IOWA CITY — Just like food trucks, mobile bar services are increasingly popular for weddings, reunions and other parties in Iowa.
The Tipsy Traveler’s, a mobile bar service out of Keota that started in 2022, now provides alcohol service at about 100 gigs a year, Owner Megan Libe said.
“We are booked every weekend,” she said. “I never thought it would be where it is today.”
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors April 24 approved liquor licenses for Tipsy Traveler’s and Wheely Boozy, a Davenport-based bar service, to serve alcohol at events at the Celebration Farm, west of Highway 1 between Iowa City and Solon.
Celebration Farm, which opened in 2011 and has a double round bar, an amphitheater and a timber frame barn available to rent, does not serve alcohol. Instead, guests who reserve the spaces must get a license themselves or hire a vendor with a liquor license.
To get a license, applicants must file with the state Alcoholic Beverages Division and the county or city where the event will be held. Because Celebration Farm is in an unincorporated area, the application goes to Johnson County, Deputy Auditor Eric VanLancker said.
Some of the other venues to get liquor licenses from Johnson County are Bobbers Grill, on Coralville Lake; Wildwood Saloon, east of Iowa City; and the Sutliff General Store, near Lisbon, Van-Lancker said.
Johnson County Supervisor Jon Green got married at Celebration Farm, but he didn’t need a liquor license because he purchased alcohol for the event at John’s Grocery in Iowa City, making it an open bar. The license is required only if the event includes selling alcohol.
Now that he’s supervisor, such license approvals are pretty routine, Green said.
It starts with whether the sheriff has enforcement actions against the applicant for infractions like serving minors to fights at the establishment. The applicant also must have dramshop insurance, which covers liability from alcohol sales.
“I can’t think of a liquor license application in my almost four years on the board that the board has denied without such a recommendation from either the sheriff or auditor,” Green said. “Frankly, I can’t think of one that we denied anyway.”
Applying for the state and county licenses takes 30 to 45 days, Libe said.
Many people planning events and parties choose to outsource this process to contracted bartenders, who then have the responsibility of checking IDs and cutting off people who have had too much to drink.
“It’s nice not to have a friend or family member stuck behind the bar,” VanLancker said.
The Tipsy Traveler’s specializes in weddings, corporate functions, and private gatherings, according to its website. They are best known for their renovated horse trailer bar, which they’ve taken to events across the state.
The company offers a range of service pack- ages designed to meet different needs and budgets. The “On the Rocks” package, starting at $475, includes up to eight hours of beer, wine, and seltzer service, with clients supplying their own beverages. It covers one licensed bartender, insurance, event planning assistance, and travel within 80 miles of Keota.
Wheely Boozy, which has a trailer bar available to rent, says on its website “When we wheel in, let the party begin!”
Food and beverage trucks are a fast-growing restaurant concept, with the industry valued at $1.16 billion in 2021 and expected to grow more than 6 percent per year through 2030, according to Grandview Research, a market research firm based in California.
Millennial and Gen Z diners are particularly interested in gourmet foods and unique dining experiences, which feeds the demand for the more than 35,000 food and beverage trucks in the nation in 2021, Grandview reported.
Food trucks are also cheaper than brick-and- mortar restaurants. After three years with Tipsy Traveler’s, which now has 10 employees, Libe said she plans to open a restaurant and bar in Washington this summer.
Ben Klein, Avery Arens, Reece Dolezal, T.J. Hall, and Jackson Miles contributed to this report.