Wilson's
Ciderhouse

Open for dine-in, take out, and local delivery.

Our Philosophy

We wanted to create a space to serve outstanding food alongside great cider. All inspired by the seasonal offerings of the food growing around us. Our eatery is located among the apple trees at Wilson’s, offering a one-of-a-kind dining experience in a two-story gable roofed barn.

Our menu is rooted in the ingredients that our farm partners and artisanal friends can provide to us. Or, on a whim as our kitchen staff sees fit.

Through meaningful relationships with local growers and makers, we source the majority of our key ingredients from local and sustainable farms and vendors located within 20 miles of our kitchen. Our dinner and brunch menus showcase ingredients harvested from one of the richest agricultural systems in the world.

Chef Matt Steigerwald

The kitchen at Wilson's Ciderhouse is headed by Chef Matt Steigerwald. Chef Steigerwald advocates local and organic food with a focus on the betterment of the community through mutually beneficial relationships with local farmers and producers.

In addition to praise from countless Iowa and midwestern publications, Steigerwald has received positive notices from wide-ranging media outlets, including the James Beard Foundation, the Travel Channel, the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Week Magazine, and O, The Oprah Magazine.

Steigerwald was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended the University of Northern Carolina at Chapel Hill. Early in his career he trained with iconic southern chef Ben Barker at his now-closed Magnolia Grill in Durham, North Carolina. He later went on to work as a chef at Vertigo in downtown Raleigh and Helen’s in Richmond, Virginia. Previously, Steigerwald was the chef and owner of the nationally lauded Lincoln Café and later the Lincoln Wine Bar in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

Century-Old Barn Lovingly Repurposed

Wilson’s Ciderhouse offers a unique, rural dining experience inside a century-old barn. The dining room and balcony patio share expansive views of Wilson's Farm & Orchard, offering a birds-eye view of the orchard throughout the year.

The barn itself was salvaged from a historic family farm, located just East of Iowa City. The structure was torn down and rebuilt board-by-board to construct what now houses our full-service restaurant.

The lower level event venue is also constructed from repurposed materials collected over the years from several area farms.

A Place to Gather

Our dining room can accommodate groups of up to 100 people. You may also request to reserve our patio which can accommodate groups of up to 60.

Large groups booking upstairs are able to customize their meal, pulling from the restaurant’s ever-changing dinner menu, and make selections from our extensive bar menu, which includes signature cocktails, classic cocktails, cider, beer, wine, and spirits.

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