Are These The Best Breweries/Bars to Visit in Iowa?

Whether you're out getting rowdy with some friends, celebrating a special occasion, getting food, or on a date with someone special, there are plenty of good reasons to head out to your favorite bar. Personally, I love bar food. It's nice not having to cook once in a while and nothing goes better with bar food than a delicious Bush Light.

I moved to Iowa with my wife in March of 2022 and have been able to enjoy plenty of fantastic breweries/bars throughout the state of Iowa. Admittedly, I have my go-to's and my favorites, which are all fairly close to my house. I haven't been able to entirely explore all of the bars in Iowa, so I was curious which bars are considered the "best." I wanted to see what I might be missing out on.

According to The Culture Trip, these are the best bars you should visit in the state of Iowa. Have I been to any of them that made the list? I sure have. Have I been to all of them? Definitely, not. How many of these fine establishments have you been able to visit and which bars are missing from the list?

1st & Main

1st & Main is located in Dubuque and was recently voted as the "best new restaurant" in the city, according to The Culture Trip. There is a large selection of beers and specialty drinks, as well as food that has been inspired by local flavors.

I've spent some time in Dubuque fairly often before I moved to Iowa. My buddies and I would head to the Q Casino so we could gamble on the NCAA College basketball tournament but I've never been to 1st & Main. I better make a suggestion the next time my buddies and I decide to do some gambling.

El Bait Shop

El Bait Shop is located in Des Moines and is an award-winning bar. According to the Culture Trip, "this bar will appeal to any beer lover." The inside has a 1970s fishing theme and El Bait Shop has over 100 beers on tap as well as 175 bottles to choose from. I'd be curious to know if anyone has tried all of them throughout their life.

If you like beer and can't find one here...you don't like beer. If you enjoy American or Mexican food, you'll enjoy El Bait Shop. Looks like a win-win to me.

Front Street Brewery

Here we head to the Quad Cities where we'd find the oldest brewpub in Iowa. Front Street Brewery is located in Davenport and was built in 1992. If you're into craft beers, you can try Front Stree's beers in their brick beer garden. Whether you'd like a Cherry Ale, German Hefeweizen, or a Vanilla Porter, they can all be found at Front Street.

I've personally never made it to Front Street but I have had a lot of their beers at various beer tastings throughout the state. Maybe it's time to head to southeastern Iowa and check this place out!

Hessen Haus

It can be pretty tough to find a "best of" article related to Iowa and not have multiple Des Moines locations on it. Fair enough. It is the state capital and the biggest city in Iowa. In my year and a half of living in eastern Iowa, I've never made the trip to Des Moines. If I ever do, I'll have to stop at Hessen Haus. This place just looks cool.

As you can guess, this is a German-style bar, located inside a former train station. According to the Culture Trip, they offer both domestic and German beers, as well as made-from-scratch German food. They have around 31 beers on tap and around 163 in bottles.

Jameson's Public House

Now we're speaking my language. I don't even need help from the article to talk about Jameson's! Located in Waterloo, Jameson's is one of my favorite bars to visit whether it's St Patrick's Day, Iowa Irish Fest, or any plain old Tuesday. I'm kind of a sucker for any Irish Pub style bar and if I'm in the mood for a Guinness, a Smithwick's, or Irish whiskey, I'm headed to Jameson's.

The pub regularly has live music and joins in on plenty of events hosted in downtown Waterloo.

Sanctuary Pub

Next on our trip advisor, we head to Iowa City. I have a sister-in-law who attends the University of Iowa and I've been lucky enough to stop into Sanctuary Pub multiple times. This place has been voted the Best Beer Bar, two years in a row, by Rate Beer. We'll see if it comes out on top in 2023 as it is currently in 2nd place for 2023.

Now that I'm 33, I've got to the point in my life where I just want to go to a bar and hang out with my friends. I hate having to yell to have a conversation, I hate waiting in long lines to finally get a beer, and I've learned to enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere as I've gotten older. I'm not saying the Sanctuary Pub doesn't get busy or rowdy on a weekend but I've been lucky enough to always enjoy a chill atmosphere at Sanctuary Pub. They have 27 craft beers on tap and amazing pizza.

What do you think about the list? According to The Culture Trip, these are the must-visit bars for anyone coming to Iowa. Which bars did the article miss? Let us know in the comments!