Food was fantastic!! Sat at bar for lunch and Lynn was a great bartender!!! The service was so good!!! read more

Buzzard Billy's - GF Jambalaya, Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Catfish Filet, cheesy grits! - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

The food was GREAT! There were a few different events going on in the area and we were from out of state so had no idea. The wait was 25-30 minutes but it was well organized and you could get drinks at the bar while you waited. The wait staff was very friendly and attentive and kuddos because it was super busy! Food was GREAT, I wish we would have taken a picture of the nachos as well. Highly recommend!! read more

Buzzard Billy's - Jambalaya - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Wow! I have not had a cheeseburger like this since the cafeteria in high school! Perfectly overcooked with yellow processed cheese but unlike high school, this one has two perfect strips of meat candy! The chicken sandwich was plumb and dry, almost dryer than the microwaved gluten free bun that crumbled to the plate. All in all, if you cannot eat without sports, this place has got you covered. read more

Great food, had the pulled pork and it was delicious. Our server was fantastic as well. Would definitely stop again, as it was the only place we could find that would actually serve people under 21 after 9 p.m. read more

The Bayou platter was great. Very flavorful hush puppies. The Shrimp creole had too many tomatoes for me and not enough flavor.

A decent sports-type bar & restaurant. The menu is large and service was good. Food portions are also sizeable.

Food is fire, it's so so good! It's clean, ambiance is perfect, games on on the tv's, great for groups and singles alike. My only irritant were the off-the-clock employees screaming at the bar. Literally yelling down the bar requesting Advil. Squirting perfume in the dining area and just being rude to the plethora of other diners. Patrons are looking at each other "Like, is this really happening?". I suppose, it's sn employees market and we're all in need of help desperately. Sad. read more

Buzzard Billy's - Hours - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Amazing food and Resanble wait time for afternoon i ate what 5 kids eat in a week. you will definitely need a takeout box. It has the football game playing all the time and the news. It had good vibes. Overall it is have to go in Des Moines read more

Buzzard Billy's - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

So- i am writing again because one of my neighbors has become a regular BB breakfast fanatic. His name is Steve and he has very real issues with his diet. Anyway- he eats breakfast at BB very often 3/3days. Why? Well the breakfasts are awesome and he is really picky about what he eats. So now about twice a month I am forced to go with him. Twice i has breakfast 1- The Iowan and 2- the Seafood omelette. Both were great- lots of shrimp in the omelette and my fave rave country fried steak in The Iowan. Although i am forced to use a cane these days- after a DELICIOUS BLOODY MARY, I could give a fat rat's patologie. SO folks- try the breakfast Fri Sat or Sun. Prices are great ( less than at other times) and the food is- of course- yummy! Tell 'em i sent you! read more

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Had a late dinner here with the family. Overall portions and value was good. Service was fair but inconsistent, I'm not sure if our server was new or tired but she was struggling a bit. My biggest compliment is for their effort with a GF menu. Having celiac and needing to eat Gf can be challenging when you're out of town, so finding a place that makes a solid effort to accommodate dietary restrictions with a variety of options is awesome. Having such an extensive GF menu is quite rare. read more

Buzzard Billy's - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

It's been almost 20 years since I was last here. And it's still a good restaurant. We sat outside and got a great view of the downtown Des Moines skyline. Our server forgot we were out there and it took a while to get drinks. but she made up for it with her friendliness. I had the cajun mac and cheese and it was sooo delicious. My buddy had the jambalaya and it was great as well. if they had a few space heaters on the deck it would be good place to sit into the cooler months. read more

Buzzard Billy's - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Food was delicious, Service very good. Service went great, wait was short, seated at a nice size table for four plenty of arm room. Appetizer was fried. And I'm not into fried food, but this was cooked right, no oil dripping. The Creole honey mustard sauce perfect for gator, I had the bayou platter, with jumbo. It was good, chicken moist seasoned to my spicy desire. Jumbo, always nice to taste that southern cooking, it was definitely their recipe and perfect complement to amaze my taste buds. Well done Buzzard Billy's I will be back again. read more

We were in town for a concert so stopped in for dinner pre show. We were seated after a 20 minute wait. Our server was new, so there were a few hiccups, but we understand what being new feels like, so we went with the flow. And the manager made it right by giving us a discount. The food was amazing! Husband has the Alligator Grand Chenier, and I had the Shrimp Gabrielle. The sauce/gravy was so good, couldn't stop eating. We will go back the next time we are in Des Moines. read more

Treated extremely rude by wait staff who were totally unprepared for after concert rush. Don't consider this establishment as they are clearly poorly trained to serve the public. read more

Customer service was good, they were busy and my waitress did take longer then expected to assist our needs. The ambiance was great, the name buzzard Billy's gave us that southern, bayou, country backwoods vibe. The food was advertised as southern from Louisiana, with southern seasoning, unfortunately the food lacked that southern flavor. The Roux to the gumbo was thick, dark and had no flavor what so ever, they must have forgot to add the file, the bay leaves. I had the shrimp creole and it had to much tomato flavor and tomato paste. Now being a person that loves creole and southern food I was disappointed. read more

Buzzard Billy's - Crawfish gumbo - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Another good experience at BB's. Google said I was here 7 years ago. I might have been here some other time after that. I know I haven't been here since the pandemic. But anyways, I already had decided what I was going to dine on. I started with the Crab & Corn soup. I opted for the bowl, instead of the cup. This was almost a meal in itself. A good portion that came out hot and thick. Pretty much like a chowder. The flavors were there. Now, I don't know if I was eating crab or krab. Either way, it was good. Then I kept it light and got the Gator Caesar salad. Very simple salad, with some gator on top. The gator was tender, and yes, it tastes like chicken. No complaints here. Definitely one of my favorite places in Des Moines. read more

Buzzard Billy's - Gator Caesar salad - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Fantastic etoufee, and my friend thoroughly enjoyed his gator po boy as well.. the only thing better was the service! Will definitely be back to try some other menu items next time I'm in Des Moines! read more

Excellent as always! Brought my BFF for breakfast and she wanted a small pancake from the kids meals and it was still bigger than her head!!! Bring your appetite..... your gonna need it!!! Staff is very accommodating and fast!!! Casual and fun atmosphere for any time of the day! T.V.'s are plenty as well! Enjoy! read more

We came into for lunch and had a great experience. As a person from the south, I enjoyed going through the menu and seeing the anew Orleans dishes and the southern dishes. We had a few different dishes that all came out correct. Our server was Rita and she was great!! read more

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The inside was very nice. The service was very nice. The biscuits with potatoes and gravy and chicken were AMAZING! I got the jambalaya with sausage, ham and chicken. For being a "Cajun" food, it was not the best. There was too much tomato flavor. The celery was so crunchy like it had been forgotten and not cooked with the rest. Being from Texas and right next ti Louisiana that's definitely not the way it should taste. Other than the "Cajun" food the rest was good read more

Greetings from Southern California!!!! This place was great in so many levels!! Sports decor, 70s pop culture, food and wife's drink was on target. Category 5 Hurricane is highly recommended by wife. The spinach artichoke dip was fantastic and other places should learn from Billy's!!! My seafood gumbo with rice hit the spot and we both enjoyed the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp platter. Thumbs WAY UP!!!! read more

The food is always amazing and great customer service! The Mac and cheese is so delicious

10/27/2022 Phenomenal job by the entire crew! It was an overly busy Thursday night due to the Jason Aldean concert and wrestling event. We were 16th on the wait list and was seated in 10 minutes. We received our drinks quickly and food was out in 15 minutes. We had the Cajun Cowboy Burger and Crawfish Etouffee. Hot & cooked perfectly! They were completely slammed, and did a fabulous job! In and out in under an hour. We look forward to coming back to try breakfast. Highly recommend. read more

It was fantastic, a little slow at getting the food out but the waitress made up for it.

Great variety of delicious food. Great atmosphere. Wonderful experience. Have recommended this place many times to friends. read more

First of all, you better bring you appetite. The food was falling off their plate! We will be back if we are ever in the area. Good service! SO MUCH FOOD!!! read more

Came here yesterday for dinner with my boyfriend. Honestly just saw that they had hush puppies and I was sold! We started out with drinks. I got the frozen strawberry lemonade. I was thinking of trying the hurricane but the strawberry lemonade was slightly cheaper so I went with that. It ended up being really good! I could hardly taste any alcohol but it definitely gives you a nice buzz. For food, I wasn't feeling like being super risk taking so I just got the fried chicken tenders dinner. The tenders were really good! Honestly one of my favorites! And of course the hush puppies were amazing as well! I almost wish they had an appetizer of hush puppies because k would have gotten that too if they offered it. My boyfriend decided to get the fried alligator dinner. I decided to try some because I wanted to try alligator for the first time. It was really good! Definitely exceeded my expectations! We got there at a pretty slow time so I was a bit surprised that our waiter was just a little slow. We asked for a few more minutes to look over the menu and then he didn't end up coming back over for a solid ten minutes and even walked by a few times but didn't stop over. He was very attentive when we needed more drinks thought but it took a bit to get our bill as well. Overall a great place to get some unique food and they have a lot to choose from! I will definitely be coming here again! read more

Stopped in for Friday morning brunch and had excellent service. Staff was friendly and our food orders came out quick! The breakfast sandwich was delicious and came with hash browns. It was cooked to order with egg and cheese and tasted great. Breakfast mule and mimosas were also so good, we had to have a second round! Highly recommend this stop for your next brunch or before the next big event at the arena! read more

Buzzard Billy's - Interior - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Food was delicious, Service was good Their service was fast once the waitress got our orders into kitchen. read more

Crawfish Étouffée is a must get. Cowboy Burger made me want to ride a bucking bull. Thursday is Crappy Beer night-- $2. LGBTQ not welcome. read more

Love everything I've ever had here so good I haven't tried alligator or nothing but their hush puppies are sooooooo good

Noisy and crowded but it is good. There is an extra charge for using a credit card. Alligator dishes, other cajun items.

best gluten free food around! The banana foster is amazing! Parking can be tough but worth it.

Nikki was our server and was great! I'll start off by saying that the margarita was terrible. It felt like I was drinking a frozen strawberry lemonade. The portions were massive and the food was very enjoyable. It was very clean and had a nice, long menu. Great location in proximity to the Hilton downtown. Would definitely come here again. read more

Buzzard Billy's - Strawberry Margarita - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Great service, cold beer, awesome menu. Went back 3x during our stay in Des Moines. read more

This 5 star review is solely on the Breakfast menu. Just a short walk from our hotel, this little gem was a great little surprise. Where I'm probably more of a traditional breakfast, this place really kicked it up a notch with a little Cajun twist. It took my wife and I a few minutes to really scour and take in the menu. We wanted to have a Bloody Mary while absorbing the choices....speaking of which, the Bloody Mary menu was pretty intense as well. I had the Cajun Bloody Mary and my wife had the Bacon Bloody Mary. The Cajun came with Blackened Shrimp on the side of the glass. That was tasty awesome. Now we came here 2 days in a row while we were in town. I'm going to sum up the 2 days....I had the Big Country and the Mrs had the Cowboy Eggs Benedict the first day and the second I had the Nola Classic and my wife had the Billy's Swamp special. I cannot say enough about the portions and the flavors. The Blacken Shrimp add on to the Nola was the best. Wish there was a location near my home town...Excellent breakfast. read more

bland food no seasoning..... greasy af!!!!!!'n my mans shrimp was God awful my oysters were doughy even though I asked for fried hard and crispy!!! 50.00 and it was a God awful waste!!! Oh and did I mention the older lady on the phone who took 30 min to take our order had no clue about menu Items and had to have us repeat the phone number to her 6xs!!!!! 822 huh, What, can you repeat your number is all she said!!!!' Ughhhhh! What a awful experience the sad part is we spent this on our date night and it was trash! Do better Buzzard Billys you use to have delicious food but at this point your food is only worthy of a Buzzards tastebuds! read more

Always a good experience dining here! Food is amazing and service is consistently great!

Service was wonderful..food is good..got in quicker that expected with large party and busy night.

Cons: Way too crowded, noisy, dirty - especially before concerts/ events. No real crowd control. Pros: drinks close to the venue. read more