Sioux City Restaurant Guide
By Andy and Aimee
El Tequila - Mexican
(On Gordon Drive across from Hy-Vee)
Once we discovered El Tequila, it sort of became our "regular" spot- even though we've only been there four times.Atmosphere 3.5/5
It's not the greatest dining atmosphere, but it's clean and isn't smoke-filled (in the non-smoking section, anyway). It's great for casual dining, but nothing fancy. (Black tie is not really an option).Service 4/5
Friendly, efficient staff. We haven't had any wrong orders or any kind of miscommunication.Food 4.5/5
Wide variety of dishes on the menu. For those who are vegetarian, you can substitute cheese or beans for meet with most of the dishes. The mexican is "traditional" style, and their salsa is "awesome." Although their Enchilada isn't anything to write home about, Andy recommends the Tacos Al Carbon.Price 4/5
Very reasonable for the quality of food.Overall: Highly recommended for a casual night out. 4.5/5
HuHot Mongolian Grill
(By Southern Hills Mall)Atmosphere 3.5/5
Although it's a bit cramped, it gets extra points for the large grill that gives you some entertainment while your food is being cooked. It has a bar, and overall is pretty clean.Service 2.5/5
Although we've only been there once so far, our waiter forgot our rice and in general didn't refill our water (although the manager did a good job filling in for his absent employee and giving us water).Food 4.5/5
For those of you unfamiliar with Mongolian Barbeque, you put uncooked ingredients in a bowl (noodles, veggies, meat, sauces, etc) and bring it up to be cooked by 4 or 5 cooks at a large circular grill. It's an easy process to master, although it might be intimidating at first. So, you get exactly what you want. And it's "all you can eat," which is a plus. We had fun combining the sauces and trying new flavors, although we weren't brave enough to try the really hot sauces.. yet.Price 4/5
It's about $11 per person without drinks.. which isn't too bad for all you can eat.Overall: We first tried going on a Saturday and it was a 45 minute to an hour wait (of course it was the first weekend it was open). We went to another place that night. We came back on a weekday night and it was still a 15 minute wait. Needless to say, it's pretty busy. But it is worth the wait.
Lucianos - Italian
(On 4th street)Atmosphere 4.5/5
Nice hardwood floor, pretty well decorated interior. Reminiscent of a family restaurant in Italy. It could be considered more of a "fine dining" experience, but you don't have to necessarily dress up to go.Service 4/5
When we went, it wasn't busy at all so we got plenty of attention. Courteous and efficient.Food 4/5
Decent sized menu. Their bread was okay- it could have been better. Their dishes were good. No complaints. We'd have to go back for a more detailed commentary since it's been a while since we've been there.Price 3/5
Not high priced, but not exactly modestly priced food.Overall: A good Italian dining experience. A breath of fresh air compared to the abundance of sports bars and grills on Historic Fourth Street.
Whiskey Creek
(On Gordon Drive )Atmosphere 2/5
When we went, there were lots of kids. Loud kids. And pieces of food all over the floor. Not very nice. Oh yeah. You better like country music if you go there.Service 3.5/5
The service was decent, but when they tried to run Aimee's credit card, they took at least 45 minutes to do it and didn't come back to tell us anything. Eventually they told us it wouldn't work but on the bright side gave us the meal for free.
Food 4/5
The good food threatened to outweigh the bad atmosphere. The smoked vegetables were quite good, even with pasta, making a unique dish. Aimee had smoked veggies on a salad and a huge baked potato which she said was very good. Decent sized menu with a nice variety of dishes.Price 3.5/5
Typical price for casual dining.Overall: We haven't gone back since our first visit, but if the atmosphere were better, we'd probably go more often.
Da Kow - Vietnamese
(Off of Hamilton Drive)Atmosphere 3/5
It's nothing special atmosphere-wise. It's clean and decorated in an Asian style.Service 5/5
It's a sit-down and order place. The staff was fine. If you get takeout, they are actually very polite as you wait for your meal. They will offer you water or soda while you wait.
Food 4.5/5
Good food. Good rice. The eggroll could be better. They have a very nice selection of Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. A good amount to choose from if you are vegetarian. The portions are very generous (as with most Chinese restaurants).Price 4/5
Very reasonable.Overall: Not including HuHot, it's the only Asian food place we've tried. We are happy with it, so we haven't tried anything else. It's a good place to get take-out. We've never tried delivery, so we can't speak about their delivery times, etc. We recommend it, though.
Sweet Fanny's - Bar and Grill
(On 4th Street)Atmosphere 3/5
It has a WWII bomber motif. It's clean enough.. nothing extraordindary.Service 1/5
Our waitress forgot about us after she brought food- which for Aimee was the wrong order. It could be a fluke, but we weren't satisfied. She didn't come back for water, the check, or to see how we were doing.Food 2/5
The menu selection wasn't very impressive. Typical American dishes. I was hungry for something unique, but ended up getting a cheeseburger because nothing looked all that great. Vegetarian-wise, it's not good at all. Salad or one sandwhich is pretty much your only option.Price 3/5
Typical sports bar price.Overall: We went to this place as sort of a last resort because we wanted to try something new on 4th street. This place looked like the lesser of all evils (after looking at all the menues at various restaurants). We were disappointed with it.
Perkins
(On Gordon Drive - East, across from K-Mart)
Summary: Don't go there. Aimee ordered a Caesar Salad with no chicken. They didn't bring dressing. She asked for dressing and they brought it out. In the dressing were random pieces of chicken, turkey, lettuce, carrots, cabbage and two varieties of cheese. The service is horrible.
Applebees
(Southern Square)
Summary: Typical Applebees.
Johnny Mars
(On 5th and highway 75)
We only briefly walked in to look at the menu. It's sort of a family-dining type place. "Greasy spoon" comes to mind. Although they have smoking and non-smoking, the place wasn't sectioned off at all and the smell of cigarettes hit us as soon as we entered the restaurant. The gyros looked promising, but we didn't stick around to try. They do have a nice takeout menu though!
Garfield's
(Southern Hills Mall)
This is a family style restaurant located in Southern Hills Mall. The first clue that it was a family restaurant were the white paper table covers and accompanying crayons to write on them. The food was so-so. A bit "Perkinsy" with some other options you might not find at Perkins.Atmosphere 3/5
Fun pictures on the wall.Service 3/5
A bit on the slow side, at least when we went.
Food 3/5
Like I said, Perkinsy. But they do have a veggie burger for those avoiding meat.Price 3/5
Average price.Overall
Not a bad family restaurant. If you have other business in the mall, it's pretty convenient.
Botticelli's
(Summit and Hamilton)
Botticelli's, like Lucianos, is an Italian restuarant. Something makes Botticelli's a bit more authentic. Maybe it's the great bread with olive oil and vinegar, or the owner Luigi who makes his rounds from table to table greeting the customers. The restaurant has a great atmosphere and a very nice menu. It even indicates the vegatarian dishes with a little star next to the item. They also have special nights, like Mondays are wine sampling nights. They give you a list to choose from and you can pick three wines to try. Tuesdays all wines half off, Wednesdays are seafood night. The portions are very generous and tasty.Atmosphere 5/5
Very nice.
Service 4.5/5
Friendly and tentative when we went, although it wasn't very busy.Food 5/5
The house tomato soup is excellent. As are the dishes we tried.Price 4/5
You pay for what you get. It's not "cheap" but it's not expensive either. Sign up for various birthday and special coupons in the mail for a better deal.Overall 5/5
A very nice dining experience. And say hi to Luigi.