Downtown Dubuque is really coming on, a wonderful collection of restaurants and shops in a safe, walking environment. On my most recent trip to The Field of Dreams Movie Site, I thoroughly enjoyed a dinner at Barrel House, from start to finish a really good overall experience. Warmly greeted upon entering the restaurant, a business associate and I chose to sit in the dining area instead of their spacious bar region. Appreciated the courteous and quick service throughout our visit by our server. She recommended the spinach and artichoke dip, and she nailed it. Delicious, good-sized portion, tasty! I opted for a chicken Caesar salad, and it was a big portion that was very good, hit the spot. Fresh and well-prepared, they didn't skimp on the chicken either. We topped off a working dinner with sensational turtle cheesecake, which was delicious. Good atmosphere, plenty of space, enjoyed the giant screen televisions showing live baseball games. Lots of public parking directly across the street, metered parking until 5PM. They're right in the heart of downtown Dubuque, directly across the street from the Travel Dubuque headquarters, and in the first mile of Iowa after crossing the Mississippi. I'll be spending quite a bit of time in this region, and there's no doubt I'll return to Barrel House again. read more

Barrel House - American Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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Hostess with the least. On vacation with the family, party of 5. Menu looked good and it was a close walk from our hotel. It was a Sunday night, not everyone is staffed for a busy night, I get that. Walked in the host did not greet us and stood facing away. A server walked by she asked her a question and she proceeded to tell us there were 50 people in front of us. Not waiting, seated, they were ordering. There were about 20 empty tables. She continually told us and the following 2 groups that entered that it would be 20-30 minutes bc there 50 people ahead. She did not offer to seat, a menu to preview just walked to the bar to get herself a drink. I understand only having a few servers but two groups dining also left while we waited. Happy to wait our turn for food but she had to consult waitresses who were busy and did not bother to great customers. Proceeded to find another restaurant as did everyone else that walked in. Sorry I can't help you if the food is worth the wait. read more

Been here half an hour after ordering a chicken sandwich. Maybe 4 tables full in the whole place. Just don't understand what takes so long. If you have a choice... choose elsewhere. read more

Woah, bartender please give me your Bloody Mary recipe. They served us the best Bloody Mary I've ever had!!! The boneless wings were lightly battered and so crunchy. Best boneless wings I've ever had. Our server was so nice and personal. This is a must eat place in Dubuque! 10/10 recommend. read more

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Our family has been to this establishment and we have been very happy every time. We have 2 favorite servers, one is named Alena and the other is a new server named Peyton N. The service is always very prompt and friendly. The menu is actually fairly deep, lots of different options and cooked to order from the chefs! This is a great spot in the downtown area. Give it a shot for some cold beer and great eats if you are ever in beautiful Dubuque Iowa! read more

There is just something about historic buildings in old river towns. Our party of 5 adults and 2 kids arrived about 4:45 on a Saturday night and our timing was perfect. Within minutes, it was a long wait to get seated. We enjoyed an incredibly delicious dinner of typical pub food...with a nice variety. I had the artichoke/spinach chicken sandwich and rally enjoyed it, along with their homemade chips. Some in my party had burritos, burgers, etc. Service was good and the food was terrific. I loved the decor with the old industrial look of brick, glass and exposed ducting. It was a bit chilly on a February night, but we were seated near the front door so that was probably part of it. read more

Pretty average bar atmosphere. The best part about this place is the half priced apps at night. Food comes out pretty fast. Obsessed with the bbq pork nachos. Food is slightly above average. Truffle fries also something really good. Worth it for the price and drinks and the tvs you can watch the game on. read more

Barrel House - Nachos - American Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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Came here for dinner with friends after hiking. We had to wait about half an hour for our table. The food was delicious. I really liked their sweet potato fries. read more

So me and my dad wanted to go out for lunch and decided to come here. We sat at the bar and immediately noticed that the ambiance was spectacular, it really gave small town bar feels. We started of with spicy cheese curds and pretzels. Both where absolutely delicious. We shared the Rueben sandwich and it was just enough for both of us. Totally recommend it. We ended our trip with the Oreo shake and it tasted just as good as it looked. The service was great, and the waitress was very friendly and helpful. 10/10. If you want a quick and delicious meal in Dubuque, I recommend going here. read more

I mean it's a bar with bar food, but not a bar environment. it's nice that they have low price apps late at night. And the staff has always been friendly and the food is pretty good! The price is what you would expect for a bar with food, I have been here many times and will come back. read more

Got to the restaurant around 1pm on a Monday. Paid parking lots very near building. Amazingly it took quarters and was only card. Stood at hostess booth with several minutes as employees passed us by as, many open tables. Finally a nice younger gentleman set up at a table in the bar area, advising us the bartender would wait on us. Bartender only came over to take orders, deliver food and give bill. He was much more attentive to people at the bar, maybe 6. He was nice enough, but definitely not overly friendly. Order two cokes, carbonation slightly off imo. Never offered refills. Ordered app. of pretzels with mustard and cheese. Pretzel themselves(4) were delicious. We are not fans of yellow mustard but it tasted fine. Cheese sauce was tasty. I had the Hot Chicken and regular fries. Hot chicken was spicy with lots of what I believed to be cumin flavor. It was fine, definitely not the hot chicken I am accustomed to. Daughter had the All American minus the "American sauce". Bartender had to go ask kitchen what American sauce was because he didn't know. I appreciate the honesty. It was described as Big Mac sauce. She also got the potato rounds, think thin tots. She said both tasted fine. Average meal with pretzels being the star. Service was ok at best, everyone has off days. Restaurant seemed clean and bathroom was fine. read more

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I have been to the Marion location several times but this was my first time downtown CR. Great food server was new but did a nice job. They need to fix the lighting it was sooooo bright! We finally asked them to turn them down and they did made a huge difference. read more

Barrel House is one of my favorite spots in Dubuque. Great food, great atmosphere, and even better service! These servers are so personable and really take care of you!! Would give 5 stars, but recently ate here and it was so HOT. I can't enjoy my food while I'm sweating from the summer heat. Probably won't be back until the AC situation is changed or fixed. read more

We had a nice experience here. Nice staff, good pub style food, reasonable price. Did not try the beer.

Actually popped in here as our first and last stop roaming the neighborhood. We were able to grab a table outside and enjoyed some of the last good weather. Our server (Dana) although pretty new was attentive, thorough, and friendly. We shared a pretzel appetizer the first time around and the nachos the second time. Both were solid. We prefer the pretzel to be a little more crisp but enjoyed it with both sauces. The nachos overall were good but absolutely needed more chicken and liquid cheese. There was barely any chicken but what little there was we really liked. We did not sit inside but it seemed like a good place to watch football. If we are ever back in town we'd probably come here again. read more

Great food, great service! Large beer selection. Neat historic building. Will definitely go back the next time we are in Dubuque!

Visited the Barrel House last Saturday around 4- busy. The outside and inside of the restaurant look nice. Started with the lobster dip, it was good. Then we ordered our meals...My food was terrible; all three meals were. I had a bean burger with cold cheese and cold waffle fries. Horrible- It had to be a frozen 4 pack from Fareway, which I usually like. My daughters felt the same way- They ordered cheeseburger and chicken strips, unedible. French fries are an additional $4. Did not have anything other than water to drink. Our bill was $90. We had to get up and ask the hostess for silverware/napkins. The bathrooms were dirty. Very disappointing. read more

We live near Chicago but go to Iowa several times a year. We always work in a stop at Barrel House. The food is delicious!!!

We're from out of town and just picked the place randomly. Very glad that we did. We wanted a place to watch the Iowa game and the place delivered. We started with appetizers and then waited awhile to order our food. The ambiance was lighthearted, fun, clean, and family friendly. The noise level was bearable, your usual sports bar. A good place too have a group too. The food. The food was really good. I had the avacado chicken with the barrel fries. The fries were sombre out the best I've had. Crispy and seasoned just right, no need for a condiment. The sandwich did not disappoint either. My husband had the Carolina burger and loved it. It's a burger with pulled pork on top and then srirachi Cole slaw on top of that. We had the mushroom fries and the popper twists g Jalapenos, cream cheese, scallions, and garlic wrapped in a wanton). Yummy. The waitress was very good. And very friendly. She let us be as we wanted. Not pushy to get us to order. But was there when we needed her. Attentive. read more

ABSOLUTLY awesome meal. Had fish and chips it was delicious and the fish was huge. Waitress was very nice her name is Hannah

the severice was amazing they had a malfunction in there software but they gave us there famous milkshakes for free the food was amazing I give this 5 read more

Worst experience we have ever had. I know they were busy so we gave them some slack, although after waiting for a waitress to place a drink order was at least 10 min. We ordered an appetizer of chips with dipping sauce, that took 20 plus minutes and the chip were cold. We waited and additional 1hr and 25 for dinner which never came. We decided to leave. 4 other tables experienced the same poor service And delays. We saw a couple at One table sit down and for 15 Min.m before anyone came by to ask them about drinks or greet them. We heard some other tables that finally got their food had poor food, another factor that made our decision to leave. I am giving only 1 star since I did have one beer and it was good. read more

the food was good but the waitress named Payton was absolutely the worst words can't describe how much i have to say... she walked past us 9 times after taking our order for drinks and walked to us finally. then she came around gave us our drinks took our order for food then she came around to other tables the wait for the food to come was ridiculous we were all starting to fall asleep just waiting and was it busy in there You may ask? Well no... there was 3 other people in there. after the food came she never came back around and asked us how our food was. She came around later asking us for our boxes and took even longer to come back to bring our check... we put the money on the check and proceeded to wait she kept ignoring us until she heard us say that we were going to go up to the bar and give them the money and leave at the end we told her that she kept ignoring us and she goes "well that's ur own thought b!tch" read more

I stopped in on a Saturday after 1pm. It was busy today but I'm guessing something was going on in town. Nice entrance and we were seated quickly. Large menu to meet every need. I had the bourbon burger and a few local craft beers. Our waitress was quick and entertaining. Food was good beer was good. I had no major complaints. I would recommend this to others visiting or locals that have not tried. read more

Barrel House - American Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

When I first walked in the place looked great. Very modern looking restaurant. Although I did find a little snack that they must have put for me by the window After we were seated, the tables were very nice a little sticky, probably to just hold our food in place on the table, I am sure. As for the menu the seemed to have a little bit of everything, something for everybody. So perfect if you and your party are very indecisive. We were seated very quickly. The food came out insanely fast. My table got the nacho and would 100% recommend. They were scrumptious. WARNING , if you get the spicy cheese curds they are very spicy. So maybe have a high spice tolerance, if you are going to order them. Our actual food came out insanely fast. Fastest service I have ever had. The food was absolutely bussin!!! Anything you get will be amazing. Definitely come here if you are in Dubuque. Finally the music they played was rather interesting. Most songs I have never heard before. I guess there is always ways you can branch out. read more

Barrel House - the corner of a window sill - American Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

We've been there a couple of times for different occasions and although the menu is probably way too big, every thing we've had has been prepared well: burgers, fish, steak, nachos, brisket, pork chops, salads. Definitely would be on our short list of places to take visitors and family. read more

It is a solid sports bar in downtown Dubuque. It's not awesome but it isn't bad. The food is your basic bar food fare and taste good for the price point. The atmosphere is nice and the staff is friendly. While it probably wouldn't be your first choice in Dubuque, you wouldn't be disappointed with the decision at the end of the evening. I will say that for a sports bar, the beer list could have been better with more local choices. There are some great breweries in the immediate area and across the State. Taking advantage of those would be an immediate upgrade for them. Against all other restaurants in Dubuque, four stars is probably high but as far as casual dining goes, four stars is right on point. read more

Unfortunately I wasn't that impressed. I ordered a cheeseburger and found it dry, while the extra large bun was greasy. Not a lot of taste to this burger and the homemade chips were stale. Honestly, for the price, going to Red Robin would have been a better choice. At least there, the meat is flavorful and juicy (not greasy). My sons, who had the burger with an egg and hash browns on it, enjoyed their's. They also enjoyed the sweet potato cross-cut fries, although they were $1 more. It was also extremely noisy in the restaurant and I felt it was overpriced for what you got. They really have too many menu items to choose from, making service from the kitchen slower. My husband and sons may visit again but it isn't for me. read more

My wife and I arrived at 2:45 and only 1 person was in the restaurant and she was sitting at the bar. We ordered a Ruben and shrimp tacos. The Ruben was dripping with grease so I moved half of my sandwich on end so my bread would not be soaked, guess what; it didn't work. All I ate from the 2nd half was the meat, again very disappointing. The shrimp tacos must have been prepared the same way, the tortillas were dripping with grease, not the sauce....grease! I asked for a side of 1000 island, it never showed up, by this time the customer at the bar left so we were the only 2 left besides employees. I needed a refill 1/2 way through the meal and was never offered a refill and never seen our server until we were ready for the bill. Last but not least, I just saw the word "ambiance" by the 2 star rating and remembered my wife told me to listen. There was music playing in the restaurant, loud music coming from the kitchen so both were on jamming away. The bottomline is, it would take a lot for my wife and I to return. We have eaten at this establishment many times and we liked it. My suggestion is to train, coach, and motivate your team. Thank you for taking the time to read this. read more

In town for a few days and decided to walk over to the Barrel House for dinner. Had the Santa Fe salad and can honestly say it was one of the best salads I've ever had. Service was beyond great...sorry I don't remember his name. I'll be back! read more

Stopped in for a burger but there are so many great choices on the menu. Being as how it's March they have a Ruben sandwich. That was probably the best Reuben i've ever had. You have to watch the menu specials because they seasonally change. read more

Barrel House - Killer Ruben - American Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

Neat location, fantastic food, fabulous service, and owner Jeffrey Brewer could not be a more welcoming host. Was fortunate enough to eat my first "real meal" here after completing my 339-mile Type 1 Diabetes Run Across Iowa from Sioux City to Dubuque. My wife, who crewed me, and I were STARVING for real food, and lots of it, after 7.5 days of Casey's pizza and chocolate milk. We could not have chosen anywhere better for our re-entry into the real world. Lots of menu options, everything we tried was freshly made, and the server was on the ball and friendly, even though it was nearly midnight on a Sunday. My special recommendations: Jalapeno Popper Twists, the excellent Fish & Chips -- among the best I have ever had -- the Bacon Avocado Grilled Cheese which my wife raved about, and an outstanding turtle cheesecake, so good we had half at the restaurant and the other half back at our hotel for breakfast the next morning. :) read more

I have ate here several times and have had great food. We ate here last night for my daughters birthday and it may have been one of the worst meals I have ever ate out. My daughter ordered the Nashville hot sandwich, the bread was saturated in grease and the chicken was not a tenderloin it was a huge chunk of a chicken breast. I order the avocado chicken sandwich, again chicken was not a tenderloin and was a thick piece of chicken breast that was so over cooked that I barely could cut it with a fork. No sauce and no flavor. I sadly will not be coming to eat here again! I hope they get things figured out because we used to love it here. read more

Nice. Comfy. Sporty. Just a few adjectives to describe the interior. Food is fresh and served in a timely manor. Service was attentive by both server Kate and management. We were told business just opened this past Thursday. Today is Saturday. We completely enjoyed ourselves. See you the next time we are in Iowa! Tom & Steph read more

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The bf and I have been here a few times hoping that our experience would be better but NOPE, their service and bartenders still SUCK!! If I could give them ZERO stars, I would. That's how bad this place SUCKS!! read more

Food was good but didn't surprise or anything special - steak burrito - but liked the place. Great set up, good spot for game watch, service was great - sat at bar. Several appealing menu options. Nice variety of craft brews - and ONLY $3 during games! Neat looking spot in downtown DUBQ - which is a fav stop on hwy 151 travels. read more

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terrible service terrible food servers need to pay attention to customers no be on their phones sat in a dirty spot also asked bartender to wipe he did with his hands lol. Used to be one of our favorite places. read more

Excellent food every time. Waitress was wonderful and gentleman who brought out food was fantastic.

So here's my rant! It was a hopping place on a Saturday night I. Dubuque and we were spending g some great time with friends and while we were sitting and waiting for our food our waitress ones over..a person had there hand on the MADNESS salt and she let us know"you know it's for sale and have many people walk out with it"! We had not heard any other wait person say that to any other table...we all felt uncomfortable because we looked around and noticed that we might have been told because we did not look like the rest! Well oh well! The misadventures of times in Iowa! Well I will be back Dubuque! But not here! So management...keep the salt off the table and sell it in other ways, but do not tell a customer to not walk away with it! read more

Went to the Barrel House sat night , 7/24/21 at 5 pm and we called ahead & told the lady how big our party was & she said there was not much of a wait. We had 6 and a baby. Got there & they would not seat us as they don't serve groups over six. So we said the small baby could sit on our lap or just give us a table for 4 and a table for 3. . Lots of empty tables. Nope, the hosts refused to do it. 'Cant overstress the staff' was their reasoning. The place was 2/3 empty. read more