Mason Dixon Saloon, as it is unfortunately titled and branded, is one of the only places in Dubuque today that provides pretty darn solid ribs and smoked meats, as some of the other BBQ joints have shuttered over the years. I am pleased, in fact, to report that in having tried the ribs, they have smoking down pretty well and churn out some good food. On other visits however, I was surprised to find the pork on the Cuban sandwich and basket to be an odd texture and pretty off tasting. I'd say that the food is pretty standard otherwise, with what seem to be the usual Cisco/USFoods frozen to fried fare. Nothing incredible, but your familiar greasy stuff to get a quick, cheap-enough lunch in. The service over the years has been mixed as well, during the table service hours, the place has had attentive and kind service, but every weekend the place turns into a confused staging ground for what all-too-often seem to be fake-ID toting college underclassmen. At these hours, the place feels uncomfortable for anyone over 22, and it's hard enough to get to the bar rail at these hours any way, much more-so to be seen by tenders that all too often are overstretched if they're even behind the bar to begin with. There's also the obvious gripe with the ambiance. Bourbon barrels cut and stacked along the walls, set against the backdrop of a big crocodile crawling the room -- pretty cool, if not a little kitschy. The obvious problem remains: why the homage to the Mason Dixon line? A symbol of the south? A bygone time? Something to suggest that the ~perfectly fine~ ribs will transport you to another place? My thought is that all too often, and rightly so, it's associated with the border into a land where slavery existed right up until the line was no more. A line crossed to become free, or on the flip side enter a land where it was okay to treat a black man as something sub-human. If that's where this saloon wants to transport me, I'm good. They changed their branding from a confederate flag striped longhorn to what it is now, but the name and the feeling remain. I should hope that they can see that in a Dubuque that is hopefully changing with times and trying to be a welcoming place to folks of all races, colors, and creeds, it may be time not just to retire the flag, but consider what the line their named for stands for to people other than the white guys in their hometown (a group that seems to want the good ol' Southland to adopt the rural Midwest). read more

God forbid the DJ play any type of good music, it's like the guy is trying to make people leave, guy won't even take recommendations. Like I'm trying to save your job brother. read more

Great wings! Good sauces...and beer. Bartender was friendly and attentive. Bar stools with backs.

Jacob is speedy and was all around a great server!! We had such a great experience because of him

Service was great. Wife had the pulled pork platter. It was overly salty and not the traditional pulled as you would expect but more like cubed. She stopped eating it and I shared my meal with her. I had the Ruben and that was delicious! Nice atmosphere overall but when we walked in and we were the only ones at 6 pm it should have been a sign. read more

We stopped in for a quick drink and appetizer as we made our way around town. Our bartender was a very nice lady that was prompt and took care of us. We ordered the Dixon Dice appetizer which was deep fried cubed pepper jack cheese bites. They were delicious and a must try. The bartender informed us they were serving their ribs that day and it only happens about 2 times a week. We planned on heading back for dinner but just couldn't make it. If we make it back to this area again we will go back there and maybe get lucky they are smoking ribs that day. All in all a good experience. read more

I have and will continue to drive an hour out of my way with coolers in my car to take home as many ribs as I can haul away. OUTSTANDING ribs and wings (and fries) that will make you wonder if you're still in Iowa. Service was beyond accommodating every time we've been there. Great original recipe BBQ sauce if you like that on your ribs or wings, but they're perfect as they are imo. read more

This was the only bar we could find open after a business function on a Tuesday night. There were only a couple of people at the bar when we arrived. I LOVED the decor of the place. It was very rustic with all of the wood elements. It had an item from the American Pickers too. The drinks were consistent from night to night. We never ate here, just came here three nights in a row for socializing and drinking. It was the busiest on the Thursday night that we came. read more

I'm loving this Philly! Peppery, cheesy, meaty excellence. Other options are solid. Good burgers and ribs, but I found my new go to. The employees are most excellent most of the time. The nachos are above average, but they don't have them all the time! read more

Mason Dixon Saloon - a sign for mason dixon saloon - Sports Bars Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

This is a hidden gem. They have the best wings around. The ribs are also amazing! Very cool place.

This decor is not very inviting and I just wonder what the mason Dixon line has to do with all this southern stuff...anyone that's been to the old line state can tell u its not country western which is what seems to be the theme here.....along with confederate flag covered long horns....I'm really lost about this.....I'll update this review once I get to my room and eat the Reuben. So I tasted the food.....the worst corned beef I've ever had, absolutely no taste and way too thick! The fries don't even deserve a mention. I wanted to believe it would be good so I ate with an open mind and taste buds...i shouldn't have. Sorry, Mason Dixon Saloon, you're a disappointment. read more

Looks warm and friendly but in reality, it needs a little spice and personality. Food was marginal at best and if this is considered good ribs then Dubuque doesn't know its BBQ. One bar keep was ok but the other was snooty and lazy...especially for a Thursday night. I wouldn't recommend this joint and won't be going back in my future visits to the area. read more

We missed out on the Sunday ribs, darn. But what we had was excellent - crispy wings with good sauces, and a super flavorful reuben with hefty chunks of succulent marinated brisket within. Friendly service. Comfortable room. Would gladly return. And go earlier to see why the ribs sell out so fast! read more

Amazing ribs -- roasted slow with a simple dry rub -- you can really taste the meat! And the sauce ain't too shabby neither. Can't speak for the beer, although it looks good -- I was the designated driver that night. read more

Cool little bar. Love the decor. We stopped in for lunch. We had the Mason Burger and the daily special which was a spicy chicken sandwich. Both were good, but there seemed to be a bit of gristle in the burger...which was a bummer. They had a good beer selection, too. read more

Decor is really nice. Just walked over from the hotel julien for a bite to eat. Angus burger was really good, it seemed like the bun was baked fresh. I also had fries & side salad which were pretty good. Girlfriend had chicken strips & coleslaw which was good. None of the food was over the top delicious but I'd describe it as higher end bar food. Service was excellent. Didn't seem to have any beer on tap, but a decent variety of bottles and full liqueur bar. read more

Cute place. Nice atmosphere. Good service and a clean place. Multiple tvs for watching the sports games!

Good fries, bland shrimp and tilapia. The waitress put a damper on the evening- pushy and rude

Stopped for lunch with friends. Make sure to have an order of wings. They come crispy and the homemade BBQ is excellent. The Philly was great but side salad was just mixed greens. Also found it odd that they don't have anything on tap. read more

This place has decent food at prices that are slightly too high for its quality. All in all, if that's what you're looking for, sure, I guess you can go there. HOWEVER - they have the absolute worst customer service I've ever seen. This place is near my workplace so my coworkers and I used to frequent it. They used to have a server on the lunch shift who was fantastic, helpful, speedy and very friendly. She quit over a year ago. Ever since then, the servers who work during lunch are the most unfriendly, nonresponsive servers I've ever seen. One time, even though we had called in our order (for just four people, not a huge group) an HOUR before we came to eat, our food wasn't ready. As we sat, waiting, we had to go up to the bar to ask them to take our drink order. After about 15 more minutes of sitting and waiting, I walked up to the server to ask her how long our order would take and she said she didn't know. I asked if there was anything that could be done to make up for their lack of service. She told me NO. She did not even apologize for the inconvenience. She looked at me with a deadpan, completely void expression and said "It's just the way it is". Finally, we went up to the bar and told them we would have to take our food to go. It was 10 minutes later before they brought out our food and had completely FORGOTTEN to make my coworker's order - which was a simple BLT sandwich. Once again, there was no apology, just a expressionless "That's the way it is". Since then, I have given them several chances to make up for this lack of service and have been severly disappointed every time. Even calling in my order for take-out is met with nothing but rude servers and messed up orders. I will never eat at this restaurant again. read more

Love their food. Went many times for lunch. Good service. Clean and modern. Would definitely recommend for lunch downtown.

Nice decor & friendly staff, but very slow service. Seemed quite understaffed for the amount of people in there. The burger was terrible. Small and incredibly overpriced. There is NO WAY that was a "fresh angus patty". It was perfectly uniform in both thickness and shape - i.e. a mass-produced frozen patty. The fries were average, nothing special. My companion had the wings, and did not have any complaints about them. Likely will not give this place a second chance. read more

Here's my review: http://coachsrant.com/dubuque-bar-reviews-mason-dixon/ It's a solid bar. One of the better ones in Dubuque.

Have visited a few times. Tired of being bullied by 'tough guy' bouncers who yell and scream nearing bar close. This place is one that takes the cake read more

Mason Dixon Saloon - The guy who wants me to eat shit and go outside after politely requesting a refund. And we were considering taking our wedding guests here.. - Sports Bars Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

I travel work all the time and have eaten at many places in many cities. The ribeye sandwich at this establishment is by far one of the best sandwiches you will eat in your life. I will never forget the sandwich. If you are in town, you owe it to yourself to eat this sandwich. read more

This has to be one of the WORST Bar experiences I have ever had. On a Saturday night the bartender downstairs was so awful service wise and left his post for a solid 20 minutes with no one at the bar. He even slugged a customer in the face over something that they didn't even start. If that is the kind of people they have serving their customers that is not good at all. read more

Went to Mason Dixon Saloon on a Sunday afternoon at 4:30 just in time for the smoked baby back rib special. The atmosphere was very nice, quaint like the corner bar in your old neighborhood. Service was great very pleasant young lady. Ordered drinks and appetizers they have a nice selection of beer. My wife and I split a rack of ribs and it was all we could eat. The ribs were done just right, nicely smoked with a pleasant rub and served with sauce on the side. All and all a great experience and hope to get back there the next time I am craving a good rack of ribs. read more

Friendly bartender. No draft beer. Special pulled pork sandwich had lot of bone chips. I'll not return.

Great BBQ sauce and great fries. Their Dixon Dice are really great and not spicy but just right. I have not had a bad meal there. I have eaten there several times and always nice friendly staff and great food. A definite must go. read more

Cool place with very clean decor, especially for Dubuque! I really enjoy the Southern style food & ambiance. I totally get what they were going for in the Southern 'Honky tonk' Roadhouse style, minus the trashiness usually associated with those places. I visited it a few times in my travels, and am amazed at the consistency of the quality of the food! I had one of the BEST Rubens ever there, and that says a lot as I've had these in numerous NYC delis. Also, I highly recommend the BBQ. Not sure if there is another place in Iowa, where you can get BBQ that good. Highly recommend a visit if you are in Dubuque! Just make sure if it is for food it is before 10pm as it turns into more of a bar at night. read more