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St. Olaf Tavern

About Us

St. Olaf Tavern, is a quaint, rural bar & grill located in St. Olaf, Iowa along the beautiful Scenic Rivers & Bluffs Byways in Northeast Iowa. We offer a full-service bar and American style food, including our famous homemade hand-breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches, burgers, wraps and much more. We are open daily at 11 am, closed on Mondays. For some great tasting food and beverages, served with hometown friendly hospitality, make your next road trip to St. Olaf Tavern.

We have added a roof over our deck to enhance your outdoor dining experience at the St. Olaf Tavern.

Our Professional Associations

Iowa Restaurant Association
Clayton County Pork Producers

What We Offer

Our Specialties include:

Handmade Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
Outdoor Seating

Our Services include:

Full Service Bar
American Style Menu
Short Order
Open Deck Outdoor Seating
Large Patio for Entertainment
Back Party Room - Holds 28
Historic Building 1909
Scenic Location
Cornhole - Bags

Our Products include:

Homemade Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
Burgers
Wraps
Phillys
Homemade Onion Rings

Testimonials

On 9/27/2024 Jennifer Tigges had this to say:
Courteous professional staff. Clean, organized atmosphere. There are 4 different seating areas. They have a homemade ranch and a Carolina type yellow bbq sauce that is amazing! We of course had to have a pork T. Honestly, get the dang thing plain or load it up if you must. Great selection of beers. Even an N/A beer for my lunch. We had heard about this place and it definitely lives up to the destination trek. Go!

On 9/22/2024 Mike Rohan had this to say:
Saint Olaf Tavern in Saint Olaf, Iowa, is a hidden gem! Their homemade hand-breaded pork tenderloin sandwich is simply divine—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and bursting with flavor. The cozy atmosphere and friendly staff make it an enjoyable dining experience. Highly recommend for anyone craving comfort food!

On 9/4/2024 Ricki Parizek had this to say:
I am going to have to come clean about being a food critic, I am just not that critical. I lack discernment, I am simply too positive, liking almost everything. This was brought into sharp focus by the tenderloin at the St. Olaf Tavern. It was delicious, but then again, most of the pork tenderloin sandwiches I eat are. I get a lower quality one here or there, too thin, too much breading, etc. But overall, I always wolf down this particular sandwich with great gusto and delight. Like many Midwesterners, I have a particular affinity for the pork tenderloin sandwich (PTS? ‘loin?, let's go with ‘loin, it sounds less like a condition). I have been savoring the ‘loin since birth apparently, as I can't even remotely remember the first one, or a time when it wasn't a favored menu choice. So I feel we need to look further than the fundamentals. Yes, it was breaded properly. It was seasoned well, and it was fried expertly, the St. Olaf staff make a damn fine ‘loin. What then is there to discuss? Plenty. Not only have the cooks at this fine establishment honed their craft to produce an absolutely top shelf sandwich, but they make them in sizes! This is such a fine idea that I have a hard time believing that I have not come across it before in my long history with this legendary sammie. But it is true, at the St. Olaf Tavern, one can get three different sizes, a four oz, an eight oz, and a 16 oz. Always in the past, one gets one size of ‘loin, huge. The bigger the better seems to be the thinking of most sandwich makers. Look on any page or site devoted to this dish and you will see enormous sandwiches, like the size of a 10½ inch dinner plate (or in some cases the formidable charger which rings in at 14 inches). But a smaller sandwich? Perish the thought! How is one to enjoy such a massive sandwich if one isn't a competitive eater? I'll give you a clue, you can't. We all have our own strategies, eating nothing but the meat, chomping around the edges until, when one finally gets to the bun, and one is too full to continue. Or the popular method of cutting it into a bun-sized piece, leaving a troubling piece of ‘loin, as although it is enough for a second sandwich, does not reheat well. Splitting it between two diners, with a second bun, is also a much employed technique, but this partitioning seems like an inadequate fix, much like post-war Germany. There is no need for any of this if one dines at St. Olaf, pick the bun-sized 4 ouncer, and you have the perfect sandwich structure we all love, each bite encompassing both meat and bun. I'll admit another thing, I am a bit of an iconoclast in that I occasionally enjoy cheese on my 'loin, which I did on this occasion. Along with grilled onions, another departure that will make purists cringe. The sandwich was a delight, a perfectly made ‘loin, that fit the bun like a glove, topped with a lovely, melty square of peperjack cheese, and further embellished with onions that had been grilled to the perfect level of mellow caramel brown. I would love to say that I savored this masterpiece slowly, but of course, I did not. I also had a side of batter coated french fries, which I somehow still think of as being “new-fangled”. The fries were portioned properly as well, a reasonable helping and not some plateful more suited to a group. I enjoyed this pork tenderloin sandwich, which isn't surprising. I also finished it, which is. @RickiGoesOut

On 8/27/2024 Doug M. had this to say:
Great waiting staff! Very clean bar and eating area! Outside seating with very comfortable ceiling fans & plenty of open space for children & adults to have a great time ! Plenty of beers on tap & cold drinks! One of cleanest bar in the area!

On 8/25/2024 Axel H. had this to say:
I guess everyone agrees with me. The tenderloin is fantastic, as good or better than the best I've had elsewhere. Service is fast and friendly. Price is reasonable. Beautiful countryside surrounds it. Just great.

Contact Us

St. Olaf Tavern
106 S Main St St. Olaf, IA 52072
Phone: (563) 783-7723

Iowa Scenic Byway

Where To Find Us

Payment Types Accepted

Checks, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, Debit Cards

Our Hours

Holiday Hours May Vary. Please Call For Details.

Tuesday: 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday: 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday: 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday: 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM