Vesta

Good place for dining some Mediterranean food. But they’d better bring bread along with the soup.

After a long time of wanting to try this place, I was disappointed in both the menu and the atmosphere.
Atmosphere:
Upon first arriving, I was surprised to walk into a sport bar vibe. They do have fancy light fixtures and a nice bar but the kitchen (formerly open-​concept to show off the beautiful stone pizza oven), has been blockaded by a scuffed up green wall, giving off the appearance of a soup kitchen. Perhaps I would have felt differently had they sat us next to a window, away from the kitchen.
Wine Menu:
It’s a decent menu if you’re planning to buy a bottle, but very little selection if you’re ordering by the glass.
Appetizer Menu:
The menu left a lot to be desired. We wanted an appetizer to pair with our red wine selections but nothing caught our eye so opted for the hummus board. It came with three varieties of hummus (truffle, black bean, red pepper). This was surprisingly our favorite part of the meal — the truffle hummus was delicious and the naan was perfect.
Entrée Menu:
I had initially planned on ordering a nice entrée but again nothing caught my eye so I went with the the mediterranean pizza. The flatbread crust was well-​fired (a little crispy but still stretchy), and the mozzarella cheese was generous, but this was a very boring menu item for me — great for a Thursday evening happy hour, but not what I would have liked to order on a Saturday evening date and foodie splurge night.
Service:
Our waiter was great through the entire meal until the end, when he seemed to have forgotten about us as he checked in with the folks next to us three times in the time it took him to ask us if we were ready for the check.

Extremely enjoyable experience! My boyfriend and I dined here last weekend and every aspect was wonderful. We had a great server who guided us on the menu answering any questions or providing his opinion when asked. He definitely didn’t steer us wrong! He also was very helpful in working with our food allergies. It was a busy Saturday night and yet he still made sure to take the time to check on how certain items were prepared and offered alternative ideas if needed. We did the works… drinks, appetizers, salads, entrée courses, and dessert. And every piece was phenomenal. A big shout out to a great server at a wonderful restaurant!

Definitely misleading as mediterranean place. I would have loved to give them more stars for the ambiance but if the food had been any better.
Ambiance is awesome, very trendy with a huge library and a nice bar. We were tended nicely during dinner. Their mediterranean platter was stale, all the pita was cold and hummus etc was not good. Pizza margarita was fresh but it was missing the mark. We also had dessert cheesecake which was nice but after all there are very few places that know how to screw up dessert!
May be for an expensive date to impress someone but I would rather eat a take out from Oasis!

Just got to this restaurant and from the moment I walked in a knew it was going to be a bad experience but I figured I’d give it a try. There was no one at the door when I came in and we waited 5 minutes to get a seat. We finally sat down and it took another few minutes for someone to tend to us. The waitress said she would give us a couple minutes to look over the menu. A long wait after that she was finally back to take our order. We have not got our food yet but we are sitting here watching the employees all watch TV on the job instead of working and keeping an eye on their customers. On top of it all our waitress is not rude… but definitely not very friendly. Silverware was dirty, service not good. Overall bad experience.

Really enjoyed the food here at Vesta and would definitely come back again to try other things. I ordered the Ribeye steak sandwich with a side of Iowa Bacon Corn Chowder soup. The ribeye steak was delicious (though I wish it were bigger) and had kale and asparagus in it which matched really well. They used a horseradish aioli in it as well which topped it off. The only thing I’ve had really similar to this around the Coralville area is the prime rib sandwich for lunch at Longhorn’s. To me, they are pretty similar (both having a horseradish sauce with it), but the ribeye steak at Vesta’s wasn’t as soft and juicy as the prime rib at Longhorns. Yes, they are different cuts, but I still wish the ribeye steak at Vesta was a little more tender. The Iowa Bacon Corn Chowder soup was unique, but a little too sweet for my taste. I’d probably try the Tomato Bisque soup next time.

Recommended by the front desk folks at the Marriott. Food was good however service was just flat out terrible. They sat me right across the way from the food service galley and I watched my food sit for over 8 minutes before it was delivered. I mentioned the delay to the food server and she was like «sorry». I wanted to ask her how long does it take you to make $ 19, the cost of my cold meal? My chicken was warm and pasta was cold. Bön appetite.

I met a friend here for lunch. He ordered the BBQ chicken pizza. It had lots of potential. All of the ingredients were quite good, it was just too sweet for our liking. Next we ordered the margarita pizza. The cheese didn’t cover the pizza like the last one. Instead, there were circles of fresh mozzarella, too far and few between. It was also extremely bland. No flavor. I really liked the ambiance, and the street parking was easy in the middle of the day. I would come again and try something else.

Great experience, great food, and good service. Had a Lamb Burger for dinner that was to die for. My traveling companion had an Alaskan BLT that needless to say there was nothing left on the plate. Definitely a good experience and a go to place again.

I visited Vesta recently with a co-​worker on a beautiful fall evening and we took advantage of their nice outdoor seating. I ordered a grilled lamb burger which was a good-​sized patty served with mint pesto a tzatziki sauce and it was excellent. The burger wasn’t overly fatty which can often happen with lamb and the sauces were the perfect accompaniment. As my side, I ordered the watermelon salad which is a must-​try! It’s a bed of greens with lots of watermelon chunks, feta some pine nuts and balsalmic vinaigrette. It was the perfect side to complement my lamb burger.
The only reason they lost out on a star is our server disappeared for quite some time. Finally, another server stopped by to check on us and give us our tabs stating the other server had gone home ill. Understandable that this happened, but I think we were forgotten for quite some time. It would have been great if someone could have stopped by to let us know our server had to go home unexpectedly and to expect a short delay. Otherwise, this was an excellent experience and I wouldn’t hesitate to return when visiting Iowa City in the future.

Great service and delicious food! The crab cakes were good and the salad with Salmon was excellent! Next time, I’ll have to experience their other items. Conveniently located by my preferred Coralville hotel. Walking distance with a comfy outside seating area.

Had reservations on Saturday night at 7:30. When we had called to make the reservation, the hostess had said that «it wouldn’t hurt to get a reservation». Upon arrival, the waitress had said that there is no reservation for us. And that it was going to be 45 minutes to an hour and a half for us to get a table. When we asked if someone else may have taken the reservation, such as a bartender, she said «you can go ask». I replied, «Really??? I can go ask???» She then said that she would go ask the bartender. Siri trying to say that we still didn’t have a reservation. So she asked for our name in our phone number so we could go somewhere else and have a drink while we waited. Why wouldn’t we just have a drink at their bar!!! Nevertheless, she was able to find us a seat outside within minutes. Obviously the hostess was clueless. But now for the good part… the food! The beef Wellington bites were awesome!!! And when it came to the beef tenderloin… AMAZING! So glad we didn’t let the reservation debacle spoil our evening. Only other thing that was they closed fairly early, to push peeps to 30Hop. All in all GREAT food and pleasant environment. Will be back!

Amazing pizza. We had Greek Lamb. Very tasty. Plenty of food for two. Crust was flaky and toppings were really good. Nice beer selection too. Will be back for sure. The service was top notch and she knew the menu real well.

Friendly service, great pours at the bar. Menu has something for everyone. Nice atmosphere! I can only speak on the bar staff… very knowledgeable and helpful in making decisions.

Little know secret — this is one of the best burgers in the Coralville IC area. Seriously. The Vesta Burger is delicious and their fries are fantastic. Also really enjoy the Salmon BLT and hummus platter. I’m not a creature of habit but those are the three best things on the menu. Check out their patio on a nice summer night.

Came here for dinner with a group of people. Just across the Marriott where we were staying. Food was okay, but next evening sat outside around the fireplace which was a lot of fun. Very good set up for this, created a good atmosphere.

I meant to write this review a few times now. This place is consistent. One of the most consistent in the area for quality and overall dining experience. The staff are very friendly. The food is awesome. The restaurant is clean and the staff are clean as well. I know that sounds like a no-​brainer, but honestly, eat at restaurants in this town for a few years and you will see the remnants of a hard night on the town before you at most places. I recommend this place to people that visit. Vesta is perfect for dinner or lunch with friends and family. Always a nice experience. Do yourself a favor and skip the dirty watering holes the Corridor is known for. Spend a few extra bucks and get the service/​quality that your hard-​earned dollars are paying for.

Had a great dinner with girlfriends with excellent food and service.
Our waitress was very helpful with the menu (thanks KayLynn!) and answered all our questions. I ordered the sweet potato burger with the watermelon salad on the side. The burger was so flavorful and was perfect on the soft focaccia bun! I also tried a friend’s salmon blt and it was delicious!

I really need to come here more often.
This review could really be done in just three words, Iowa Elk Stroganoff. That’s really all you need to know. You can thank me later.

For starters, I have watched Hell’s Kitchen for years. as you know Chef Ramsey is always yelling about Beef Wellington, like” WHERE IS THE WEllINGTON YOU DONKEY!!”, so when I seen they had wellington bites you bet I had to try them. These would have made Chef Ramsey proud, very very good appetizer for a reasonable price .
For my drinks I had a delicious peach tea and peach lemonade, this made my day knowing I could get both of these!
For my entrees, I got the chicken cordon bleu, it was a very nice dish that the chicken cooked to perfection as well using high quality ham. They make it better than most places, good portion size as well.
My fav is the beef tenderloin, this was a great piece of steak. I do have reservations about ordering steak at places that don’t specialize in it, but they sure know how to step their game up with the beef! It does come with asparagus and risotto, yes anther Chef Ramsey favorite. Going to have to get this one again for sure.
Very nice place to grab dinner at, I would suggest trying a few things on the menu. Happy I found this place because this was long overdue.