Monica's On Astor

We offer complimentary fresh-baked Sourdough and 7-Grain Wheat bread with every meal, served American style with cinnamon-honey butter AND Italian-style with our extra-virgin olive oil, cooked with herbs for great taste. We have a dining room with carpet and fine wood furniture as well as the main room that has tv s, which is actually more quiet than the dining room, unless the Hawks are playing! After the flood, this building was gutted and stood vacant for 17 months. We rented it and completely re-built it, with special thanks to our landlord, the Alan Saltzman family; his General Contractor Pat Barton; our General Contractor Randy Rempel; Neumann Monson Architects; Homewood Electric, Iowa City Plumbing; Krantz Painting; Pat Streeby Tile; and many of our incredible staff members for their sweat and toil. The expansion of our patio was beautfuly done by Earthworks Concrete & Landscaping and we love it. The fabulous Interior Design is by the equally fabulous Lyndsi Benjamin, now very successful in Chicago and a former server for us. The lighting, the grasscloth walls, the white subway tile and midnight grout in the baths…she did a truly amazing job with a very limited budget. Monica Meyer is the General Manager of Monicas. The restaurant is named for her simply because she is our heartbeat. Her dedication and sweetness are legendary and her competence is the main reason we do things well. She has great help here from Managers Lauren Johnson, Scott Cartwright, Nick Miller and Aaron Passow. It is truly a family, our staff. Our philosophy at both restaurants is Great Food, Served by Friends and I think you can tell that everybody working here enjoys our customers and the restaurant. I know I do! Ive been a practicing lawyer in Iowa City for 30 years and still do that every day, but I love helping out here too. We take reservations and encourage them for large groups especially. We also cater since we offer Free Delivery of the Entire Menu to addresses within 1