Lincoln Wine Bar

Excellent wine and beer list and fabulous pizza. Friendly and efficient servers make it even better. Terrific live music on some nights. However, get there early on the weekend to get a seat.

A very special and unique cute place for some special pizza! Love their crust! But in the end, you know, it is just pizza. If you want pizza, then definitely worth the drive to go!

I stumbled on to this place while back roading through Iowa. Had a wonderful glass of wine and a PERFECT margarita pizza… as good if not better than you would find in large cities!

This is my favorite bar in Iowa. They always have live Jazz music, Great wine and beer and just a great atmosphere. It is always a great place to go.

Wonderful food every time we’ve been there. So so fresh. Amazing place for dinner for two or a group of good friends

Cute place with delicious brick oven pizza and excellent wine selection. Live music on the Saturday night we were there. Nice place to sit and relax

Best pizza ever, hands down. I love all their vegetarian options. Truly a gem! I wish I didn’t have to drive 30 min to get there but after the first bite I remember it is worth it!

This place was awesome! The pizza oven was made by a father and son who came over from Italy. So, I just kept staring at it in awe! My only complaint was that the one of our pizza’s was burned, and the guy cooking said he was new. How about a new pizza? We still ate it though, so no complaints and enjoyed it. It’s only a quick 20 – 30 min drive from Iowa City, so if you get a chance definitely check it out!

I’m so happy to have discovered this little spot at our unofficial Unilocal event last night. I found this wine bar to have as good a selection as I’ve found in larger cities, and I loved the Valdivieso 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon. (This may be my new go-​to!) And the pizza. Oh my goodness! This is the best wood-​fired pizza I’ve had anywhere… Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago… just perfection. We tried three of the five selections and they were all delicious, but the sausage stands out for me.
The location has great ambiance; romantic enough to be a great date night spot, but also low-​key and easy enough to catch up with a group of friends over drinks. It’s a 30 minute drive for me, but worth every minute of it.

Best woodfired pizza you will ever have! Fantastic beer and wine selection! Live music! Great ambiance, need I say more!!!

LOVE this place! We came here (group of about 10) to celebrate my friend’s birthday. We forgot to call ahead, and had to wait for about 20 minutes for a table. But who cares? There was amazing wine and great music to keep us company! I stuck with the Skyfall cab, and it was really great. We ordered probably every pizza on the menu and shared amongst all of us. I would have to say my favorite was the Buffalo Mozz pizza.
What a great place, will be going back soon!

Delicious, traditional pizza. Had the sausage and a special with Kale, anchovies and peppers. Both were great, and I’ll probably try an appetizer next time. Probably one of the best spots in Mount Vernon.

Good food and amazing selection of wine. Staff was helpful in describing the different wines. Prices are a little high for a small town.

What a gem in Mt. Vernon! Casual, blue grass type music tonight. Jesse can help you choose a wine or a craft beer– he’s very knowledgeable. I had an amazing salad tonight with greens, goat cheese, and pumpkin seeds. We tried two pizzas– buffalo Mozarella and basil and a creamier artichoke sun roasted tomatoes. A treat to your palette. Frankly any pizza here is good. Oven came from Italy. Good service. They do have take out. I’d suggest coming early. It doesn’t seat a lot but is worth the wait. Cozy.

Well beyond your average pizza and beer and well worth the drive. Packed house on live music nights. Staff are truly food obsessed and are a huge part of the experience. Specials change constantly as does the impressive beer and wine selection. Go now!!!

Unquestionably one of my favorite restaurants of all time. We drive 90 minutes just to eat this pizza, and it’s well worth it.
You’ll see

Ambiance is really amazing in this place and the pizza is decent.

Great Pizza (NY style), selection if beer and wine. Very friendly service!
I came through here on a roadtrip across the country. Walked in late — kitchen just closed, but peops still sitting around drinking wine. BUT: they ‘reopened’ for me and made me a fantastic thin crust pizza. Very yummy. Beer selection was great too, and the list of wines exquisite and long.
Great place, nice people, a highlight!

This is the best restaurant in Iowa City. Except it’s not in Iowa City, but hey, it’s worth the drive. I’m also going to go out on a limb and say that this place is better than Lincoln Café used to be.
I’ve been twice, and each time have been blown away by the ambiance and food quality. Set on the main street of historic Mount Vernon, the wine bar is warm and inviting from the outside. Up a flight of stairs, you enter a dimly lit room, where the first thing you see is a wood-​fired oven with the mosaic «Cibo El Importante», or «food is important» (Lincoln Café’s old slogan). So, the first thing that greets you is the sight, smell, and value statement.
Then, you turn to your left and see the wine bar which runs the length of the restaurant (which itself isn’t that large, with maybe less than a dozen separate tables). They have a nicely curated wine selection, and a surprisingly impressive beer selection (plenty of high-​rated beers you won’t find even at Sanctuary). During our visit, they were generous about letting us sample wines before we purchased. They have a small selection of appetizers, from which I’d recommend the seasoned almonds.
But the pizza is where it’s at. It may be the best pizza that I’ve ever had. Better than NYC, Chicago. The dough itself is incredibly flavorful, and charred enough but not ashy. On our first visit, we tried the classic margherita pizza, with imported tomatoes and fresh basil. Superb. We also tried a special pizza made with Iowa sweet corn and chili peppers, which I still dream about. On our most recent visit, we were with a larger group and splurged on four pizzas. The best was the «greens» pizza, a regular staple, which included pistachios, pesto, and other herbs and goodies. Face meltingly good.
If you get the chance, sit at the 2-​person table that’s back and to the left, behind the wine bar and next to the sofas. Very romantic, dare I say European. Makes you feel like you are somewhere else.
In other words, drop what you’re doing, and go here. Right now.

Hidden away in a little corner of downtown Mount Vernon, the Lincoln Wine Bar remodeled a couple years ago and expanded its food options to include a brick oven pizza. Lacking accessibility for those who are not physically able-​bodied, the wine bar is up half a flight of stairs.
The wine bar has live music playing a few nights a week, which reduces the already small seating options available. While the staff can make great suggestions on different glasses and bottles of wine, as well as having a variety of beer options available, seating is at a premium at the bar. If one does not arrive early or has a large party, seating can be challenge. When live music is playing, guests better arrive for the purpose of listening to music and watching the musician because very little conversation can happen in this setting. On non-​music nights, the acoustics continue to be challenging, so don’t bring your relative who can’t hear very well — it will be a frustrating night for both of you.
Despite these concerns, the wine bar serves the best pizza around. With a few standards on the menu (cheese, sausage, and similar), there are also specials each night which rotate local fresh ingredients. I have yet to find a pizza here that’s a miss. For a little extra, guests can add a duck egg to the pizza, which is a treat. If just looking for snacks with wine or beer, guests can order off of the appetizer menu, which includes almonds, and various canned seafood items. Not much can be found for gluten-​free folks, but the atmosphere might be enough to provide an excellent evening out.