Recently, some close friends, my wife and I drove over to Dubuque for a weekend getaway. We love…read morefarm-to-table restaurant concepts and in-city dining, so we thought Convivium would be an ideal spot to have breakfast on our first day in town. As great as this place could (if not should) be, it will never reach it's potential with the lousy customer service that we experienced. Why do I say this? Read on Yelper. We arrive for breakfast around 9:45 am on Saturday. There was a little bit of a line, which is to be expected at any well known breakfast/brunch establishment, right? The young lady working the register asked if we wanted to pick a table outside, handed us four menus and told us that someone would be out there to help us shortly. We sat at an empty, yet still dirty with plates from the last customers, table that was in the shade. Annnnnd we waited. As staff came out to attend to other customers sitting in the same patio area, the four of us sat there waiting for water, coffee, a smile... heck even an acknowledgement that we were there would have been nice. Seriously, if the Invisible Man was real and sitting at the table, he probably would have had a better chance of being noticed by the servers working that morning. We ended up busing our own table because no staff would bother to do it - I'm very serious. Nearly 20 minutes pass. As another couple comes into the patio, sits down and gets near immediate service with their drink orders, we had it! We entered the restaurant to find out what the problem is for such terrible service?!? The tall, head service member (did not catch her name) had an attitude for sure with her question "Did one of us seat you?" and we answered that "No, your host teammate told us to grab the table." She damn near rolled her eyes. Finally, lightening struck... someone showed up to give us water, wipe the table, and take our order. But don't get your hopes up that this was the end of bad service. Regrettably, it was not. We waited nearly 25 more minutes to get our order of eggs, potatoes, bacon, and sausage. Tough order for a breakfast place, don'tcha think? Out comes the food... without utensils to eat with. 4 mins of watching your food get cold motivated us to good inside and get our own utensils. As we did, the head member walks out with the items. Now - let's shift to the one positive part of the experience and that of course is the food. To show you that I am a reasonable reviewer, I will tell you that the meal was very tasty, cooked to order, and satisfying (especially when you're starving!). When I said at the beginning that this place can be great, the food is the reason why. After a Friday night of fun, a place like Convivium is just what you want for a Saturday breakfast before an afternoon of NCAA College Football - you know what I mean? But until management decides to hold the staff accountable for this terrible customer service, Convivium will be closed in less than 5 years (my prediction). Read some of the other reviews... we share the same general opinion. And this is coming from someone that values restaurant concepts like this one. Get it together before its too late, Convivium.

What a disappointment. Yelp usually leads me to amazing spots, but this was a fail…read more I loved the concept and the cool vibe of the place but the food and the service were lacking the same luster. My dad, sister, and I stopped in on a Sunday afternoon. My sister enjoyed her chicken pesto panini but Dad found his pulled pork to be dry and bland. I ordered broccoli cheese soup with sourdough toast. The soup was absolutely disgusting. It was so thick, overcooked, and tasted like it had been on a back burner for three days straight. Not to be gross, but it looked like congealed dog vomit. When I mentioned to our server, she was very condescending. I would like to try again and hopefully it was just a tough day.

New management has made this place a great choice for any event. Its accommodating to any requests…read more Out in the country but close to town. Available to be seen most times. The décor is charming in the lower level and simple on upper level, matches any theme. Being able to choose any caterer and not have gratuity is a plus.

I am very Very disappointed in the professional organization of this business. Not only did they…read morereserve the wrong year for my event, but had I not emailed them 10 days before my wedding, I would not have known until 5 days before. They booked the wrong year, and hadn't even noticed their own mistake. I spent lots of emotions trying to find somewhere else to hold our reception. After finding a venue, I then spent oodles of money on stationary AND postage, AGAIN to let our guests know the place had changed. Sincerely, Very VERY upset and disappointed customer/ client

I had the perfect wedding at this venue. The owner, Mary Ellen Hill, was very easy to work with and…read morewe emailed frequently. She always tried to keep us up to date on what was happening and coordinated parking, setup, put up all our chairs, and even gave us a very heartfelt tour of the gardens. The day of the wedding was a beautifully sunny day (it was yesterday!). Everything was perfect. I really have nothing to say about the location that's negative. She knew what she was doing and her hard work is seen with how beautiful the gardens are kept. She does tea and snacks on Saturdays, and I may stop by with my mom. I definitely recommend this location as one of the best Iowa City can offer for outdoor venues! She also can have a reception at the location too (though my fiance and I didn't choose to because we had a reception venue lined up anyway).

Amazing gardens! What wonderful place to visit. Never knew such a place existed right here in our…read moreown community.

Highly recommend this venue. It is gorgeous and the owners are so nice and accommodating. Thank…read moreyou to The Oakland Mill in Maquoketa, Iowa for a wonderful time and hosting our annual Holiday Office Party.

We had my Son / Daughter-in-law wedding there and they did an outstanding job. The venue was…read moregorgeous and well taken care of. we were very happy with the Wedding and Reception

Came here for a mystery dinner. It was a great place. Beautiful venue for a wedding or event…read more The staff was friendly and the facility was accommodating with lots of roo. I give them extra kudos for plenty of rest rooms.

This place is great small town Iowa. It is a former closed down school that they have converted…read moreinto a ball room and party hall. They took the old school gym and converted it. The old basketball court area is the dance floor area and the wood flooring is in good shape. They also have a lot of seating off the wood floor to hold a bunch of people. The bar is fully stocked, has two tvs and a popcorn maker.

Such a wonderful opportunity for business, but lacking in so many areas. On a recent trip to…read moreDubuque, we stopped for breakfast at the Millwork Bread Company. They are located in Millwork Marketplace, a gorgeous old renovated brick building downtown. Upon arriving, we asked where were all their breads. They announced they didn't have any. The truck had not made its delivery and they had no idea why. The place seemed very poorly managed. Not to take away from the young ladies that waited on us. We sat at the bar, next to a disgruntled gentleman who asked us if we were going to have breakfast. We said yes, and he mumbled under his breath, "Poor excuse for a restaurant." We decided to brave it anyway. They offer fresh squeezed juices, which they prepare every day. We couldn't decide, so she offered to let us sample. They were refreshing. We decided to order breakfast and forgo the juice. I ordered the basic eggs, toast, hash browns and sausage. My friend ordered an omelet with a side of bacon. Her bacon was thick cut and severely over cooked. The omelet was small with not many veggies. My sausage was probably the best I have ever had. Everything else was good, except, we asked for butter and all they had was butter flavored spread. A "bread company" with no bread or real butter? Odd. I grabbed a salt shaker from the nearby table as there were none at the bar and it was stuck inside the shaker like concrete. Upon examining the rest at the other tables, I saw the waitress take them all back to be washed. The bearded cook in the back looked like he hated his life. The girls talked about how their hours had been cut. There was a coffee bar with quite possibly an employees backpack on it. Hopefully they find their stride, because it's a gorgeous building. Get some real butter in there and some actual specialty breads.

Vast open spaces of characters around the millwork marketplace comfy leather furniture in the…read morecorner for visiting with a drink from one of the adjoining bars or eateries. Quaint little things in the marketplace it's more the location representing the nostalgia and building then the wares. Trendy place decent amount of people passing through even on a cool white winter Thursday night would love to stop in on Friday or Saturday to really get the full impression