Reviews of Jimmy Jack's Rib Shack - Iowa City (Restaurant)

Kayla Stevenson

Good food and sauce selection. Bit pricey.

Danielle Thomson

Great food. Nice Employees.

Thomas Witte

This is a great place to taste the smoke in the meat. I had the chicken it was delicious.

Johnny Taylor

This is the place to go for pulled pork in Iowa City. While their smoked sausage and ribs are good, their pulled pork topped with their Chicago Fire sauce steals the show. They also have a smoked portobello sandwich that I plan on trying the next time I’m in Iowa City. Sounds intriguing. A delicious menu of sandwiches and plates of your standard smoked meats (brisket, pork, chicken and ribs). Chose a sandwich that was a combination of pulled pork, chicken and brisket bathed in their traditional sauce. It was delicious, the meat was tender and the sauce was slightly smokey, slightly spicy and sweet. Every meal plate comes with a piece of cornbread brushed with honey that was the perfect end of my meal.

Aaron Fields

My wife used to work for this company. I absolutely love the quality of the food, and I love the quality ingredients. The owners are good people and the staff at this location are usually particularly friendly. The one college aged gal that helped me out the other day was a total rockstar. One of my top 10 places to eat locally for sure

NICOLE MATT

Great love the pickles dont get rid of them!

James Floyd

Good Ribs!!!...would go back!!

Joe Pecinovsky

Best barbeque in the area. Lots of choices for sauces, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu.

Kasey O'Kelly

I had high expectations for a 17.00 lunch but they exceeded them. Great meal. Couldn’t finish everything and they were fast and friendly. Been there a couple times and has always been very good.

Greg Michael

Good food. Limited seating and small entry means lines. Worth the wait

Jennifer Johnston

Delicious fatty brisket. Good selection of sauce. Try the mustard sauce

Iona Miller

Very good. I love this place. I would.eat here every day

Sally Wentz

Fabulous outstanding food and service! My husband and I live two hours away, and will definitely make the trip down again ! If y'all love ribs with all the fixings #jimmyjacksribshack

Geoffrey

Great food, nice ambiance and owners that care and serve you

Jen Quick

Our family met here today for lunch. We loved the food, the atmosphere and the personal conversation with Jack about the tools on the walls. Great place to eat! Scott & Jen Quick

Rev. Cooper

Smokey deliciousness

Kyle Miller

Food is amazing, 2 things I would like to see: - Bring back 4 alarm sauce, it was the best BBQ sauce ever made - Prices are going up, not stopping in as much because if it. But you do have a great reputation of BBQ, so the price is justified (reason why I still give them 5 stars)

Jose Jimenez

Good food, good portions, delicious sauces. That's a great start. My most recent trip out was a take-out run for dinner. It worked out fabulously. They have new specials all the time and I have to say I like the things they come up with. I had a jerk chicken sandwich. I don't often think to cook with pineapple myself, but the sandwich came together very well: jerk spiced chicken with pepper jack cheese and a slice of pineapple. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it. They have their standards which are wonderful, but don't be shy about trying the specials. Definitely worthwhile.

Lu Hileman

Always delicious pulled pork!!!!

Ben Smith

15 dollar lunch, but food is killer

Ashley Bunting

Great smoked meats, best fries in town. Awesome service. Get the fatty beef; if you order the skinny beef you're doing it wrong... No point to sacrifice a lot of flavor for a few calories. Also, great deals on catering services.

C. Michael Lowery

Great food!! Great music!

Kea Shaw

This place is AMAZING. Food was fabulous and so was service.

Kevin Crawford

Great food. I will say that the fatty brisket meal was amazing. I'm only giving three stars because I received some of the worst service I've ever experienced. We order, my meal is not brought out with my workers meal. I assume it's on the way. After 10 minutes I notify the cashier and have to tell her what I ordered. She tells me sorry it'll be on its way. After 10 more min I still haven't gotten my order (everyone else in the place seems to have their food). I go back to the counter and have to tell her again what I ordered. It comes out 5 min after that. All I get from the gal is a sheepish "sorry." My business depends on good customer experience. If I was this laissez faire in the event of a mishap, I'd be lucky to keep the doors open. No more food should've gone out until mine was on the table. I hope this review helps provoke a new protocol for issues like this. Having said all this I'll go back and give it another shot someday.

Richard Wildhirt

Excellent! Great and generous meat, delicious beans and coleslaw, and very good sauces. Cornbread is a little dry, but still tasty. Needs a microbrew or two.

Allison Crawford

It was a very tasty sandwich but it was expensive I thought for a lunch meal.

Andrew Massie

My wife and I shared a serving of ribs at this place and it was excellent dining with many options we really enjoyed it.

Tyler Kelly

Great food and is always busy

Tom Altman

Very good BBQ, they have a nice selection of sauces which you can add when your meal comes. They have a great pulled pork. I bumped my rating to a 5, went today for lunch and they employees were great too. Great service.

Jay Dean

Best BBQ in town.

David Honts

Great ribs and sauces. Many too choose from. Excellent honey cornbread.

Meshia Showwwnte

Good food love the new mac n cheese very tasty

Carol Forestier

Not impressed. Quantity of food for price is very good. However were it not for sauces, meat was bland. No smokey flavor or seasoning

jon Rogers

Good food.

Matt Leighton

Phenomenal food and awesome service!

Mary Witte

A little disappointed this visit Food was not hot. Took carry out ,live 5 blocks from the restaurant, got home and sandwich was lukewarm. Had to microwave it. BUT the fries were, and the corn bread was fantastic as always.

Adam Heywood

This is a great place, and this is the first time I've been here. The building from the outside looked great and the interior of the place promoted a country family atmosphere. We had pulled pork, chicken, pork n' beans, Mack n' cheese, and corn bread; every bit of it was outstanding tasting.

Samantha reysack

Great food good prices good service

Mark Green

Wonderful Service. Enjoy it.

Gail Krebs

Over the top amazing. I never cared much for BBQ food, but decided to try a pulled pork sandwich and was hooked. Whenever to make a run to Kolona IA we stop over for dinner....i buy extra pickles to take home.

Matthew schmitt

Have been coming to Jimmy Jack's for years, it's a fun place to eat and the food is fantastic. Lot of sauce options that are all great.

Cori Adkison

Absolute best BBQ in southeast Iowa. Great food, friendly staff, good prices and fun atmosphere

queennici102

Yummy but expensive

M&S McGrew

Well let me tell you all about Jimmy Jacks!!!!!! Their service is always great! Their food is the best I have ever had around this area for bbq! I can't drive by and not stop and get a Fatty Brisket sandwich! If you don't feel like cooking just drop on by and let them take care of the rest. Thank you Jimmy Jacks for being so close to my house. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing.

Stephanie Timm

Friendly staff and great food

Brian Daggett

Good fun but not good portion sizes

shawn knepp

Good stuff. The pulled pork is great. The environment is calm and inviting. I love the corn bread. Just had another great experience at this place. Ow did I mention the fries? Well they are the best in Iowa city by far. Hands down the best. I absolutely love the picture and things on the walls. Clean clean clean. This place is clean top to bottom.

Grant Poock

Damn good BBQ for Iowa! Cozy place, so if there's more than six of you, just be aware. Not sure if the cornbread recipe changed, but sides of honey would always be welcome!

kevin glick

The food is great from the top of the menu to the bottom. My mother is Celiac and and has to eat gluten free. Jimmy Jacks always has options for her and she has never had an issue here. Can't recommend this place any more than I do!

Dade Altman

If you want to get some real good barbaque then this is the place.

tyler snelling

Pretty good flavors in the meat, coleslaw a little bland, tasty cornbread. Little small on meat portion for sandwich. They do have a really nice patio.

Kevin Fleming

Had the "full fat" (should be full flavor) brisket sandwich with bean and slaw as sides. GREAT MEAL!!! The brisket literally melted in my mouth and the flavor was incredible. The selection of sauces is very nice as well. If you're in Iowa City, you owe it to yourself to grab a meal there. Can't wait to go back band try the smoked chicken wings!

Shawna Wahl

Very good food.....will be a must stop when we visit!

Chris Weinard

Great food. Plain, simple and plentiful!

Jeff Backlund

If you have a chance to go here do not skip it. I have been all over trying lots of BBQ. This is top of the heap. Although the corn bread kinda sucks...

Herkey1

Had a pulled pork sandwich at the downtown location today, wasn't impressed but wasn't bad either it was a three star sandwich. New place looked nice, friendly staff and quick at lunchtime. Just wish the pork had better or more flavor, had decent selection of sauces though.

Shaun Spiegel

The original location is always the best we love it and always will.

Thomas Emerick

The food is excellent l ordered burnt end salad w blue cheese, grandson ribs and granddaughter pulled pork. Portions were very good. Reason for only 4 stars was inside seating were stools with no back rest. When weaty permits we eat outside

Capital M

The ribs tasted pretty good. However, I became quite ill about a day after eating it. I am not sure if it was a bad batch or what, but I will not be going back.

Julie Berry

Been a fan of Jimmy Jack’s since y’all opened- ALWAYS WONDERFUL! Y’all need to bottle those great sauces, jar up those amazing pickles & bring back the Alabama White Sauce on the regular!

Candace Noble

Great bbq!! Love the sauces, the slaw, and especially the beans!

Mark Tully

Amazing as always, the fries were sooo good tonight. A++

Doug Smith

Very good food....glad we stopped

Tim Masterson

Great flavor!

Diane Slaughter

Love the sauce in love the ribs!s you can't go wrong.

Phil Steffensmeier

Great BBQ! Needs no sauce, but there are plenty of choices.

Cassandra Benoit

I ordered to go food, I had to return it as my chicken was way undercooked, and raw. The service was good, but, I will not be returning to eat there.

Amelia Akers

I simply love this restaurant. The BBQ sauces are fantastic and the establishment is clean. The service is quick too!

Rodrigo Medina

It's weird. So, you go in and right away theres a counter and a menu in front of you. You gotta order and pay first, then go sit down, and they'll bring the food to you. I've never seen this approach take place, but it works I guess. Anyway, overall service was pretty nice and the staff was friendlyish.

Heriberto Martinez

What's not to love about an Iowa City classic? I'll never forget my first time i ate Jimmy Jack's. I was in college meeting a friend for some lunch and he decided on Jimmy Jack's, he was buying, so I had no problems with that, haha. He guides me in my order and tells me I have to have the fries for the Carolina mustard sauce. I tried the sauce and was in love, to this day, the Carolina mustard sauce is still hard to beat! They also have 4 or 5 barbecue sauces each with their own unique flavor for your pleasure. They recently opened up in North liberty location, and a location downtown Iowa City, both of which I have yet to try, but if they maintain the high quality of the original location, you have nothing to worry about!

Johan Zioka

I really enjoyed my ribs and fries, fast service.

Alex Steele

I would highly recommend this place! They have some of the best BBQ in the area! The food is always well cooked and tastes amazing. The atmosphere is very unique too, making it one of my favorite places to eat.

brian campbell

The food here is fantastic, they do not skimp you on portions,customer friendly,relaxing atmosphere. Will not leave here hungry.

Joey Lande

Great food quick service

David Haas

We had Jimmy Jack’s for the first time last Saturday after finishing RAGBRAI. We ordered three slabs of ribs, 2 pounds of pulled pork, beans, slaw and cornbread for seven people and it was fantastic! I can’t wait to make it down to Iowa City again just for the BBQ. Now I am a Hawkeye fan and a Jimmy Jack’s fan!

Brian Spranger

Excellent BBQ! Truely loved it

Todd Seemann

Best BBQ I've had in Iowa yet.

Michael

Our favorite BBQ. Whenever we are on the East side we stop. The fatty brisket is my favorite. They have 5 or so different sauces which we have fun sampling (only one of them changes but it's still fun). For sides I would go with fries/beans/a cookie. They do eat in or carry-out, and the servers have always been wonderful. They are very promt at picking up after guests leave, and their tables are quite clean. We let our toddler eat straight off of them without even hesitating.

Brandon Smith

Fatty brisket sandwich is the bomb.

Jerri R

Best BBQ in town as well as the Corridor.

Braden Waddick

Great ribs, and side (beans, fries, and coleslaw) all excellent. Highly recommend!

Jane L Lange

A little off the freeway but WAY worth the drive and price! Excellent service! Food was plentiful and fantastic! Quick meal when traveling! Best barbecue ever! Thank you!

Jue Hu

I like the bread and Chicago Chili. The pork sliced meat is ok.

Nick Gonzalez

The best BBQ in Iowa, if not the entire country. The fatty brisket sandwich is a must try.

Jackie Jensen

Great food and a wide variety of sauces available to satisfy everyone's taste. Sides run a little small in our opinion. Our family likes to order it to-go - it's always ready fast and the quality is always good!

JD Oldfield

Used to be good, I used to come here a lot. They changed the Carolina Mustard sauce or they let it go bad. Meal ruined, I will not be back. Also noticed the owner only comments on positive reviews and just to say thanks.

Christine Grothe

I am never ever disappointed here. The slabs, the pulled pork, the fries, the honey cornbread. You can't go wrong. The food here is delicious. It's a must have in Iowa City. I would share a picture but I ate it.

Jessie Hills

This place is so good! Mouth watering meals along with delicious sides. Excellent sauce choices. My family will be back soon!

Lyndon Zimmerman

Amazing bbq for a good price! The ribs and fatty brisket sandwich were tops! Very fast and friendly service!

cybil145

I wish there were more stars. Those ribs were done right. Everything was well prepared and delicious. The staff are incredible. And co-owner Jack definitely is passionate about his vision! Go eat here. The perfect bbq made right at amazing prices!

Roxeann Ford

I had the skinny brisket with coleslaw and potato chips. The sandwich was very good but the coleslaw was salty.

Colleen S

Besides the amazing food, I have had experienced excellent customer service. Each cashier has always been cheerfully helpful. The manager happily helped me with a change to my catering order, too. Love the care they have taken to add plants and flowers around the building.

Becky Yauk

Good food great atmosphere

Brad Ausman

Best BBQ I have found 100 miles around. Stop in and sample their wares you won't be sorry. Several sauce choices and the Cornbread or Fries and phenomenal. For those and desire it, the portabella mushroom sandwich is surprisingly good for a place known for their meat products. :)

Lane Wooder

Great ribs, pork, brisket. Big selection of sauces. The cornbread was good and slaw is okay. A definite 4 star place and I will return. It would get a 5th star if it got more sides, that has been the big difference between the BBQ I had down south and local E. Iowa places. Southerners love some mac-and-cheese and greens (collard, turnip, etc). Not only do these compliment every southern BBQ joint but also any soul food or meat-and-three. You want the perfect compliment for corn bread? Its greens! PLEASE local BBQ folks, get some greens on your menu and some mac!

Jesse Halter

Always fresh and great tasting food food fast service and have yet to mess up an order all round a great place to eat

Laura Birely

Love this place! The food is amazing!

Roxanne Rucinski

Food was excellent and my entire family including teenagers ate well and loved everything! Like with any rib place it is a little bit expensive so you couldn't afford to eat here every day. Loved the atmosphere!!!

Christina Diaz

Didn't like the food or how small the setting was they had really good sauces the only food that was good was the frys food was cold everyone there was friendly thats why i gave it a 3 other wise it would be a 2

Justin Malone

Great flavor with fast friendly service

Marc Jeter

Great food & excellent service!

Timothy Heydt

The fatty brisket melts in your mouth, it is smoked, but right before serving is set on the charcoal grill to add additional flavor. The ribs are also top notch and sauces interesting. Go here!

cheryl haezebroeck

Very yummy food!!!

Jedediah Hacker

Original location, excellent food with great friendly service, generous servings and I highly recommend the ice cream sandwiches.

Bailey Mendenhall

Amazing food! My family was so happy to find the place

Ed Gruenwald

Go for the ribs and stay for more ribs. Well, stay for the great service. Ribs are nicely seasoned and we're brought to the table surprisingly quick. Fries are crunchy and excellent with the variety of sauces. I believe ribs should stand on their own without the need for sauce. These ribs meet that test. Quick story about the service, bratty kids knocked over their fries, server without prompting brought more fries and cleaned their mess. This does not mean you should bring your brats, just that the staff cares about your dining experience. Well done.

mike kalbach

First time here and glad we stopped. Good food, and amazing portions. Had to take some home.

Angela Kenna

Meals are good quality in a pleasant atmosphere. On this specific visit, the bbq pork was very dry and tough. I used to love the food there. Hoping it was just an off day.

melissa morris

Great food great service!

Gino Montalbano

It's a tasty barbecue ribs restaurant. They serve cold beer.

Ben Cool

Best bbq joint around, food's good, music is good, atmosphere is good. Their sauces are excellent. The supreme and the sausage sandwiches are great. I love the fries. The crowd is varied and well balanced. Great spot for a sturdy lunch or dinner. Please bring back the smoked chicken, my mom misses it.

Kittie_el_fantazmo Bulsara

Sooooo good, it reminds me of my Grandma's house on a Sunday afternoon and the decor is perfect as well. We'll definitely be returning every time we're in town:)

Brandon Baines

To bland, more flavor this place be top notch for Eastern Iowa. Otherwise great family din in.

Mary Reese

Delicious bar-b-que and good corn bread

wsad ahh

Great service, great foods!

Brian Czech

Was super delicious

Patrick W. Deegan

I think this place counts as an Iowa City landmark by now. The meats are excellent. Sometimes you might get a slightly dry rib, it happens to the best; then you sauce it. The house sauces are also very good, from their original to the habanero and even their rotating limited edition (leaning towards KC style). The honey corn bread is sweet, the slaw standard, beans beanie, and excellent fries. Canned beer or fountain soda pop, our fruit juice boxes. Limited inside seating usually means a cozy dining experience, but it never seems to be a problem to find a spot. Service is typically good and efficient. You'll find everyone in town comes here.

Ray M

Started going here because of the ribs, but the smoked chicken dinner is now my go-to. My wife loves their hugemungous cookies and their honey-topped cornbread is outstanding! (I love that it's included in every dinner option!) If you're lucky enough to be there when they're featuring their apple barbecue sauce, you HAVE to get it!

Leah Jesse

Haven't found a better BBQ place in the area!

Gordon Hawkins

Great Barbecue.

Perry Coffman

I try not to post negative reviews but I was quite disappointed in the food and the prices. I got a half rack of rib and half chicken plus sides. I thought the meat was undercooked. The chicken still had lots of pink areas and the ribs meat had to be knawed off the bones. I took about half the meal home and it was far better after reheating. The slaw was mild in flavor, ok but not great. The beans were pretty mild tasting as well with no meat pieces in it. Was much better when BBQ sauce was added. Several sauces to choose from. Their traditional sauce was good and the spicy was hotter than most; but overall disappointing; no combination of sweet and spicy like I had expected froma KC style place. Didn't try the mustard sauce. Their prices were higher than I paid at some of the premium Kansas City BBQ places which are known nationally. When I went in and saw an almost exclusively minority staff, I had high hopes for great BBQ. I drove nearly an hour to get there because it was supposed to be one of the best places in Iowa. Won't do that again. Next time I will go to Famous Dave's in Cedar Falls instead.

Antoniog Govea

Awsome

Travis Minar

Awesome pulled pork!

John Furlong

Great place! I had pulled pork and my wife had smoked chicken, both excellent! One of the owners helped us and then stopped to check on food. Made our meal really an excellent experience. Will be back!

Jeff Schuster

We have been coming here for years and it has never been a disappointment!

John

Staff was very courteous. I got the lean brisket sandwich. It was just OK. The sauce, the one with Chicago in the name was fantastic, at first. I had pretty bad indigestion for the rest of the day. I don't normally get indigestion, very rarely. I'm pretty sure it was the sauce. I don't eat breakfast, this was lunch, so I was on an empty stomach before this. The place seemed cleaned, and service was quick. Maybe the brisket wasn't their specialty or maybe because I got it lean?

SCHAMLAIN gathright

Very good food.

Yohann Whitelocke

Ribs were awesome! Sandwiches were delicious! Sides were good too! My first visit was very good, I’d go back for more if I lived closer!

Colin Mcclelland

First time eating BBQ ribs in the USA so my expectations where high however whiles the restaurant if you can call it that had a very deep south feel the food let's say didn't need a take home box

Frank Ruiz

Wow!!! The ribs are amazing, the sauces are just great and the fries and beans make for the perfect sides. The restaurant is nicely decorated it feels inviting. The, all male staff, were nice and attentive and the prices are reasonable for the taste and quality of the food, will definitely come back.

Rick Pelechek

Good service, great fries, good selection of sauces for the sandwiches.

Prophet Livingood

Don't eat Greasy Food unless you want to Catch a STROKE & DIE !

Tina Huff

Best bbq I've had

duane eash

Great place for BBQ. Everything good, pork, beans, fries and cornbread. Nice sauce selection. Always a plus to have a very clean restaurant also Thanks for the great service

John Oldham

One of the finger licking gooood places to eat. Will definitely be back ribs are just right

aaron gerbo

I used to work here and I loved the food. They deliver to the customer perfectly. The guys running the show put their ideas together and execute perfectly. Food is consistent and delicious. I think currently they have the best wings in Iowa. Prove me wrong. I've seen the operation from behind the scenes and have also been a customer. This place is very on top of their stuff. They for sure deserve a 5 star rating. Sounds like they are expanding this location as well as opening a new location. I'm a wing head...Their wings are very well smoked juicy and large. Homemade sauces well done everything about this wing is delicious.

Denny Verry

Food was delicious as always. And they were slow enough at 3pm on a Sunday to accomodate our large group of 14 at a single "table".

Jonathan Neuzil

Baby-back ribs are an over the top way of saying IM HUNGRY! You'll definitely be satisfied by the half chicken. There is a portobello burger for those who aren't into meat. Located next to Kirkwood Community College and Oral-B. The brain doesn't run on gobs of protein, but your belly will definitely be sending some warm fuzzy feelings after a rack of these baby-back.

Katy Brown

The best BBQ in the area. Excellent for catering and very gluten free friendly menu. Take out is excellent, for one or for a crowd.

Kobi Reese

Jimmy Jack's Rib joint is on Point!! Ribs are smoked perfectly here! I love visiting here when I'm in town. Stopped by to grab a bite after getting a fresh haircut. Haven't been here in a year. But everytime I visit, the ribs are Banging baby!! U gotta get to Jimmy Jack's Rib Shack. U will love em!! It keeps u coming back for more. The menu is Great with other items such Chicken, brisket and pulled pork sandwiches! Mmmm...check em out.. you'll see.

Steven Edwards

Awesome bbq, fatty brisket sandwhich

Jim & Janet Ross

Great BBQ, good ambiance, real blues music on the sound system

Melissa Staples

We didnt eat the BBQ, just stopped for a cold drink on a hot afternoon. We will definitely go back- the smells from the kitchen were amazing, staff was friendly, and the restaurant was very clean.

Michael Clark

The fatty brisket sandwich was out of this world. There was not a lot of fat either. Very good flavor!!! I can see why they have won some awards!

J Hill

Love this place! Great tasting BBQ! Several sauces to choose from. The staff and atmosphere is awesome! I live in Cedar Rapids and come here pretty regularly!

Brandon Helmuth

Best place in town for ribs!

Deb Tokheim

Best french fries in the whole world! I used to love dipping them in the mustard sauce. But they must have changed ingredients in the mustard sauce because it's not nearly as good as it used to be.