These Are the Winning Bars & Restaurants at Iowa City’s 2026 Top Chef Event

Top Chef: Downtown, an annual tasting event for foodies in Iowa City, was a huge success again this year! The sold-out 2026 event took place this week, and several local restaurants were recognized for their delicious dishes.

Participating Restaurants

Top Chef: Downtown was held at the Graduate by Hilton Iowa City on Monday, February 23rd. According to the event website, more than 25 different bars, restaurants, and coffee shops in Iowa City competed across the four different categories this year. The list includes:

• Baroncini Ristorante
• Basta Pizzeria Ristorante
• Bluebird Diner
• Bread Worthy Bakery
• CAMP
• Coa Cantina
• Donnelly’s Pub
• Gabe’s
• Get Fresh Cafe
• Kindred Coffee
• Le Crave
• Mammitas Coffee
• Masala Indian Cuisine
• Micky’s Irish Pub
• Midnight Coffee
• Paper Crane Ramen Shop & Cocktail Lounge
• Pullman Bar & Diner
• Quinton’s Bar and Deli
• ReUnion Brewery
• St. Burch Tavern
• The Stuffed Olive
• the Webster
• The Wedge Pizzeria
• Wilder at The Graduate by Hilton Iowa City
• Vue Rooftop
• Yotopia Frozen Yogurt

The Winners

At Top Chef: Downtown, the participating local businesses compete for votes from both a panel judges and event attendees. There are four categories, including Entrée, Dessert, Mixology, and Barista. Here are the winners chosen by the event's judges:

• Entrée
  1. the Webster - Winter Squash Soup
  2. Pullman Bar & Diner - Chicken Liver Mousse
  3. Paper Crane Ramen Shop & Cocktail Lounge - Shrimp Bun
• Dessert
  1. Bread Worthy Bakery - Chocolate Tahini Cake
• Mixology
  1. Get Fresh Cafe - Sunshine and Sprig
  2. Micky’s Irish Pub - Garden Party
• Barista
  1. Midnight Coffee - Ember & Root

Here are the official People's Choice winners, as chosen by the 500 attendees at the 2026 event:

• Entrée
  1. Wilder at The Graduate by Hilton Iowa City - Lumpia
  2. St. Burch Tavern - Tuna Crudo
  3. the Webster - Winter Squash Soup
• Dessert
  1. Yotopia Frozen Yogurt - Salty Toffee D'Oh
• Mixology
  1. Coa Cantina - El Tío ("The Dude")
  2. Quinton’s Bar and Deli - Capri Sun
• Barista
  1. Kindred Coffee - Lemon Crème Brûlatte

Congratulations to all of this year's winners at Top Chef: Downtown! If you're interested in other popular food events and festivals happening across the state of Iowa this year, you can check out a list HERE.

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