The Blind Pig expands to Monticello

The Blind Pig in Monticello, Iowa on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

The bar at the Blind Pig in Monticello, Iowa on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Pig trinkets at the Blind Pig in Monticello, Iowa on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

MONTICELLO — The Blind Pig has found its footing in a new town.

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 wasted no time embedding itself into Monticello’s main street.

How it happened

Since becoming a Cedar Rapids staple, owners Ryan and Megan Evans have expanded on a limited vision for The Blind Pig. When the 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 frequented here,” Megan Evans said. “It had sentimental value.”

The second floor of the 1860s building, previously home to two apartments, was gutted. The building’s original walls have been fortified with dry ice spray to stop crumbling, leaving the building’s native charm in tact.

Custom booths offer cozy seating on the first floor underneath copper ceiling tiles. From the second floor, diners have a bird’s-eye view of the old bar top’s train tracks — left from The Jitney, which was named after train lines — as well as the trinket-filled wall shelves cascading from the second floor’s ceiling to bottom of the lower floor.

Diners can be part of it, too. Anyone who brings in a pig tchotchke receives a free lunch.

While the Cedar Rapids location’s name started as a historical reference to the Prohibition Era, the Monticello location’s primary decor theme is a reference to the endearing “Piggy” nickname earned by the brand’s regulars over the 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 to restore the building’s second floor was a matter of necessity. Ryan initially was inspired to build multilevel booths like restaurants in Asia, where floor space can be extremely limited.

“We have to work off quantity, we’re not selling expensive items,” he said.

Ryan, 44, has worked in the service industry throughout his life, including well-established names in the region like Timmerman’s Supper Club in East Dubuque, Ill. He has owned Marion’s Cocktails & Co. since 2013.

Megan, a University of Northern Iowa grad, came to the industry by way of Granite City in Cedar Rapids and The Brown Bottle in Cedar Falls during college summers. She met Ryan at Cocktails & Co., where she was a server.

After working 11 years as a Four Oaks counselor, Megan joined the restaurant industry full-time to escape mental burnout.

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

The menu

The Pork Tenderloin at the Blind Pig in Monticello, Iowa on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Pork Nachos at the Blind Pig in Monticello, Iowa on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

The Pig Out Burger at the Blind Pig in Monticello, Iowa on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

With three pages, the Blind Pig’s Monticello menu is an abbreviated but strong curation of its Cedar Rapids menu.

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

Less common finds like funnel cake fries and fried 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 play on words, the menu has plenty of entrees with a wow factor to “pig out” on.

“Our thing is to pile a bunch of stuff on,” Megan said. “There’s quite a few options where it’s a lot of food — I think people like that. For the money we charge, we have big portions.”

The Pig Out Burger is topped with bacon, cheddar, barbecue pulled pork, onion tanglers and jalapeno aioli. The Pig Out Loin is piled high with cheddar cheese, onion, barbecue pulled pork and housemade slaw. Nachos are similarly stacked.

Don’t overlook the tenderloin, either. The Blind Pig’s tenderloin — soaked in buttermilk and seasonings and fried in a cracker breading — 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 large selection of beers and signature cocktails await. The sprawling menu, with seasonal pop-ups, was driven by inspiration from the couple’s trip to Ireland.

“That has progressed over the years,” Megan said. “I’ve been more interested in cocktails, because I like to drink them.”

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