While in Des Moines talking with the locals, they suggested Carl's Place. They explained that it…read morewas an absolute dive bar, but a great one to visit and one not to pass up while in Des Moines. So, naturally, my friend and I gravitated to Carl's. The outside of the bar isn't labeled, so if you didn't know where it was, you might miss it. We were there at the height of the early afternoon in July and the sun was out in full force. When you walk into the bar, you wouldn't know what time of day or night it is, there aren't any windows to really shine the light through. You definitely get the "dive bar" experience. The bar itself appears a little older, but the patrons and the bartenders were bar none! It was a great bunch of people just there to hang out and enjoy the day. The bar has a small stage that has live music during the weeks. None while we were there, but heard it's pretty good! They had darts and there three different "sections" within the bar. We only had a few drinks but it was well worth the stop! I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Awesome dive bar. Cheap beer, great live band, sketchy bathrooms. What else can you ask for? We…read morealways have a great time here.

Great place for a beer and to watch the game. Locals kinda place with a decent beer selection and…read morea comfortable feel to the place.

It's a dive bar, a friendly dive bar. I had heard their specialty was drinks made from fresh…read moresqueezed oranges and grapefruit, which was true. It's sort of an odd location, feels like it's in the parking lot of Fareway. There's a decent sized amount of outdoor seating, but it was too late in the year for that to be open.

Got punched in the face and spat on but the brunette old lady bartender was more determined to make…read moreme leave for asking why the woman wasn't removed. Great karaoke and then all hell broke loose. 50% of staff were wonderful and the other half lost their tempers big time. Pressed charges, so let's see if the regular they were protecting continues to be supported by staff.

Cattoor's is a nice laid back bar. The bartender was working hard behind the bar and still was…read morevery friendly. I went there to meet a friend for meat bingo......yes you read that correctly......they play bingo for raw meat! The drinks were reasonably priced. Happy hour is two for one. The bartender will give you a token for your "two for one" that you can use whenever. For bingo they do only allow you to play one card and they only play five rounds. It was fun.....I mean how do you go wrong with bingo for raw meat

Had an opportunity to venture in on a Sunday (No Food Service) to review the minimalist bar food…read moremenu should I return since I do not partake in libations. The food choices were very limited $$, but there was an array of beers, wines, cocktails, and an assortment of other mixed libations. The decor is like a bar dive if liquor is your main thing. As a non drinker -- nothing stiffer than a Dr. Pepper-- this would not be my vibe, but may be yours if all you want is a solid selection of creative and mainstay libations from a very friendly bartender whose primary purpose was to please all who entered -- this tipsy topsy environment ( Like TV Cheers) -- then this may be the place for you.

There is nothing worse than sitting at a bar, during happy hour and having the bartender working…read moredirectly in front of you and not speaking, not making eye contact and completely ignoring you. He was short in his response when I asked about food and basically told me no, and I was angry when another group was served food. The space is cool and has an awesome atmosphere but dang, first impressions matter. There was 3 of us and the one who recommended it said that service can be questionable at times. Tonight was one of those times. Bummer. And it's loud so be ready to shout a bit.

It's been a while since we were here last, so it was time to check it out. We came in during happy…read morehour and there were several people there. We were hoping they had a pinball machine, but they had several other games to choose from instead. We were especially happy that the 2 for 1 happy hour was still a promotion. And we could use our freebie on the same purchase or they would give us a poker chip to redeem our drink later. Love that flexibility!

Little surprised that there were only 5 people inside on a Friday night after 10 pm. The bar was…read moreclean but the regulars definitely had a sense of entitlement and were intrusive to our conversation. Definitely glad we were a group of 3. Short stay.

Amazing bar. Shannon is the greatest bar manager. Bruce is the most down to earth bar owner. Debbie…read moreis an AMAZING bartender. Pool table. Juke box. Best happy hour from 4-6. They show all the games.

While the bartenders were kind, the manager was ridiculously rude. Being a CNA, I kindly…read morevolunteered to clean up a patron's vomit. Unfortunately, after doing all of that, one of the managers was very unwelcoming. She was rude to my friends who were quietly playing pool, and when addressed about her attitude, she did not apologize. It is upsetting to have such a good time ruined by an immature manager!

Always a favorite! Would love it if they would open earlier. They are still in COVID hours. Too…read moremany times we skip them and go somewhere else because we are up early and don't want to wait till 8am.

It is a delightful small town dive bar. The staff are friendly and the patrons and very friendly…read more I felt like I knew everyone and they were old friends within minutes of sitting down. Loved the vibe and it was Uber relaxed and casual. If you are looking for a fun small town bar experience this is for you!'n

4.8* (out of 5) Food: 4* Atmosphere: 5* Value: 5*…read more Service: 5* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $40 05/08/2026 Our primary reason for stopping by tonight was to update information at www.happyhourdesmoines.com. We ended up quite impressed with the value and our server, Kelbe was fantastic - offering great suggestions off of the Happy Hour menu! Overall, this is a top-tier venue for your next Happy Hour trip (especially once they get the rooftop opened)! To share as much as we could about their Happy Hour, we sampled as many food dishes as we could comfortably eat, with all of them being solid options that we would order again. We started with a Margarita (see picture) and a Raspberry Mule (see picture) and while both were very good, it is hard to beat the value for the Margarita. For our food options, we tried all of the following shown in order of my preference (see pictures for each): Shrimp Street Tacos, Carne Asada Street Tacos, Wings (Tropical Habanero sauce), Lettuce Wraps and Buffalo Rangoons. A few comments to understand the priority order: I love street tacos, the wings were good but could have used a bit more sauce, the lettuce wraps were very good - but oh, so messy with the rice and just a bed of lettuce rather than a wrap and the rangoons were good, but a bit too overbrowned. If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow.

First, shame on me for not looking at the menu more closely, but I ordered a flatbread pizza…read more($12.99) and added pepperoni and banana peppers, not realizing that each topping is an additional $3 each (outrageous!). I thought a generic flatbread pizza included up to 2 toppings. However, on closer inspection of the menu, adding toppings is more expensive than ordering a specialty pizza as a flatbread. Unbelievable! I was given a flatbread pizza that was as thin as a tortilla and had burnt corners along with 10 pieces of pepperoni and 8 banana peppers. I could've made my own flatbread pizza at home for a fraction of the cost, and it would've been way better quality. I still can't believe I had to pay $21 for this poor quality food. Even the waitress agreed it was ridiculous to be charged that much for this pizza. I will never eat here again. Expensive and poor quality - it's not worth your time.

This place hasn't changed. Great "dive" bar. The drinks are reasonably priced. They beers were…read morecold. They have live music. The great part was we were here on a Friday and the music started at 5. The music wasn't too loud. We could still talk. They also had a TV with football on. We enjoyed a few hours here before our movie

The great atmosphere and top-notch bands make this a stellar dive bar! The very reasonable drink…read moreprices make up for the mostly surly bartenders. You just have to learn to ignore their attitudes and enjoy the music and the vibes! Ha ha!

4.2* (out of 5) Food: 4* Atmosphere: 4* Value: 4*…read more Service: 4* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $36 05/16/2025 My wife and I decided to give Pally's another try, as we have been there before and enjoyed their food and live music on the weekends. This place has solid food, good service and friendly owners who interact with the patrons. Tonight my wife ordered the Cheeseburger (see picture) and I went with the Kickin chicken Sandwich (see picture). We each tried each others meals and liked both options, so would recommend them along with the delicious extra Dirty Martinis!

Great service on a quiet Sunday evening. The restaurant had 4-5 tables full was all. The bartender…read morewas very attentive to our needs and served us at our table during the entire visit. The beer selection was good and cold. We ordered two of the burgers (sriracha and Jasper). Burgers were well prepared and topped as advertised. We hope to come back to order more of the spicy cheese curds that were on the sriracha burger!