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    Boulder Tap House

    3.8 (22 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

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    BOULDER TAP HOUSE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Happy hour specials
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Boulder Tap House

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    Trixie T.

    The food was amazing. The service was top notch excellent. Pepper jack cheese curds, uh yes please, if cheese curds are on the menu, I order them! Bourbon delish for sure! It was pretty busy, HUGE booths and the decor is pretty unique. I was taking pictures for this review. I was just snapping them, kind of randomly. I honestly spaced taking pics of the meal itself. Once in the car I started looking at the pictures and noticed the server. Thank god he wasn't my server. Just the thought of him touching everyone's glasses, straws, all of it. This is disgusting and completely unacceptable. No excuses. However, this did not affect MY food or service. I will definitely be back, but I promise he will not be my server. Did Covid not teach us anything about hygiene

    Sandwiches and Tacos
    Kirk M.

    The Boulder Tap House is new to Ankeny and we have been wanting to go try it out - so we used Mother's day weekend as that excuse! Walking in you can see the entire layout as the restaurant and bar area are wide open, airy and super clean as would be expected for a newly renovated and newly opened location. (previously this was an Old Chicago Pizza) The lighting and decorations are fun and tastefully done. We were greeted and seated quickly and Cali our waitress was prompt and friendly from beginning to end. Our party of 4 ordered drinks and dinner and we were happy with all of the selections we chose from the extensive menu. For drinks we tried the Boba Buzz Lemonade $9 which was light and tasty! (Fun and a huge straw) for the Boba) Mom ordered a Patron Margarita $13 which was well made and a perfectly flavored rocks margarita. I ordered the Boulder Old Fashioned $9 and it also was on point. For Food Mom and Kim both ordered a chicken pita sandwich (pictured) and it must have been on a specials menu that I did not get pictured. They both liked the soft pita bread, and although the chicken was tender and juicy they both commented on the fact that it was pretty plain and flavorless, while they did both enjoy the tasty coleslaw, the debate was on whether it was fresh made or came from a vendor... The other 2 of us ordered the Tequila Lime Chicken and Blackened Fish Tacos - respectively the chicken tacos were delicious and my fish tacos were very flavorful and with the added jalapeños I found them to be delightful and had the right amount of spicy. The side of rice was good and tasty, and my side of tortilla chips was a very generous in portion while the Pico De Gallo was a tiny little side dish...I wanted more. Overall we were very happy with the service and the meal. We will come back for more! Pro Tip - Join the Rewards program. I got $5 off the first visit, and earned another $7 off on my next visit already!

    Cheese curds; a couple are missing
    Mark O.

    I want to give this place a higher rating, but there's a vibe from the staff behind the bar that is off-putting and unfriendly. I get the vibe they don't like working class people in there and would rather have only people who make six figures dining at the restaurant. The staff behind the bar during Happy Hour seems reluctant to give out menus and seem reluctant to share information about specials. I've asked for ranch instead of their "Burger Co" sauce each time to go with my cheese curds and they've never brought it out on the first attempt. The aforementioned cheese curds are awesome and portioned generously at full price. Half price makes the deal even sweeter. The tap house potatoes are very tasty--the seasoning you can add on is unnecessary. I highly recommend these gems. Fresh fried and also portioned generously. Also, they have a lot of taps, but too many of them, in my opinion are dedicated to the same domestic crap you can get anywhere. I didn't experience any of the service issues at their Mason City location and was looking forward to becoming a regular when it was announced Boulder was visiting. The poor visit near opening day I wrote off to nerves and jitters. But two subsequent visits with perfunctory service have made me feel unwelcome and means my visits will only be on occasion.

    Tater keg
    Sara M.

    Jalapeño bacon cheddar wontons - not a whole lot of flavor. I wouldn't order again. Glazed & Confused burger - the donut added just the right amount of sweet to the salty and savory. Pepper jack cheese curds - again, not a whole lot of flavor in my opinion. They were big & we got 4 as a side. Brown sugar smoked cheddar burger - good flavored burger & bacon. Pretty good bbq sauce, asked for a side of it. Good portion size Tater kegs - got 4 with my burger, decent sized. They were okay, not a whole lot of flavor. Atmosphere- chilly, good music, good waitress. All the food came out hot & in a timely manner.

    Philly steak delish!
    Angie M.

    Went to the soft opening expecting long wait, slow service and blah food. Nope! Everything was top notch! The hostess staff, the waitresses, and food all amazing! The Petron and hot honey margaritas were the best I've ever had! Dangerous! Loved the curds and burgers. This might be our new happy hour spot! Lots of pickle flavor options also!

    Cheese curd burger
    Holly H.

    I really want to give this place a better review and as many who read what I post I find positives in my experiences. So let's begin with that. My party of 3 we're super excited to stop here to end what had been a beautiful day. We entered the restaurant at about 8 pm. My newly engaged daughter (hint why we were here) said this was her way to end the evening with her now fiancée (so happy to write that finally) to enjoy tab beer and some burgers. Our server came over to introduce himself, but I fully got the vibe he may be new. Ok I'm fine with that and give many a break as they are learning. I also sometimes give pointers to help them stay relaxed and build up confidence to serve ( it's a tough job, I know I have been there). Then there are the moments when you just know it's not that at all. My daughter had picked up on it as well as I did. It was apparently close to closing time for many of the servers. Ok let me get back to positives... we ordered some sodas, as well two drinks from the bar. I wanted to taste a cider and pint of a lemon cider, sorry can't remember the drinks. You'll understand soon why. Then we got an appetizer of cheese curds and man they were delicious and we got a surprise fried pickle and I ate that up yum! The dipping sauce was sweet but good may ask for a ranch next time. Then we ordered 3 burgers. 2 brown sugar burgers with different fries and 1 cheese curd burger. The burgers were delicious, mine I felt was a bit greasy but over all very good. The ranch flaved chips on point. So why the 2 stars right, service was so bad for is. This journey here began at 8:02 pm we walked out by 9:57 PM. Sample of cherry cider arrived, no other drinks, 15 minutes later sodas. The cheese curds were delvered at 8:57 pm, then our server comes back 15 minutes later to inform they have no more lemon beer on tab and that they that ended drink yesterday. He asked if he would like something else, which was declined and the server then asked if we enjoyed our food and can he get us anything else or just the check. My daughter spoke up and said um yes our food and hold the check. He disappeared. The worst part is he had our food earlier but I think he got confused by the cheese curds because I asked for small plates to eat our appetizer on as we were sharing it. Suggestion to management have small plates with appetizers. Then the servers were placing their food orders (management noted do not eat until your off the clock). Ok makes since, but their food was out before ours and placed after us. Our food finally arrived after 9:15 pm. It was delivered by another server who had no clue what the burgers were. So we told them what we ordered and we got our food. Almost done another server who was leaving saw we were calling for help by anyone and got our server for us Jackson your table needs yoy. Thank you to her we were able to get more sodas to finish our meal. The best part was he never asked how our food was. Then disappeared again. I caught him getting ready to vacuum the floor mats and he picked them up. Another server was like I think your table needs you. He was over and we ask for to go boxes, he the walks to get them and bring them to our table. He never washed his hands after rolling up the mats on the floor. Note food went to the garbage. My daughter was done and said don't you dare talk to him mom, you can see he is having a ruff night I just want to go home and enjoy the rest of our day prior to this experience. I said ok. The newly engaged couple got up to head out and I asked to see management. Oh boy that was another thing altogether as well. I don't know if they're here and um. I wrote on this poor kids check and asked another server to deliver it to the manager. So over all experience not good, food was good, but to my liking very greasy in which if I return may try a chicken wrap instead. My stomach didn't handle that much grease well later. Management should be notified immediately when you think your table is going south on you. This could have been a simple "I'm so sorry for the delay tonight, Jackson is on top of getting your food to you all here shortly!" Jackson you got this learn the check in and out to with your tables. Food hits the table check in, oh wonderful it all made it out and looks delicious, is there anything I can get you all at this time? Leave...check back by a simple walk by and see if drinks are low or even save room for dessert. With the drink situation make other suggestions on what kind of ciders taste do you like or looking for. If you have flights offer to have us sample one. Simple things help recover a table and help you as a server get a read on your guest. Our end time on my check 9:41 pm, over all I'm saying to others food good, place is clean, service needed help or maybe just don't go near 8 pm. Good luck to this place and I wish I could have joined the many others give 5 stars.

    Brown sugar bacon cheeseburger
    Bryanna M.

    I was invited to the training party during their dinner for Boulder Tap House - Ankeny ! How amazing they offered this to so many people - felt awesome to be included. My family is no stranger to Boulder Tap House as it is a MN based business and my husband and in laws are from there. We each got some drinks I had the cotton candy crush- it was pretty sweet and honestly delicious !! Then my husband tried their old fashioned he said it was good however a little watered down. The margaritas my mother in law and I had were fantastic. We both got the raspberry margarita. However mine was on the rocks and hers was blended. My husband got the Boulder raspberry lemonade (essentially vodka lemonade mixed). Now the food- we have always loved their food. We got the pretzel sticks to start served with their spicy queso. I am usually a litttle sensitive to cheese but they were fantastic!! So fluffy and just fantastic bread. Now I got the brown sugar bacon burger with sauted onions on it. Very good but also very messy. Their fries are SO crispy. My husband got the boulder smash burger which he loved. Then my mother in law got the cheese curd burger. Their cheese curds were huge and out of this world!! It was a fantastic experience. We cannot wait to come back this will be such a staple in Ankeny!

    Tap House Potatoes

    Steven S!! I've been in Iowa (expat from Texas) for 6 months and haven't been to a single restaurant that I could say I received even mediocre service at. I've worked in restaurants for 13 years and I'm not picky at all. He was excellent! Timely, knowledgeable, accommodating, and very friendly. We came during happy hour on a Thursday. Half-off appetizers so we ordered the boneless wings (not pictured), the cheese curds, and house potatoes. All amazing. Kids mac and cheese looks like Kraft, which is cool, just not our vibe. You can upgrade the drink to a shake for only 75 cents. I wish I'd gotten a picture because it was huge and very good! I wasn't a huge fan of my chicken sandwich, which I added buffalo sauce to. The bun was soggy, but it's a huge, moist sandwich with tomato, so it happens. Everything came out within minutes even though it was happy hour, and definitely dinner rush time. I will be back to try other stuff and will request Steven again! DISCLAIMER portions on appetizers are bigger than pictured, my phone didn't eat first this time!

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    3 months ago

    Great burger, atmosphere and service! Great selection of beers too. Great variety on menu.

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    4 months ago

    Good food and large portions. The cheese curds!!! Very busy the day I went at 1230 and so service a tad slow and food took forever

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    1 year ago

    Great food! Service is terrible. Had to go to hosts to ask for silverware and water, bartender/server never stopped back in.

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    Ask the Community - Boulder Tap House

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    Boulder Tap House - Ultimate Bacon Burger with Onion Rings

    Boulder Tap House

    3.5(132 reviews)
    22.3 mi
    $$

    We ventured into Boulder Tap House for a later dinner this past Sunday. Boulder Tap House appears…read moreto be a midwest chain with 11 locations throughout Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. It's amazing how many restaurants are closed on Sunday in Ames... Not much of a demand for Sunday dine-in business in a college town I guess...? Lol Fortunately Boulder Tap House is open from at least 1100 AM until 1000 PM every day of the week. Boulder Tap House sits just off of the Southeast corner of South Duff and East Lincoln Way. It has a large parking lot and it's easy to access. We were greeted right away when we walked in and shown to a booth. Seating is a mix of low and high top tables and chairs, booths, and standard stool seating around the bar. There are TONS of TVs around the dining room and bar; most of which had football games running on them. Our server was named Zach. He stopped by shortly after we were seated, introduced himself and dropped off menus etc., and took our drink orders (Pepsi products). He was back shortly with the first round of drinks and to take our food order. We ordered: 1x Unsweetened ice tea 1x Cherry Pepsi 1x Cheddar house made Boulder cheese cubes 1x Medium (12) order of wings with their honey BBQ sauce. Blue cheese on the side 1x Side salad with ranch dressing 1x Swicy burger and fries Zach was attentive and personable and provided good service the entire meal. He made sure to check on us several times and kept our drink glasses topped off. I HIGHLY recommend the cheese cubes! Choose cheddar, white cheddar, or pepper jack cheese. Served with Burger Co. sauce. The Burger Co. sauce reminded me of a spicy ranch. These things are HUGE. Each will take you at least two bites. They were hot and fresh right out of the fryer. I cut mine in half with a fork to make them more bite size... And to avoid 3rd degree burns from the molten cheese! Lol The wings were sauced well and cooked perfectly! Very good! The swicy burger is where I'm torn. I see other reviews of this burger and everyone really seems to like it. It tasted okay... But I feel like it's trying too hard. Here's how it's described on the menu: "A little bit of sweet and a little bit of spice. A 6oz Angus burger patty topped with ghost pepper jack cheese, fried jalapeños, spicy peach sauce, butter leaf lettuce, tomato and pickles. Served on a toasted bun." First of all there was no tomato or pickles on mine... I didn't request them to be held so I'm not sure what happened there. There was a piece of lettuce...it was entirely covered up by the patty. I didn't even know it was on there until I bit into it. I was okay with this. The beef didn't taste fresh to me. I grew up in a small rural Iowa town of 500 where my dad was the city maintenance man. His boss (the mayor) also ran the local meat locker... It tasted like an overcooked frozen patty. Though I believe Boulder Tap House advertises fresh ground chuck...never frozen...at a lot of their locations. I'm not sure how it's distributed to the Ames location. In any case the taste of the beef was overshadowed by the topping to the point it became a texture v. the focus of the sandwich. All of the burgers listed using the 6 oz Angus patty are advertised the same way. Very heavy on the specialty toppings... The regular burger on the menu is advertised as a 8 oz burger patty (not specifically Angus). Same with the Smashburger (two 4 oz patties). Maybe the patties on these two items are different quality? I took a small piece of the burger itself and it wasn't great. It had the taste you come to expect with frozen patties. It was just meh. It lacked the flavor of fresh beef. I expected better for a $16 burger and fry combo. I kind of felt like the last burger I got at a Chili's was better meat. Now the fries though... Lightly battered and then fried! Served hot. On the thinner side... But these were exceptionally good...! I'd probably avoid the burgers on any future trips to a Boulder Tap House. But that's just me! If you like the novelty of topping and don't care about the quality of the beef. You do you! And I could be wrong about the patty...that's just how it tasted to me. I would go back. However next time I'd stick to the appetizers, wings, or one of the other sandwiches! Our meal overall was good. Payment is done with your server at the table. Everything was reasonably priced. Zach was terrific!

    This place is casual and lively. When we walked in, I can smell the greasy air in the whole…read morerestaurant. We came for dinner with a group of coworkers and half of us didn't like the food. The servers got our orders wrong (we ordered bone in wings and they gave us boneless) and she took it back and have us waited for another 10 mins. My potato soup was horrible, looks like from bottom of the pot that we so thick that I could used a folk to scoop and tasted nothing like potato. The Caesar salad dressing was sour. The cheese curd was good but can't have more than 2. Overall, didn't like the food and experience.

    Photos
    Boulder Tap House - Bar

    Bar

    Boulder Tap House
    Boulder Tap House - Exterior building signage.

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    Exterior building signage.

    Who's on 1st - Fries-seasoned and sliced thin

    Who's on 1st

    3.3(33 reviews)
    2.2 mi

    We got here early to meet friends and grab a good seat for the live band. Sadly, the band ended up…read moresequestered in a closet-sized space on the main level since the wind made the rooftop off-limits. Bummer! The Service: We were eventually seated at a booth (the one with no working TVs), and while we were quickly greeted by Jennifer--who was our waitress for the night--we ended up waiting most of the evening for her to come back. We did get waters and drinks while waiting for our friends to arrive. Once they showed up, it took a little while to get the rest of our order in, but it all worked out in the end. They were very busy that night--between the Indiana Fever game, graduations, and a band crowd. Jennifer was hustling, along with her husband and one other waitress, trying to cover the whole place. So, while I can't (and won't) complain about the effort, they clearly needed more help to reach that 5-star level. Same goes for the bar--it was overwhelmed and absolutely needed more than one bartender to handle that crowd. Just a note for management: the team was working hard, but they were outnumbered. The Food: The kitchen was on the ball. Our appetizer of Brussels sprouts was delicious--great flavors, perfectly cooked--and they hit the table just moments before our entrees did. I had the jalapeño burger with the ridiculously long name (you'll know it when you see it), and added the $4 onion rings. The burger was fantastic--well made, full of flavor. The onion rings, while not quite worth the $4 upcharge as a side, were the crispiest onion rings I've ever had. Really good. Kim's wrap, on the other hand, was underwhelming--$14 for a tortilla shell mostly filled with lettuce and not much flavor. Our friends seemed happy with their meals and later ordered a bread pudding to share. We all had a sample, and while it was decent, it was definitely missing a sauce or something to make it pop. The Value: Our bill--1 appetizer, 2 meals, and 4 drinks--came to over $100 plus tip. (Now that I'm writing this, I kind of wish I'd looked at the receipt more closely.) Still, that seems to be the going rate for this kind of night out in the greater Des Moines area these days. Pro Tip: Try coming during happy hour to stretch your dollars a bit further.

    Boyfriend and I both ordered burgers and they were both good. Mine could have used more sauce, but…read morethe place was busy I never got the chance to ask for more before I was finished eating. We tried both the signature fries and the double batter fries. The double batter fries were my favorite, but both options are good. Service was good, but sometimes a little slow. We sat at the bar and they only had one bartender on a Friday night. It didn't bother us much since we were just hanging out watching football, but could be bothersome if you are in a in a rush. Good place to watch sports and have a burger and some beer.

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    Who's on 1st
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    Gameday - Cincinnati Chili

    Gameday

    4.4(40 reviews)
    7.8 mi

    A group of six of us met for happy hour on a fairly busy Wednesday evening. They have great food…read moreand drink specials during happy hour so we tried a number of different items. We had a few plates of the loaded nachos with chicken and with beef... They were heaped high and delicious. Plenty on each plate for two or three people. The meat additions are not discounted during happy hour, but even at full price with the half-price nachos it's a bargain. Others in our group got the quesadillas and we shared some deviled eggs. All of them are very tasty. We also got some cheese balls. They were pretty much the standard fair but also very good. Drinks are another great bargain during the happy hour with discounted beer and mixed drinks. All the drinks were very tasty. Our server was Bailey. She was very pleasant, fun, and enthusiastic. The food came out very quickly, and the drinks came off the bar in a very reasonable time as well. There is a large U-shaped bar and plenty of booth and table seating along with that outdoor patio. There is a 4% non-cash adjustment for using your credit card. Definitely a very discounted happy hour, but the food was delicious and I would try it again for happy hour or just for dinner

    It's a fun time for the kids. A little pricey for what you're doing. Fun time to watch a game or…read morehave some drinks. I haven't had any food so I can't give an opinion on that.

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    Gameday - Giant pretzel appetizer with cheese dipping sauce. Very good! Highly recommend

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    Carney Tap

    Carney Tap

    4.6(8 reviews)
    1.3 mi

    I went in one time and the bartender remembered my name. Kevin's always quick to greet you with a…read moresmile. The female bartender who comes in after him (don't remember her name, unfortunately) is also great and makes sure you're taken care of. The place looks like it would only have Budweiser and Busch Light on tap, but they have all kinds of craft options for very reasonable prices. This month, they have a very tasty beer from Boulevard called Easy Orange for only $4/pint. You're probably looking at $2-$3 more/pint at other places around Ankeny. I'd get there by 4PM, otherwise, you're going to be sitting at a table, not the bartop.

    I am pleased that this bar is here. It is a local stop and…read moreeveryone who goes here loves it. I am not a regular but we were stopping in to try something different. Small parking lot around what appears to be a house, but it's so much more. It's a dive bar. Multiple TVs had a golf tournament on but that didn't keep the conversations from being lively. Even we were greeted with smiles from the bartender. We bellied right up and made friends. She was so fun to talk to even while being worked hard with the busy crowd. We did discover that the name was changed to Careny Tap about 5 years ago, but there are still hits of the old name, and Google also had an old name on the map. We started a tab and they took a card or cash. We had a couple drinks and I loved watching the bartender work. My husband was very pleased with the beer options available. They had some beers that not a lot of places carry and I think he was so excited to find some unique ones she had to offer. We did not eat anything, but really like this place and its been here forever. I recommend.

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    Carney Tap - My next drink is on its way! Love this place!

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    My next drink is on its way! Love this place!

    Boulder Tap House - sportsbars - Updated May 2026

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