Iowa City’s Wilson’s Orchard & Farm is toasting to a new era in 2025 with the closure of its restaurant.
Wilson’s Orchard announced on Facebook on Monday, Dec. 30, that it will be closing its restaurant and reimagining the upper level of its Ciderhouse into a second private-event venue.
“This change will allow us to better serve the growing demand for our event bookings, and to host more of our popular ticketed events such as our Full Moon Dinners,” the business said in a news release. “Please note that our kitchens will remain committed to sourcing local, high-quality ingredients and scratch cooking. Both venues will now offer all-inclusive service and in-house catering by our awesome events team.”
Orchard owner Paul Rasch and his family noted that the decision to change came from “drawing on lessons learned from our Des Moines Ciderhouse.”
In April 2024, Wilson’s Orchard opened its second location in Cumming, about 20 minutes away from Downtown Des Moines, a part of the Middlebrook agrihood. The Cumming location features the same amenities as the Iowa City location, such as you-pick and prepicked apples, berries, and flowers, a market, bakery, and a private event center.
What to expect from Wilson’s Orchard
In 2025, Wilson’s Orchard's Iowa City location will be expanding the infrastructure around the Farm Market, which, according to the business, will streamline the guest experience by consolidating all of the public amenities into one central location and improving parking and traffic flow.
As a part of the change, Wilson’s will start hosting events in the new space in February, and all previously booked downstairs events, like weddings, will not be affected by the change.
The upper-level venue will allow Wilson’s Orchard to host multiple events on popular dates, which opens up many dates that previously were unavailable, according to the release.
The upper-level venue has an indoor capacity of 60-plus and a patio capacity of 60. In the news release, Wilson’s suggested uses of the upper venue include birthdays, weddings and baby showers, rehearsal dinners, cocktail parties and cocktail hours for weddings, holiday parties, family reunions and gatherings, workshops, and other celebrations.
“We’ll be able to comfortably accommodate smaller parties in the upstairs space, where the downstairs venue previously felt oversized,” Wilson’s said.
The lower-level event venue has a capacity of 225 and is an ideal space for larger events, like wedding ceremonies and receptions.
A lasting legacy in Iowa City
Wilson’s Orchard, located at 4823 Dingleberry Road, has been a Johnson County mainstay since the mid-’80s. The 145-acre property was purchased by Robert (Chug) and Joyce Wilson, who were searching for a scenic spot to build an orchard, planting more than 100 different apple varieties to find the best-tasting apples. The orchard was opened to the public in 1985, offering a you-pick experience and selling baked goods like apple pies and turnovers made from excess yields.
Paul Raasch and his wife Sara Goering took up ownership duties when they bought the orchard in 2009 and added the Ciderhouse and event venue, expanding the orchard's offerings.
“We deeply appreciate the support of all who have visited and dined with us at Rapid Creek Cidery and Wilson’s Ciderhouse over the years, and we look forward to sharing more details about our plans for the future," Wilson's said. "In the meantime, visitors will still be able to enjoy a variety of dining options at our farm by visiting our Farm Market and Pizza Shack or by booking our ticketed dinners."
Wilson’s Orchard is open year-round, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_.