St. Burch Tavern came to Iowa City in 2018, replacing long time Iowa City staple Atlas, after being bought by a local restaurant group that includes former Iowa kicker Nate Kaeding. While many were sad about Atlas’ departure, St. Burch has filled its shoes more than adequately, becoming a high-end dining and drinking destination that is just as much a staple of downtown Iowa City as Atlas used to be.

St. Burch is a unique case in these reviews because it has two separate bars with different whiskey selections. The main dining room has a bar, and so does The Den, located downstairs. Each spot has its own atmosphere and, originally, I was going to rank them separately, but reconsidered when I realized that the same exact food menu and restaurant staff served both spaces. Additionally, any whiskey in either location can be ordered at the other. So, they are the same restaurant, but allow you to have very different experiences depending on which dining area you choose.

The main dining room is nice and bright with many large, warm light fixtures, as well as windows on all outer walls facing the street. There’s also patio seating available in the summer months. In contrast, The Den is much darker, with bare stone walls and mostly red neon lighting to set the mood. It feels much more like a speakeasy than the more formal and fancier feel directly above it. If I had to choose one to have whiskey in, I’d definitely choose The Den. It’s the perfect environment to take a seat at the bar on a night after work and nurse a glass of fine whiskey, which they have plenty of as you’ll now see.

WHISKEY SELECTION

Variety: Bourbon, Rye, Scotch, Irish, Canadian

Range: Excellent. There are 53 unique whiskey bottles between the main dining room and The Den. Both have high end selections, with The Den having an overall better selection than upstairs. Each type of whiskey has multiple selections, including Canadian. They also cover the subtype of Tennessee whiskey with multiple selections there as well. The most impressive part of their selection is the full line of WhistlePig whiskies found in The Den, covering a total of six bottles, all of different age statements of Rye and their Piggy Back Bourbon. They have a couple other top shelf bottles as well between the two floors. Sadly, they didn’t replace their bottle of American Single Malt (a Yellowstone) that I had the first time I visited. It would have made them the only place I’ve been to in Iowa City to carry American Single Malt whiskey. However, they did replace the Yellowstone with a craft Rye from Wisconsin, which is a great bottle as well. Overall, this selection is incredible and is only topped by Micky’s in all of Iowa City.

Price Point: The top shelf bottles all clear $30 a pour, with the most expensive pour (Whistlepig 18) topping $100 a pour. However, most of the whiskey in both The Den and the upstairs dining room lands in the $10 to $15 range, which is in line with their tap beers. Getting whiskey pours for the same price as a beer shows how expensive St. Burch is in general (it takes effort to dine out here for two and *not* pay at least $50), but means that getting whiskey is a great value, especially with the selection they have. There isn’t a whiskey or spirit menu, which is a bummer considering that you won’t see every bottle they have at either bar, but they are perfectly happy to price check and answer any questions you have about the whiskey prices.

Wells: The do serve well pours, but in staying with their high-end atmosphere, they don’t use traditional brands that are associated with well drinks, instead having elevated selections for all of their well spirits. They use Four Roses as a well bourbon, Dickel for Rye, Don Q for rum, etc. Each well pour is $7.

Best Bottle: Their best bottle is probably the Whistlepig 18, but they have several more top shelf selections in Jameson 18, Whistlepig 15, Whistlepig 12 Old World, and Jefferson’s Ocean Tropics. On top of this, they have a wide array of bottles below top shelf that are still high quality. These include Whistlepig 10, Redbreast 12, Lagavulin 16 and 8, Ardbeg 10, Balvenie Doublewood, Monkey Shoulder, High West Bourbon, High West Rendezvous Rye, Cedar Ridge Port Cask, Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, Old Forester 1910, Old Forester 1920, and Tatersall Straight Rye. I’m probably leaving off a couple quality bottles, but then I’d be listing almost their entire selection.

Grade: A+

Overall Thoughts: Including both bars into the rating makes St. Burch a clear A+, the second one I’ve ever given after Micky’s. I don’t think it surpasses Micky’s, but the selection is excellent in its own right.

Overall, St. Burch is a fantastic restaurant and destination in the heart of Iowa City. Its prices preclude it from being a regular spot, but it’s a fantastic special occasion spot or somewhere to treat someone coming into town to visit, especially if you are searching for great whiskey to drink as well. I could find myself walking into the Den some nights, though, just to order a nice glass of whiskey and nurse it, as I mentioned earlier. It just has the perfect atmosphere for it.