"I went in because the door was wide open and heard some live music I did t want pizza because I wasn’t very hungry my server asked what do I have a taste for I told her a unique salad and some cheese bread. She said her boss made something just for me please go there and try them she blew me out he water with what she came out with!!"

"Went for my friends birthday dinner. Service was terrible, the waitress took forever and didn’t check on us frequently at all. She took half an hour to get back to us each time after leaving our table, and upon seeing our table realized that she had forgotten what she even came over to give us. We had to wait to order drinks which took forever to come out. Then when we finally ordered food an hour later, the food took another hour to get there. The waitress didn’t come over to us the whole time during the wait. My friend ordered a caprese salad as an appetizer, meaning she wanted it to be brought out early. This did not happen, and when it had been an hour and the food still wasnt out, we asked if the salads could come out early because we were starving. The waitress brought my other friends side salad but then brought another side salad for my friend that had ordered the large caprese salad. We told the waitress this was not what she ordered, and instead of apologizing and fixing it, she tried to argue with us that this was what she ordered. My friend was in the bathroom at this time, and on her way back to the table, the waitress accosted her and asked her if this was what she wanted or if she wanted a bigger version. My friend was confused; she didn’t order the side salad and didn’t want a bigger version of it, so she ended up just taking the side salad, even though we repeatedly said that it was the caprese. The food finally came out after an hour and a half of being there. The food was extremely mediocre; the meat was unevenly heated and the veggie burger was soggy. All of it was extremely basic and should not have taken over an hour to make. We asked for the checks right away because we knew it would take forever. The waitress finally brought them out and it was all wrong. She charged us all for fries that were supposed to be included, and she charged my friend for the full $13 caprese salad that she never received. We told the waitress, and she only took off half of the price of the salad because my friend had still taken the side salad. She also removed all of the fries. The side salad is normally only $4 and my friend ended up paying $7. The only thing that was good about this place was the live music, thank god for Fork in the Road and Deb for carrying us."

"I hadn’t been to The Sanctuary since the ownership change and it felt very different. When we walked in, the bartender was at the front with a group playing a punching bag game, which startled me. The bright lighting, music, and bar setup made it feel more like a cookie-cutter Iowa City dive sports bar than the dark, cozy spot I remember. The staff were friendly, but my featured old fashioned was basically just whiskey with ice and a maraschino cherry. Many people at the bar also seemed to be staff hanging out. I understand they are going for a new vibe, but I preferred the old Sanctuary and likely will not be back anytime soon. My visit was on 12/20/25 at 8:30 PM. My feedback is about the atmosphere and cocktails, not the staff or food."

"The server was perfect did an outstanding job. My pizza was disgusting the crust tasted like cardboard my husband's chicken salad was blah my son didn't comment on his cheese burger other then picking of his tomatoes & pickles he didn't want on it. The appetizer was superb mushrooms cauliflower onion rings."

"Oh dear, oh dear. Food: -My dining mate found an entire apple core in their grilled cheese sandwich. Not a cheeky little seed or an oddly cut slice. An entire. Apple. Core. -Potato soup: lukewarm, bland -Tomato soup: quite thick. Inordinately so. It is possible the recipe was wrong. -Loaded baked potato: came without two of the loads (sour cream and butter) and had a very odd, tangy flavor. Dug around and saw bleu cheese (or what I hoped was bleu cheese). Bleu cheese is not listed as an ingredient on the loaded baked potato description in the menu. -Side salad: iceberg lettuce and Hidden Valley Ranch. Service: Waiter was kind and tried his best. Corrected a mistaken order. Half of our party (7 total) received their dishes much, much, much later (20-30 odd minutes) than the other half. Salmon came out so late that the diner was offered fifty percent off the entree. When another dining mate pointed out the apple core in their sandwich, fifty percent was taken off that entree as well. Atmosphere: Very dark. Server apologized for the low lighting and explained the lamp fixture flickered so it was better to have them off. Will not return."