By Lauren O’Machel
No matter the time of day, it’s happy hour every hour at Twelve01 Kitchen and Tap.
Twelve01 Kitchen and Tap is located in Coralville, connected to the Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn hotels.
While the location is central for hotel guests, one of the main goals of the restaurant is to become the first choice for all local residence, said Dave Davis, general manager of Twelve01 and both Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn.
“From the opening, we expect the interest to grow,” Davis said. “We want this to become a neighborhood destination facility whether you’re coming in for happy hour, breakfast or just a night out. We really have created a beautiful facility.”
Twelve01 has a focus on Iowa-brewed beer and fresh food he said.
“For one, we carry Iowa craft beer on tap,” Davis said. “We also carry premium wine that you can buy from the glass. Most restaurants only allow premium wines to be sold by the bottle, but we have found a system where you can buy them by the glass. And nothing is processed. It is all fresh.”
Twelve01 is housed in the former location of the closed River City Beefstro, and Davis said there have been many changes to the space.
“The décor and structure was outdated,” he said. “We’ve raised the floors, redid the whole structure, and completely remodeled it to make it streamline, modern, and cutting-edge.”
Davis said he couldn’t have been happier with the grand opening with hundreds of guests. He said the turnout was even better than what he could have asked for, and he hopes Twelve01 will serve as the No. 1 dining destination.
“We are going to make sure our service will never let down, update our menu with things that aren’t working, and get feedback from our guests,” Davis said.
Kinseth Hospitality Co., located in North Liberty, is responsible for Twelve01’s creation.
Bruce Kinseth, executive vice president of Kinseth Hospitality Company, said he is pleased with the turnout at Twelve01 and expects to see continued success.
“We want to keep things innovative and fresh and deliver good food and service to bring in local folks and hotel patrons,” Kinseth said. “If we can bring in hot food and creatively presented, I think we will do just fine.”
Emily Kurcera, creative marketing specialist for Kinseth, said the restaurant could entice locals.
“This is a new and modern restaurant for the community,” Kucera said. “We have a wine wall made entirely of wine bottles, premium wine system that preserves wine once it has already been opened and table-side guacamole that is made fresh at your table right in front of you.”
