Augusta Restaurant

I agree with some others on here — the food here is not good. The service is mediocre. I don’t think I’ll be back.

After stopping in at the Oxford location on our way to Chicago last spring, and agreeing that it was the best meal of the weekend (no kidding!), we have been looking forward to a return.
The new space is very agreeable and the outdoor seating would be nice on a lovely evening, but it would be hard to match the charm of the nineteenth century building in Oxford.
My Sazerac cocktail tasted too much of lemon (the classic recipe has a twist of lemon, but not lemon juice). The Sauvignon Blanc wine by the glass was quite good.
The salad with green goddess dressing and artichoke/​lemon soup were good. The stuffed artichoke appetizer special was excellent. The pollo loco special (marinated chicken breast) showed up in a large bowl all by itself and «didn’t have much personality» my girlfriend said. The seafood gumbo had a reasonable amount of fish and shellfish in it, although when I asked how to eat the several half crabs I was told that the crabmeat that was there already in the gumbo. Okay, maybe it was there just for looks. It was good but not great.
My girlfriend and I are of a different mind when it comes to «specials» in a restaurant. Unless it involves seasonal ingredients, I figure they are trying out some new dishes and seeing how they go over. She thinks it is something really spectacular that they are offering. At any rate, we were underwhelmed by the offerings on this visit. I should have gone with one of the regular menu items perhaps.
The service was friendly and efficient.
This place was so good on our first visit that it was a big part of our decision to make a quick, impulsive trip to Iowa City. I would certainly give it another try, but we were definitely not as impressed as we were on our first encounter.

Augusta came highly recommended as a nice restaurant with authentic Creole cuisine. Even our waiter touted the Chef’s New Orleans experience. But to be honest, Augusta fell very short food wise. We started with bowls of the gumbo, which was rather bland and watery. My companion prefers blander foods, but even he thought it was too mild. I ordered the ribeye entrée, advertised as «a full pound», but much of the steak was fat and gristle. Maybe 60−75% of the meat was edible. Definitely got cheated on the portion as advertised. For sides, I ordered French Fries and Broccoli. Both were good, especially the broccoli. My friend ordered the Polenta Lasagna, which was basically a polenta cake smothered in a bland marinara sauce and cheese. It was heavy, blasé, and unappetizing. Since it lacked layers, it definitely wasn’t lasagna. For the prices, Augusta is not a good value. We ordered the «warm bread» for $ 3; what came out was a slice of toast on a plate. A bit laughable for the price. The fatty, gristled ribeye was $ 25. The polenta was $ 16. Nothing was worth the price. The service was good and friendly, but aspects like trying to find decent parking took away from the experience. Save up your money for a wild weekend in New Orleans. Dining here will spoil that dream.

We never had the opportunity to eat here, and that is why I’m leaving this review. My husband phoned yesterday to make a reservation for mothers day. We were planning to have a larger party (8), so we thought this was a good idea. The website also said reservations were being taken for mothers day. When my husband called yesterday, he was told reservations were not being taken and that they were just doing call ahead for mothers day, and we should call about an hour in advance. When we called now (an hour and a half in advance), we were told they are ONLY taking reservations for today… no call aheads. This is really disappointing, since now we’re scrambling to find a place for all of us to eat. That’s why I’m writing this review. We may never eat at Augusta because of this.

Terribly cooked, awful food. Slow service. Dirty place.
We found this place when looking for a farm to table restaurant near our hotel when passing through town. We were excited to eat here, especially since they advertised the chef as they did. When we got there, the lot was full, so I had to park a block away. I figured this meant it would be good. When we walked in, we saw that a full parking lot doesn’t mean a full restaurant. There were maybe 7 tables of people, inside and out. Our table was wobbly, which my kids enjoyed playing with, but made me think the thing would fall apart.
The waitress took the order and brought us two tiny cups of water and a carafe to refill them. There were four of us, but only two cups. (Later she brought two more, thankfully.) She never brought any bread or other free appetizer to tide us over for the long wait for our meal.
40 or so minutes later, our meal arrived. Bleh. It looked like a meal you’d get from a bowling alley. My wife’s burger was charred on the outside, but not done in the middle. She has to eat gluten free and dairy free, so no bun. When she tried to eat it, it just crumbled apart. A burger crumbled apart? My four year old son’s burger was too big to eat, but the burger didn’t even fit the bun. He ate the fries, anyways. My two year old daughter’s chicken strips were more breading than chicken. My tenderloin sandwich was an overcooked giant piece of pork laid on top of a few scraps of vegetables and a bun. And my fries were crumbles, the bottom of the basket. My wife says they tasted like they were cooked in old, stale oil.
It took 40 minutes to cook this? I wish that we had just eaten our stuff that we brought with us in the cooler instead. My wife and I had stomach aches before we left. At first I thought the ladies who complained at the other table to be rude, but by the end, I empathized with them.
Our waitress was nice, but the lady I assume is the manager had a scowl on her face all night and basically dropped the plates on our table.
Eat elsewhere. I regret eating here.

We never got to try this place when it was in Oxford so we were so excited when they moved to Iowa City. We had a really great dinner there on a Friday night a few weeks after they opened. It was crowded and there were probably 4 parties ahead of us, but after one drink at the bar a table opened up. Everyone was super attentive and friendly from hostess to bartenders to waiter. Super impressed at the well-​oiled machine they had going on after moving locations so relatively recently.
We tried the gumbo, crabcakes, fried mushrooms, new orleans shrimp with great bread to dip, and a ribs special and we ate our faces off and loved everything. Our waiter had helpful suggestions and knew everything about the menu. Good beer list and cocktails – it was over a month ago now that we went so I forget exactly all the drinks we tried, but they had a great version of a moscow mule I loved. Really loved the atmosphere and music too. Fun place to spend a dinner. also nice to not have to park downtown since they have parking.
Can’t wait to go back again-​will definitely add it to the rotation.

Wha Whawha. OMG some of these reviews you’d think we were in NY at a Michelin starred restaurant. Yes it’s expensive and yes the food was under spiced. But remover where you are!
The previous establishment, Ride, was a great place. But the venue is small and cozy so turnover does not occur at a rate that covers overhead. So Ride closed rather raise their prices.
So now we have Augusta. The food is expertly done but in a cautious way so as not to upset the IC pallet. So spice it up the way you like no? The fried chicken was juicy and served hot, slightly greasy. The mashed potatoes very good the sweet potato chips goof. Jambalaya was tasty but should be spiced up. The tenderloin was huge! My freinds had it and they loved it. Even the ribeye, ok not like Iowa chop house but in any even real good.

New location — same great food. You really can’t go wrong here for brunch or dinner. A few favorites … Crab cakes, pork tenderloin, shrimp, cheesy grit cake, beignets. Oh and the Bloody Mary’s are crazy delicious.

Wow. Where to begin.
Augusta is in a good part of Iowa City with a decent-​sized parking lot and by plenty of street parking. I mention the parking because it was needed for the very busy dinner hour. I went with three friends and we almost went somewhere else because we figured with so many people it would be a long wait. We took a chance and I’m so glad we did!
Despite the dinner rush, there was plenty of room. My friends and I waited at the bar where we enjoyed drinks. They have a really good beer selection and some cocktails that looked absolutely delicious. The service was amazing from the moment we walked in. Very congenial and friendly. The bartender was so nice and very speedy.
There was about a 20 minute wait but by the time we sat at the bar and ordered a few beers and got to catching up, the time had flown by and we were being seated. It’s a cozy atmosphere with cute salt and pepper shakers on the table. I never felt over-​crowded or like I was sitting on top of someone, like I sometimes feel at the downtown restaurants. They do a great job with the space.
Our table got fried chicken, the tenderloion, and gumbo, with lots of sides. The kitchen made a mistake and sent an extra vegetable, which was great – we got it for free – and the more food, the better. It’s a little pricey but for $ 16, my entrée consisted of half a chicken, two sides, and a soup or salad. The fried chicken was delicious – boneless and well seasoned. The sides were incredible and it was difficult to choose. It’s a small menu – just two pages – but there were also specials on the board. I’m glad the menu wasn’t any bigger because we had a difficult time making a choice.
My boyfriend’s pork tenderloin was especially good. I don’t even really like tenderloin, but I kept taking bites of his. Crispy, well-​seasoned, and HUGE! Leftovers for days!
The vegetables were fresh, tasty, and buttered. The food is rich, but we also had a beet and pecan salad with blue cheese, ordered from the specials board. It was light and refreshing.
We saved room and shared beignets for dessert. If you’ve been to New Orleans and have had café dumonde, they don’t really compare. They’re big and doughy. However, this is a fine problem to have :)
Again, the service was great. Our waiter was attentive and friendly. We didn’t wait long for anything. He courteously told us that if we were ordering dessert to order it early so the kitchen would have time to make it.
Can’t wait to return with another group of friends! So glad this option has been added to Iowa City!

I ve always been SO fond of this restaurant! I didn’t mind going to Oxford! It was off the beaten path… And I liked that! But it s now in Iowa City, and I can live with this… Because the the cuisine is worth driving to New Orleans for! I’m not kidding. Their hanger (flank) steaks are delicious. Everything is amazing! This restaurant transcends you to Louisiana! Glad it s closer now! We re trying the beet and Maytag bleu cheese Salade first. Delectable. !!! Enjoy!!! The burger left me satiated in a good way! Lots of love goes into this place. Don’t miss dropping by! It s worth every penny!

Can’t say enough about how much I love this little gem. Best customer service and their food is wonderful. I got the gumbo and they specially made me one of the dishes without dairy. I will definitely be coming back.

We went for lunch. I had a pork tenderloin which was huge but not anything overwhelming, they said they won the state tenderloin of the year in 2008, I’m not sure it was quite that good. I tried to order without mayo, ended up getting mayo on the sandwich. My wife ordered a crab cake po boy, got a shrimp po-​boy instead, they did comp us with one crab cake. They were quite busy with only 2 servers and the service was only slightly slower than expected. If you order water, you only get a tiny little glass but they did bring a carafe with more water. Overall the food was not seasoned much at all, I’m guessing they want you to put their hot sauce on the food. I happen to not like hot sauce, would rather have my food expertly seasoned by the chef, especially for the cost at this restaurant. Probably won’t go back, wasn’t bad, just underwhelming.

Amazing. Get the gumbo! We had stuffed lobster on opening night and it was delicious. The owners are great people displaced from hurricane Katrina. Cajun food done right. You won’t be disappointed. Also good craft beer selection.

I wanted desperately to give them five stars, but simply couldn’t because of the limited menu options. Now that the main problem has been stated, I’ll get to the wonderful parts. The staff was extremely friendly, which was a plus. The food was really delicious (a tad pricey, but worth it). My only complaint about the food was that the New Orleans Shrimp size was small, but that was okay. The place is always bustling, and for a good reason. It’s one of the best sit-​down restaurants in Iowa City. And yes, when you want food that’s actually cooked by a great chef, prices tend to be higher. Nonetheless, I would definitely give this place a try if you’re looking for a delicious sit-​down meal.

I really wanted Augusta be be great, since it is in my neighborhood. I was sadly disappointed by the high prices and the yelling bartender/​waitress. Two of us went for early lunch, and we shared 3 items, and one coffee. The fried mushroom po-​boy sandwich, gumbo soup and bread pudding and with 20% tip, the bill was $ 41 for lunch. That is too much! The po-​boy sandwich was friend mushrooms on white bread with sweet potato chips for $ 16…not my cup of tea. The bowl of gumbo was $ 8. and tasty, and I liked it. And the bread pudding was good, but $ 7. Coffee was $ 3. I think that everything is one or two dollars too high in price. The really discouraging part was the bartender, who was yelling across the room to the only other patrons. She was talking about her problems and opinions… not appropriate. First I didn’t want to know about her life, and second, we could not hear our own conversation she was so loud. These issues can be fixed. I hope you will. Augusta deserves a chance in Iowa City.

It had been a few years since we took the jaunt over to Augusta in Oxford, but with the recent move to Iowa City, we felt heading on over to check things out again sounds good! We stopped in for breakfast after the Shamrock Shuffle and were pleasantly surprised by what we had.
We decided to split the crab cakes Benedict, got a delicious side of brioche French toast as well as some sausage. The crab cakes Benedict were very, very good. A couple of medium-​sized crab cakes over top an English muffin all enveloped in Hollandaise sauce. For the $ 16 it cost, it was a little on the small side, but the flavor made up for it. It was good enough that are three-​year-​old kept asking for more of it. The brioche French toast was delicious. Thick-​cut bread grilled absolutely perfectly.
Our one year old and 3 year old split a hot chocolate, and they reported it to be above-​average! The coffee was fine, nothing to write home about, but good.
Overall we had a good experience here, the one thing we were left wanting for was the overall price of the experience. One entrée, a side of eggs and three drinks came to about $ 35, and seemed a little on the Steep side for what we got. The food was very good and is definitely worth trying, but for about 5 or $ 7 less would leave everyone feeling just a little bit better. With other options like Bluebird Diner and Hamburg Inn in the area, I don’t want to see this place price themselves out of the breakfast Market. If we could get out of here with two entrees and drinks for $ 30, but should be a place we would come on a regular basis. Until then it’s definitely worth trying, and maybe a place that you want to frequent!

Crab cakes where slightly fishy and food wasn’t hot when it came to our table. Would not reccomend

Antsy to try Augusta Restaurant for my first time and at their new Iowa City location, I called in a Valentine’s evening reservation. They featured a limited, but well-​rounded, Valentine’s menu.
For my main dish I ordered the cod, which was perfectly cooked and served over a bed of white rice with a spicy jambalaya sauce. The dish was a little lackluster, perhaps thanks to our land-​locked status here in Iowa where cod can’t be fresh.
My side dish was the butternut squash and leek soup, and it was delicious. A little too salty, but the buttery, creamy squash was perfect for a cold winter night.
For dessert, I split the chocolate bourbon pecan pie with Brandon L. And wow, it was perfection! Now, I bake a fair amount of pie myself and I know that if done right, it’s hard to have a bad tasting pecan pie. But! This one was above and beyond. The texture was spot-​on, they used a generous amount of pecans, the accompanying chocolate sauce was luxurious, and that crust! Oh my, that was pie crust perfection. From now on when I visit Augusta Restaurant, I won’t be leaving without a piece of pie first.

We went to Augusta on the first night it was open in Iowa City. They did not disappoint! We both had the fried chicken, which was perfectly breaded and very tender. The gumbo, red beans and rice, and cheese grit cake were all fantastic sides. We will be back!

We were 2^nd in line! Everything was delicious… fried chicken, red beans n rice, alligator étouffée, jambalaya, and gumbo! Yum Yum – we will be back:)