Brothers Bar & Grill

Ok but the DJs are pretty bad

We have a Brothers Bar in Indianapolis that we like to visit — friendly, warm, inviting place for a good sandwich and chili and a game of pool.
This is not our Brothers. We were weary travelers, looking for an adult beverage near the Sheraton — which, by the way, does not have a bar or decent restaurant. That’s another story.
It was a chilly night, but the doors of the place were open, sending a blast of cold air into the nearly vacant bar. They refused to close the doors and told us we could go looking for a spot in the back of the bar. We should have walked out then.
On a cold, wet evening, they said they had no coffee drinks, so I asked for tea and was informed they had no hot drinks at all. Again, we should have walked out, but our group was trying to get that adult beverage before going to hear music at the Folk Alliance Region Midwest meeting.
So, we tried another round of twenty questions as to drinks they did serve. My husband ordered a dry manhattan with an olive — she looked puzzled, we should have known better. It looked like she wrote it down, but my husband ended up, despite careful explanation, being served a regular manhattan with a cherry.
The service was very slow and incompetent. I had to ask twice for napkins. The quesadilla was basically cheese and tortilla, and practically inedible.
Sometimes, you think that chain stores are all alike — and then you try the Iowa City Brothers Restaurant and Bar.

This is the place to go in IC for cheap booze. Great during the summer but full of bros during the semester. The staff is great, though. And the bar food is acceptable.
Seriously, though, this is a great place to go on game days to enjoy the spirit of Hawkeye football if you aren’t at the game. Or, should I say the spirit of the Hawkeye football indoor tailgate. Either way, it’s a fun party atmosphere on game day and you need to go once to enjoy the party.

Happy hour is amazing. Can’t beat the booze and beer prices. Bartenders are great and music is on point! Patio is fabulous!!!

Pretty stereotypical college bar. Not usually busy until 8:30, then packed until bar close. The staff does alright with what they have. They checkup every now and then. Thursday nights can get pretty crazy with Mug Club. They’re pretty strict on wristbands too if you’re younger looking.

A moment of silence for all of the tragic victims that have ever eaten food at this establishment. They lure you in with an attractive sale; only 25cent wings on Wednesday nights, which sounds skeptical to begin with but you can’t help to try it at least once in your lifetime. This decision will be the worst one in your life. The first bite will be average at its best. Afterwards the temperature will continue to drop with every bite you take, which they try to mask with a swimming pool of sauce. You will continue to eat and lie to yourself saying it’s good, until you’re finished eating when you finally admit that you made a mistake. This epiphany is immediately followed by the worst stomach ache you will ever feel in your life. Then you will return home and sob while clenching your stomach huddled up in the fetal position knowing in minutes you’re gonna spend the most horrifying hours in the bathroom.

My office was nice enough to order everyone pizza for lunch, it was kind of like an employee appreciation type day. The only problem was the food that was ordered at 11:20 for a lunch that supposed to be served at noon didn’t arrive until nearly 1 hour later! We ordered four extra larger pizzas. I understand it’ take a while to make pizza, but we gave them a 40 minute heads up and they said they could be ready at noon. Delivery wasn’t a problem since we worked right next door, literally a 50 ft walk from their front doors to our doors.
Noon rolls around, and sure enough there was no pizza. So our receptionist calls Brothers to find out that there cook came in a half our late and so they are just now getting the pizza going, but no need to worry they will be rushed and in by 12:30. Annoyed we agree to wait until 12:30. When 12:30 rolls around, to no surprise there was no pizza. receptionist calls again. They say they are backed up but will have it to us as soon as possible. The Pizza finally arrives just before 1 o clock. which gave us very little time to eat because we had a meeting to prepare for at 1:30.

I don’t know why they said they could full fill the ordered pizzas if their cook wasn’t even in the kitchen when we called the first time, or promised us pizza by 12:30 when they weren’t even close to ready by 12:30 Overall Pizza we just OK nothing great and this in’t the first time I have been burned by Brothers.
With all the great options around the Ped Mall in Iowa City, avoid Brothers unless you like long waits for just mediocre food.

What a dump. You will love this place if you like 19 year old sloppy and wasted college kids and obnoxious staff.

I’ve gotten so smashed at this place. awesome to be in if you just wanna get out but I’mnot a fan of being squished like sardines somewhere. The floors are infested with urine

I’ve been to this place a few times. The best time was when I came to visit before the students arrived in town. This one time the only good thing I could say was the staff were all very nice to my mother and I.
Every other time has been busy, loud, and full of typical, rude college bros. Bad music, sub-​par food & drinks. If I’m going to be paying for mediocre drinks I at least want an interesting/​comfortable atmosphere.

A typical college bar, Brother’s is an okay place to hang out on the patio and have a drink if you can come at an off time, or when college kids have mostly left, otherwise forget about this place. The place is packed beyond belief from Thursday until Saturday and you’ll have trouble even making it to the bar for a drink. Once you get that drink, you may or may not get what you ordered and chances are you’ll pay too much for a bad drink made with bottom of the barrel booze. The only exception to this is Mug Night (Thursday), when you pay $ 5 for a mug that gets refills for a dollar (even on future visits). Overall this place is way too crowded to be very fun and attracts a lot of underage people, so if you look young, don’t be surprised if the police (who make regular visits to the place every night) stop you and ask for ID. Even when I went there over 21, it still put me off a little to be eyed suspiciously and approached by police looking to catch me doing something wrong.

Loud, crowded, bad food.

This is one of the busiest bar in Iowa City. This is the only bar that’s always packed with people when other bars are dead after the 21 rule.
There’s a nice outdoor patio seating area that overlooks the pedmall. During game days the TVs are setup on the patio.
For specials, wing night on Wednesday is an amazing deal, the wings are 15 cents each. They are delicious. Wings here are meaty and tender, there’s a couple of different sauces you can choose from but i love the original buffalo sauce here. There’s usually a long line for the wings on Wednesday, so grab a drink and enjoy your buzz while you wait.
Thursday mug night is a must if you are in Iowa City. $ 5 for the mug (one time purchase) and it’s $ 1 a drink thereafter. You can bring the mug back every Thursday and only pay $ 1 for the drink/​refill. It gets crazy here on Thursday nights. Always a blast.
Brothers Bar is a corporate chain, they adhere to higher standards and are more structured than shady locally owned bars. Brothers bar is def worth the visit when you are downtown Iowa City.

The only positive thing I have to say is they have a dance floor. Other than that, i think I will pass on Brother’s from now on.

Welcome to the douchebag zoo. Even has an outdoor cage area so you can feed the animals from a safe distance.

music wasnt that good, and small dance floor but theres pool, nice bartenders/​waitresses

One thing stood out from this place and that is… the dance floor looks like a boxing ring without the bright lights.
I see how this place can be liked if you are hyped up to party like a rockstar and are feeling so fly like a G6 (Gulfstream jet that flys at speeds of .90 and want to do it right gettin slizzard.
But man by 1:00am I couldn’t take all the Bumpin and Grinding going on. especially because the Bumper and the Grinder looked like he was a 80 year old out of the American Me movie. SO Gangsta!

Great drink specials! I was in Iowa for a wedding and the Indiana University flag got me to walk in.

The best mainstream bar in Iowa City. Great place for college students to go if they are looking for a good time.

Really nice big bar&grill. I went for 10 cent wings, dollar miller high life bottles and miller lite cups. They have 2 pool tables, outdoor area, dance floor and good size bar. Lots of tv’s posted around as well. Seemed like a decent crowd as well for a Wednesday night. Spicy wings&hawaiian bbq both delicious. I spent maybe 6 $ and had a great time.