After a long night out, there is nothing like some quick hot food. This leaves you with the option of heading home and eating another frozen pizza, or picking up food from one of Iowa City’s many restaurants open late. Here is a categorized list of my favorite places to eat at after going out.
Pizza
Falbo’s: If you are looking for some greasy, cheap pizza by the slice, Falbo’s is your place. Located on Gilbert, it is right in the heart of all the apartment complexes and is open incredibly late. The pizza is also extremely satisfying past midnight, and somewhat resembles a Chicago deep dish. The slices are 2.50 a piece and very filling. Make sure to get their ranch, it’s the good restaurant type ranch.
Mesa: This is my personal favorite. Their store is set up like a classic New York Pizzeria with many pizzas sitting out from which you can pick giant slices from. But the similarity to a New York shop ends once you actually look at the pizzas. They have a huge variety of specialty pizzas such as the famous macaroni and cheese, steak and guac, BLT, Philly cheese steak, and many, many more. I have had so many types of pizza from Mesa (I’m a frequent customer) and have never had a slice I didn’t enjoy. Plus, Mesa is located right in the heart of downtown.
Gumby’s: So you won’t be able to walk here, but they do have some good pizza. This is a good option to order from if you aren’t feeling a walk or waiting in line for your pizza. They also have pokey stix, which is bread and cheese, basically, and absolutely terrific.
DP Dough: I’m not sure if DP Dough is necessarily pizza, but calzones are close enough. DP Dough is amazing. They have a huge selection of calzones which range from pizza fillings to the buffalo chicken calzone which I get regularly. This place is good all of the time but is especially good after going out. It is easy to eat and not messy. If you don’t finish it, the calzone also makes for good leftovers.
Sandwiches
Jimmy Johns: Everyone knows what Jimmy Johns is, and you always know what you’re going to get from them, a good sandwich made very quickly. If you are downtown you can easily stop in on your way home and pick up a sandwich. They just recently expanded their store, so there is actually a lot of seating in there now. So, you don’t have to wait the duration of the walk home to enjoy your sub. The store downtown will not deliver to a bunch of buildings south of Burlington, so beware of that.
Goodscents: This is a relatively new store, located on Burlington between the two Cactus locations. They have very good subs which can be had cold or hot. They will also deliver at almost all times of the night. This is definitely a good option if you are already home or are on your way home from downtown.
PepperJax Grill: If you go to PepperJax, go for the Philly cheesesteak. It is a really good, hot sandwich. They also have other options on the menu, but I don’t know why you would get anything other than the cheesesteak. It is a perfect combination of bread, cheese, beef, and peppers to end a long night out. It is also located right next to Pints, making it a hot location after bar close.
Marcos Grilled Cheese Stand: Marcos has the perfect location right in the center of the ped mall, and serves a mean grilled cheese as the name would imply. But don’t be fooled, they also offer other options, such as quesadillas, which are good, too.
Mexican
Pancheros: I don’t know how much explanation this one needs. You only go to Pancheros for one reason: their burritos. They have the best burrito ever, due to the fresh pressed tortilla and the queso, which you must get. It is open very late, and the line moves at an ungodly speed.
Mamis: This restaurant located by Cactus on Gilbert offers more authentic Mexican food. Their burritos are good, but their nachos are better. I highly recommend Mamis, as it is on the way home for many people, and seriously, their nachos are fabulous.
