The Blind Pig expands to Monticello

MONTICELLO — The blind pig has found his home in a new city.

In May 2023 — about nine years after it debuted in Cedar Rapids — the bar and grill mainstay opened its second location.

With a new aesthetic, the expansion has quickly embedded itself into Monticello’s main street.

If you go

What: The blind pig

Address: 126 E. First St., Monticello

Opening hours: Monday and Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight; Sunday from 11am to 10pm. Kitchen closes 1 to 2 hours before closing time.

Telephone: (319) 844-1117

Website: blindpigmonticello.com

Details: Featuring pork tenderloins, burgers, hot sandwiches and other comfort foods, in addition to a full two-story bar in a historic 1860s building.

How it happened

Since becoming a Cedar Rapids staple, owners Ryan and Megan Evans have expanded a limited vision for The Blind Pig. When Jitney Wine Bar on East First Street closed, friends encouraged them to make the jump to Jones County.

“It was the building they grew up in. There had been bars or a restaurant here, and a lot of them had worked here or came here regularly,” Megan Evans said. “It had sentimental value.”

The second floor of the 1860 building, which previously housed two apartments, was gutted. The building’s original walls have been reinforced with dry ice spray to prevent them from crumbling, keeping the building’s original charm intact.

Custom-built booths offer cozy first-floor seating under copper ceiling tiles. From the second floor, diners have a panoramic view of the old bar’s train tracks (to the left of The Jitney, named after train lines) and of the trinket-filled wall shelves that run from the second floor ceiling to the bottom of the bar. the ground floor.

Dinners can also be part of that. Anyone who brings in a pork tchotchke gets a free lunch.

While the Cedar Rapids location’s name began as a historical reference to the Prohibition era, the Monticello location’s main decor theme is a reference to the endearing nickname “Piggy” that the brand’s regulars have acquired over the years. have had for years. Throughout the building, Edison light bulbs and other early 20th century aesthetics add a second layer to the design scheme.

“We have things here that represent Monticello,” Megan said – including a wall of The Great Jones County Fair acts over the years.

The idea of ​​restoring the second floor of the building was a matter of necessity. Ryan was initially inspired to build multi-level stands, like restaurants in Asia, where floor space can be extremely limited.

“We have to work on quantity, we don’t sell expensive items,” he said.

Ryan, 44, has worked in the service industry his entire life, including established names in the region such as Timmerman’s Supper Club in East Dubuque, Illinois. He has been the owner of Marion’s Cocktails & Co since 2013.

A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Megan entered the industry during college summers through Granite City in Cedar Rapids and The Brown Bottle in Cedar Falls. She met Ryan at Cocktails & Co., where she was a waitress.

After working as a Four Oaks consultant for 11 years, Megan turned to working full-time in the restaurant industry to escape mental burnout.

Since then, the couple has owned and sold Pedaler’s Fork in Cedar Rapids. They have that too two dive bars opened in Cedar Rapids, managed by Megan.

The menu

At three pages, Blind Pig’s Monticello menu is an abbreviated but powerful compilation of the Cedar Rapids menu.

“The heavy hitters are there: burgers, salads, pork tenderloins,” Megan said. “It’s nothing outrageous, but it’s always good and consistent.”

Less common finds like funnel cake fries and baked green beans stand out on the appetizer menu, alongside a strong showing of burgers and hot sandwiches.

Their signature Jacked Mac sauce, a spicy white nacho cheese with Monterrey and ghost peppers, can be found on chicken sandwiches, burgers, macaroni and cheese, and nachos.

And as fans of a good pun, the menu has plenty of entrees with a wow factor to enjoy.

“Our goal is to pile up a bunch of stuff,” Megan said. “There are quite a few options where it’s a lot of food, I think people like that. For the money we ask, we have large portions.”

The Pig Out Burger is topped with bacon, cheddar, barbecue pulled pork, onion anglers and jalapeno aioli. The Pig Out Loin is generously topped with cheddar cheese, onion, barbecue pulled pork and homemade slaw. Nachos are stacked the same way.

Don’t forget the tenderloin. The Blind Pig tenderloin – soaked in buttermilk and spices and fried in a cracker breadcrumb – was a top five contender in this year’s title for Iowa’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin from the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

The Monticello and Cedar Rapids locations sold 40 to 70 tenderloins per day during the competition.

To wash it down, a great selection of beers and signature cocktails await. The extensive menu, with seasonal pop-ups, was inspired by the couple’s trip to Ireland.

“That’s progressed over the years,” Megan said. “I’m more interested in cocktails because I enjoy drinking them.”

Notes: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or [email protected].