible every time. Get the calamari. Get a burger med rare — you won’t find one better. Falafel wrap good too.

I’ve eaten at Moonrakers several times now and my first experiences a couple years ago were fantastic, but the restaurant is definitely on the decline. The crab cake sandwich I had recently was cold, soggy, and almost entirely comprised of breadcrumbs, while the pizza I split with a friend was underbaked, only partly covered with sauce and also slightly cold by the time it was brought to the table. My favorite item on the menu was their mac and cheese, but that has since been removed. In terms of waitstaff, I’ve never had abhorrent service, but they’ve never been particularly attentive or enthusiastic either. Ultimately, the one saving grace for Moonrakers is the beer selection, with a rotating selection of quality craft brews that help distract you from how average your food is. If you’re looking for a decent place to have a late lunch and grab a beer, Moonrakers will do.

Solid food in a real cozy, upscale environment. The crab cake sandwich is tasty but has way too much bread. I ate it as an open face sandwich.
Phenomenal hummus and a great beer selection. Dinner for 2 is about $ 40.

So glad I stopped in here! The atmosphere is great, a bit small but that is kind of what I liked about it. I had a burger and it was bursting with flavor, perfectly cooked and seasoned.
Servers were great, the only reason I am not giving 5 stars is I would expect the prices to be a bit lower for a place like this, especially in Iowa City.

We went to Moonrakers after hearing from some friends that the owners of 126 had opened an additional restaurant. We were quite impressed with what we found!
The place is located above 126 and when you sit next to the window, it gives you a very nice view of the street and when combined with the exposed brick interior of the place, it made for quite a nice ambiance for the evening. The interior is very similar to the adjacent restaurant — Hearth, which serves similar cuisine.
Our waiter was very nice, attentive and just the right amount of conversational.
We joined a couple friends for dinner which meant we go to try more items! The stout beer battered onion rings were good, but not overly impressive and different from what we were expecting. They were pretty standard rings w/​decent ranch. If they just called them normal onion rings, it would have been better as our expectations were for something dark and a with some beer flavor. Our friends got the hand cut fries and they were definitely better than average with some good aoli for dippin.
Between the four of us we tried a number of dishes and all were ones we’d go back for. The gnocchi was excellent! It came in a red sauce that had just a little kick to it. The shittake mushrooms and basic that danced along side the potato brilliance were just right! My better half had a pulled pork torta– basically a pork sub w/​cheese. It too was excellent with some great flavor and just the right amount of sauce. The homemade chips that is came with were an excellent addition.
Our friends had a brick oven pizza– always excellent as it came from the hearth oven (we think). It’s always just the right amount of done with a great thin crust and just a little bit of char. The final item we tried was the steak sandwich and all present agreed it was the best item we tried! It was a foccacia bread sandwich loaded with tons of steak and covered with cheese and carmelized onions. It was the sort of sandwich that you chew longer because it’s so good and that you think about ordering a second one to take home and have later!
The beer selection was solid. They had 6 or 7 draft beers and included a number of Iowa beers. They have a bottle list that included beers from a number of different regions including England and Belgium — 20 or so bottles are at your disposal, including the legendary Rochefort Trappist 8 — One of best beers you’ll ever try! Wine list is also decent — plus they have good happy hour specials and wine specials on Mondays w/​dinner.
Overall, moonrakers is another great addition to downtown. The ambiance is quaint and a little rustic, but in total very good, the service is solid, the drink selection excellent and the food above average. Our total came to around $ 40 with drinks and was well worth it. This is the sort of spot that we’ll definitely be back to with food items that we’ll be back for specifically. A great spot for dinner with friends, a happy hour after work or just to drop in on a Saturday evening when you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary.