Bread Garden Market

Address:	225 S Linn St, Iowa City, IA 52240, USA
Phone:	+1 319-354-4246
Site:	breadgardenmarket.com
Rating:	4.3
Working:	6:30AM–10PM 6:30AM–10PM 6:30AM–10PM 6:30AM–10PM 6:30AM–10PM 6:30AM–10PM 6:30AM–10PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 11

Anonymous User

My friend and I dine at the Bread Garden at least 2 or 3 times per week and really enjoy the experience. The food is fresh and delicious. We each get a container of salad bar items. Total for both combined is about $6 to $7. After paying we each get a couple slices of the complimentary bread. Its a good deal if you are careful to watch the weight as well as the types of items you enjoy. Otherwise, you can rack up quite a bill! The salad bar pasta items (such as homemade tortellini salad or antipasto) are exquisite. My personal opinion is that their antipasto salad is better than sex. Also, make sure and try their signature creamy "Tuscan Tomato Soup". Its been around along time and is a wonderful recipe! The quality of the food is so far and above most other places that even just a small portion is ever so satisfying. Parking is off-street and the staff monitors the lot so that parking is always available for customers (though it is in the heart of the University of Iowa campus area). Enjoy! This is truly of Iowa Citys hidden treasures. Its well worth a nine mile drive just for lunch!

Matt Uhlman

The Bread Garden is one of the places you need to stop by to experience. The place has got some hippie flare, but doesnt cross the line that says, you cant shower if you shop here. Theyve got an incredible selection of cheeses, some great beers and a fantastic wine selection. Its not quite up to the level of Johns Grocery, but its about as close as you can come while remaining outside the hallowed beer laden hall of Johns. The folks here are very nice and always helpful when were looking for something a little out of the ordinary. Theyve got good coffee and plenty of outdoor seating for those study filled days or when youre just looking to chillax on the ped mall. Overall, its a good place to grab more specialized items and has less of a selection than the co-ops in town. Not a place to go when youre looking to get good deals on things to feed a large group with, but worth going to when youre looking to grab a couple lesser known beers and some strong cheese.

Kelsie Smock

One of my long time favorites in Iowa City. I frequently grab a fresh salad or a bowl of soup from the buffet and am very rarely disappointed. Plus any buffet purchase comes with free bread, and who doesnt love free bread!? Along with their buffet, they now offer delicious grill items. Each week day features a $4 option from the grill. These are all delicious and great for dinning on a budget! Along with their prepared food Bread Garden is also a great local market. Their best items are their house made products such as fresh pasta, hand churned ice cream, and delicious baked goods! This place is a great stop if your near Iowa City. You especially dont want to miss it in the summer months when you can enjoy their outdoor patio located right in the heart of downtown!

Susan Poole

What a fun, unexpected treasure! Grocery, bakery, deli, restaurant all in one! A little pricey for groceries, but their breads are works of art and reasonably priced. Lots of choices for lunch from buffet sold by weight, to soups, to specials of the day. I had the salmon patty, and an orange. The patty was surprisingly cold, but delicious, and the orange expensive (about 90 cents) but also delicious. Great spot with lots of light to sit and eat with an eclectic mix of business people in expensive suits, to street workers in their gear, to students, to a homeless man enjoying a gifted meal. Fascinating! Highly recommend!

Andrea Jensen

I live in Ann Arbor and have family in the IC area. We come back to town regularly and stay at Vetro. A BIG part of our fun is going to the Bread Garden for groceries and pastries and the huge fantastic dough nuts they make. We love the cheese and wine selection, too. My family thinks that Bread Garden is a wonderful place for nice service and great food. We are not aware of anything like it anywhere so IC, make sure you appreciate what you have! Well take the Bread Garden in Ann Arbor whenever they want to move to town. For now, I cannot wait for my next visit to IC, to Verro and to Bread Garden. Go Hawks BTW.

Philip Huang

Quality, whole-foods-esque, pricey though. Visited here during orientation for grad school with 20 of my fellow classmates, and ate at their food bar. They charge by weight, and there are some solid options interspersed among foods you know they are just hoping youll go for (mac n cheese can only get so fancy). Lots of healthy options though, and definitely a great place to go for a quick meal. Location is also great, and plenty of patio seating. Lots of great drinks on sale too (the grocery aspect has a great selection). I ended up getting a Fentimans ginger beer - one of my all time favorite beverages.

Hiroto Daisa

I normally dont write comment to judge local business at all unless I have experienced the worst. I dine at bread garden quite often due to its relatively healthy food. Ive experienced flies at their food bar, Ive experienced stale kale. Ive experience their dirty silverware. However today, I had the worst corn & zucchini from its cold bar. It literally tastes like wash detergent. There arent many options to pick in Iowa City except cooking by yourself. I wish we IC could have a Whole Foods here.

Anonymous User

From an insider: The bread (obviously is good), soup is OK, buffet is bad except for breakfast on sat and sun. It is a positive change for Iowa City to have a blatant whole foods rip off. The New Pioneer Coop would be better suited to the location, but they are not dumb enough to run a grocery store in the ground flour of Iowa Citys most expensive high rise/hotel! In conclusion unless its Sat or Sun morning go to the New Pioneer Food Co-op 22 S. Van Buren St. Iowa City

Anonymous User

Used to be our favorite place to shop for the best groceries in town, but lately have not been happy with the selection (meat choices are slim) or the service. Over the past couple of years we have been very good customers. Today we were scolded by an employee for parking, picking something up next door to the store, even though we did spend a good deal of money in the store. Needless to say, we are thinking about switching and will start shopping at the co-op instead.

Frank Ruiz

Complete store with some nice natural food. Theyre like a small version of a wholefoods. Their coffee is decent and they also have some n8ce breads and pastries. They sell a lot of local brands and food from the surrounding area farms. Prices are reasonable but some things are expensive. Ive never had the prepared foods but the restaurant part is always full. You can sit outside or inside

Anonymous User

The Bread Garden Market has a wide array of fresh, organic foods that can be hard to find. In addition to that, the market is comparably affordable. Almost as good as Trader Joes - for those of you who long for brighter California skies. Really awesome, you should definitely check it out. There is a parking lot for the store just past it too, next to the Hotel Vetro.