Stella Iowa City

My wife and I were headed back home on highway 218 and asked Siri for “restaurants near me.” She told us about Stella’s so we stopped for lunch. Excellent! Friendly wait staff. We enjoyed our meal of the Lytton Burger and spinach salad out on the patio. Home cut fries were the best. I loved the poppy seed vinaigrette dressing - if they sold that and would ship to Humboldt, I would definitely be interested. Hopefully will get to return there again someday.

We dined for lunch today at the suggestion of a few Doctors and a Nurse from University of Iowa's Medical Team. Upon review, we noted Stella's had a 4-star rating so our hopes were high. When we arrived it was nice to see the iron gate entrance with a double patio and easy access to menu posted outside the door. We entered and were promptly greeted by Darren. SUPER Energy. He sat us and took our drink order. The environment was very laid back. Fans were running as there was no AC that we could tell. We were quite comfortable with the fans; however, we do think they need a good cleaning. Despite that, Darren took our order. I can't figure out how he can have that much energy in the heat, yet he keeps pouring it out. While we waited, we came to the conclusion that Stella is a hidden gem and a dive. A place that Guy needs to know about. I digress. We order the Cheese Fries with Bacon. The fries are cut in-house. When they arrived, they were packed with cheese and covered in bacon. It was like a bacon explosion happened on the plate. The fries were good. We believe if they twice fried them, it might make them a little more crispy. Our party devoured them. We ordered three different burgers - a Tingley which has green chili, pepper jack cheese, and guacamole - a Beaconsfield which has bacon, cheddar cheese and BBQ sauce which we believe to be house made - and a Colo which was American and Swiss Cheese on rye bread with grilled onions. We elected to have raw onions for a crisper bite. All three burgers hit the table at the same time - hot. All of them came with seasoned hand-cut fries. The Tingley was served open faced so I could see the guacamole and the green chili. Upon putting it together and tasting the first bite in the "hontch" maneuver. The flavors were a good mix of cool and spice. The green chili mixed with the guacamole and pepper jack to create just the right blend of savory heat elements to the texture of the beef. The Beaconsfield was served open faced so we can see all the melted goo-wee-ness of the Cheddar Cheese. The bacon and BBQ sauce gave the impression the burger was going to be hot and juicy. But alas, the burger did not set off any fire works for this burger enthusiasts. While the BBQ sauce was great, the combo felt like any other BBQ burger from any other place. We expected the something new and exciting. Just because this was not our favorite, absolutely does not mean we will be back for more. I anticipate many more visits. Our final burger de jour was the the Colo burger on Rye. It was served closed faced with the American and Swiss cheese melted. We opted for raw onions versus grilled onions. We enjoyed the combo of raw onions, tomato, pickles, and the two cheeses. It created a virtuoso of flavor on the pallet with the rye bread adding the base notes of every bite. Our only downfall was, we had the darndest time keeping everything together. Despite that, it was much a delightful burger. While we had a few minor challenges, we enjoyed our time at Stella. It will certainly not be our last. I am eager to try a few of the Black Bean Burgers and a few of the house specialty drinks. The service was great despite not having AC. Darren's enthusiasm never gave up. I would strongly suggest a visit to this little hole just around the corner from Kinnick Stadium.