It took me far too long to try out this tequila bar that’s situated directly next to Shorts Burger and Shine, a restaurant that I visit every Sunday afternoon after work. The domed awning out front always had me curious, but I’ve been slightly intimidated by places that immediately go up or down stairs and don’t have a store front to visually advertise their space. Having not hung around downtown Iowa City until recently, I had never realized how new Coa Cantina actually was to the Iowa City scene and in general. The beginnings of Coa Cantina can be traced to Des Moines, where the original location opened in the East Village in 2020. They quickly gained acclaim and earned the city’s vote for best margarita by 2022. The Iowa City location opened in early 2023 as the second location of the restaurant and replaced the well known and well loved Clinton Street Social Club. Clinton Street was known before the pandemic for its quality cocktail menu paired with a solid food menu that made it an underground hit for those looking for great cocktails with a classy environment. Sadly, they closed during the pandemic and would never reopen, opening the door for Coa Cantina to come into the space.

Coa Cantina has a cozy yet modern atmosphere, with their public facing comments indicating that their goal is to be a Mexican Dance bar. The indoor layout seems to indicate their intent, with a DJ staging area on the main floor, the main bar located off to the side, and widely spaced floor seating that leaves the area by the DJ corner as a dance floor. With their taco and margarita deals taken into account, Coa seems to bring in good crowds on the weekends and at night. However, my multiple visits have all come in the lunch hour, and I’ve still been impressed with Coa despite the lack of its typical atmosphere. As I detail below, it is far and away the best tequila bar I’ve seen in the city, but it does have a selection of whiskey for those out on the town and looking for an alternative to tequila.

WHISKEY SELECTION  

Variety: Bourbon, Irish, Scotch, Canadian.

Range: Poor. 5 Bottles. They cover the bare minimum of all their types of whiskey in order to at least have the option if someone asks, along with the addition of a local bourbon in Cedar Ridge. The first time I visited a couple months ago, they had 8 bottles that included Templeton Rye as a solid Rye selection, but seemed to have gone through a few of their whiskey bottles without replacing them. To me this reflects their focus on tequila over whiskey, showing that even though they may have been convinced to try some bottles of whiskey when putting together their spirit selection, the whiskey they got wasn’t popular enough to justify further investment from the store. It’s a bummer that this is the case, since it was a small selection to begin with, but their selection of tequila honestly makes up for it.

Price Point: All their bottles fall within a range of $6-$8 per pour. Johnnie Walker Red is the only $6 pour, but all of their whiskey prices are at or below their tequila prices, so if you want a whiskey, you’ll at least be getting bang for your buck at Coa Cantina.

Wells: They do have Mr. Boston as a well whiskey, which honestly surprised me, with pours being $4.

Best Selection: Their best bottle is definitely the Cedar Ridge bourbon, with their other good bottle being Templeton Rye when they do have it.

Grade: D-

Overall Thoughts: It is far and away the best tequila bar in the city. They have over three dozen options for each age statement of tequila (Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo), coming in at over 100 total tequila bottles. Each time I’ve been, I’ve sipped on tequila or Mezcal rather than whiskey. Their selection is second to none and the bartenders seem to be fairly green, but still experienced enough to point you in the right direction if you ask about tequila. I’m honestly excited to go back to try other tequilas and Mezcals that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I didn’t give it an F because it does cover the bases and has that local bourbon, but it can’t go much above not failing since it does the bare minimum for each variety of whiskey besides having the local bourbon on hand. It would get a slightly better grade if it had replaced the bottles it had the first time I visited, but the lack of desire of keep whiskey in stock tells you all you need to know. Don’t go to Coa Cantina if you want to drink whiskey, but it’s a great option for a lively weekend atmosphere or to just have some excellent fresh Mexican fare and a quality tequila.