I really want to give The Vine a better review based solely upon the wings, but the staffing has really cratered in the last few years. My wife and I eat here about twice a month and have been coming here for years. (Full disclosure: I used to tend bar here when I was in college *mumble mumble* years ago.)
TL;DR: wings good, beer cheap, A/C broken, service questionable.
The real standouts here are the wing sauces and the sour cream and chive fries. Basically, anything fried. If you are looking for a steak or some quasi-vegan-gluten free experience, this ain't it.
The wings themselves are on the small side, particularly considering the $8/dozen pricing. The last few visits we have seen a number of the "drum" wings (they cut them in half, so you get six "wing" pieces and six "drum" pieces for a total of 12 pieces, but only six wings) with very shriveled meat that basically look like a  tiny wing Popsicle. We have also been shorted a piece several times in the last few visits. The sauces are fantastic and you could probably cover pieces of cardboard with the sauces for an okay meal (the secret ingredient is butter, lots of butter.) Sadly, be sure to count the wings when you get them and point out any shortages to the waitress immediately.
The beer specials and happy hour prices are generally good. However, as several other Yelpers have noted, the service is lackadaisical to comatose. We visited yesterday (July 9, 2013) for the "discounted" wing special of $5.99/doz. Notably, the Air Conditioning is broken. Not a good thing in an Iowa summer.
Despite telling the hostess we would sit anywhere in the restaurant, she proceeded to seat us in the bar. Our waitress was quintuple-sat (they seated four other groups of four in her section at the same time as us) and was running eight four-top tables. This is an overwhelming work load for any server, so our service (predictably) sucked. The bar area is also two steps higher than the rest of the restaurant so the temperature was basically the same as the outdoors - not good. I tried to find a manager to bring some of these issues to their attention but we never saw one in the 1.5 hours we sweated through our meal.
Love the food! Horrible service! I just had the spinach artichoke chicken wrap and it was delicious! I love spinach artichoke dip, so adding it into the wrap was perfection. Â The fries are great and are especially good with a side of ranch to dip in. Â Our server was Dylan and was extremely rude the entire time. After serving us, we had already finished our food and sat there waiting for our checks for 15 minutes before he returned. Â He was extremely impolite.
Review Source:The Vine is an enormous building. Â It's like a dimly lit warehouse with chairs and tables scattered around.
Cavernous as it is, my family felt comfortable bringing two screaming kids there. Â It's not the place to have a quiet conversation.
I ordered the hot wings. Â I liked the taste, but the wings themselves weren't very meaty. Â Sometimes when you order wings, you get the gnarled, gristly variety. Â That's what I got at the Vine. Â Sad.
On the plus side I ordered the Vine Ale and enjoyed that. Â It was nice and smooth.
It's not like I had an awful time at The Vine. Â It was okay. Â But it's definitely a "third or fourth tier"-type bar.
I'm gonna overlook the slow waitresses (one of them looked like she smoked a fat doob before work- dead in the eyes, wanting us to repeat everything) for the simple fact that their SUPERHOT wings are tasty as hell.
They are not mega or even very hot, they are more tangy.
But the best part is how much of the sauce they slather on. JUICY wings so much better than dry wings.
They scrimp on the celery (three 1" pieces), but overall im loving the wings.
Nice selections of beers.
The Vine is an establishment along the Coralville strip. The essential spot to stop in an grab a beer after work or meet up with friends for some chill time. Appetizers are generally traditional bar foods. Wings are solid with plenty of sauces - like Buffalo Wild Wings, but the rest of the food isn't terrible.
Burgers are solid - affectionately termed the "Jo's". They come in many a variety that leave your taste buds pumped, but not raging - a happy middle ground for sure. The Smoky Jo and the Mo Jo are especially delightful! Sandwiches are good size and with some great variety - The Monte Carlo is especially delicious. Fries are plentiful and particularly delicious. I'm told the salads are good...why anyone would choose the leaf to the cow I'm not sure, but again, I'm told they're solid!
Beer selection is impressive and they've got great happy hour specials. From 3-7pm every day beers, wine, wells and margaritas among other libations are on special. One of the few places I've ever been that has a happy hour until 7! They also have appetizer specials during happy hour. Every day they have different food and additional beverage specials - Monday is $1 Coors Pint night - Yes MNF!
Best part about the vine is the porch however. On a pleasant Iowa evening, sitting out on the porch until 9 or 10 is unbeatable. Hint - Sit on the East side of the building (nearest to Wig and Pen) around 6 PM. The sun's still up, but not up in your grill! But seriously, the sun will hurt you if you sit on the porch long enough so why not let him do his thing and you do yours whilst enjoying his warmth!
One of the top spots to go in Coralville for a good burger, solid and often inexpensive beers and a great porch for chillaxin!
Not to damn the Vine with faint praise, but the one thing I really liked about it was the fact that it's one of the few locally owned, non-fast food restaurants in close proximity to the university hospital that I could find on short notice. In concept it appears to be an interesting combination of TGI Fridays and Merry Olde England. Alas, the staff do not wear armor or quote Shakespeare. The waitresses *do* wear tight black t-shirts, however -- all the better to gather tips, I suppose! There's also lots of dark wood, black and white tile, and TVs on every wall. The food was good, run-of-the-mill bar fare -- expect to pay around eight bucks for a burger. My wife really likes the buffalo wings with the bourbon teriyaki sauce. My reuben was also quite tasty, and I'm happy to report that they didn't skimp on the fries. That's something, right?
Review Source:Popular spot for game days. Â Mostly bar food. Â Best dish is the wings which come in enough flavors to satisfy everyone. Â Yes you can get them really spicy. Â Some sandwiches such as monte cristo are pretty good. Â Too much dressing and limp lettuce in their caesar salad. Â Mostly fried appetizers are so so. Â Overall, the food is what you would expect from a sports bar...mediocre except the wings which are probably the best in IC.
Review Source:Ok, I seriously don't understand why so many people in Iowa City like the Vine. Â The food is sub-par bar food. Â No offense, but I think there's better food at TGIFridays (ewww!). Â
Nearly all the waitresses are in college, and again no offense, but not the brightest. Â If you deviate from the menu IN THE SLIGHTEST, they become confused and some how mess it up. Â In addition, they don't know their drink specials, menu, etc. Â Don't think of asking questions about the menu or salad dressing on the side. Â You'll get a lot of "Ummms..." and blank stares.
I had a 34 oz. beer with many to on tap to choose from (many Midwest microbrews I never heard of) and riblets were messy as hell but tasty with the Vine's own BBQ sauce. Â Certainly beats an Applebee's or TGIF anyday with similar type of fare, better food and much better beer selection. Â Definitely popular and sportsy, I don't think you'll be disappointed if you want good bar/popular American food, beer, and friendly college girl waitresses. Â I'd probably give them another 1/2 star if I could, certainly no complaints but not "Oh My God" awesome.
Review Source:I don't know that anyone needs to really review this place... it is a local favorite, especially on game day... You'll be lucky if you can even find a place to park in the huge parking lot. Â Just reopened after the floods.
Food is good, nothing spectacular, nice beer selection, but more importantly, it is just a fun place to go!
Also, it is definitely wheel chair accessible.
For a place this big, with so many people eating at one time, I think they did a pretty good job. Â I started with 12 wings in their specialty sauce (very good). The chicken fajita wrap had too much lettuce but tasted pretty good. The beer was low priced and the waitress was very nice. This would probably be a good place to go watch a game because there are a lot of speakers hanging from the ceiling.
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