Nothing but good things to say about this place. Literally 5 stars across the board. Atmosphere?…read more Check. Nice and laid back, numerous screens and a nice mix of tables, booths, bar, and high tops. Service? Check. Attentive and friendly without being overbearing. Food? Big check. Bacon wrapped meatloaf deserves a state holiday in its honor, and the fish and chips were meaty, not hidden under too much breading. And, the beer? Even the every day beers were great and I tried one of the specials for a treat that did not disappoint. So, overall, highly recommend. Go here or live knowing you've missed out

Friendly place with good beer. You can either be seated in the restaurant, sit in the bar area, or…read moreoutside on the patio. They had a wide selection of beers and a decent menu of American style foods. We just stuck to drinking since we already ate. Our bartender was very friendly.

The Firetrucker was created and raised on the shoulders of a great man, and the legend continues…read more This has become a local standout as far as breweries go! They have embraced the locals as well as the biking crowd. Being right off the high trestle trail they are perfectly located to serve the 2-wheel crowds! With occasional live music and always having a food truck roll in it is a great place to drink fantastic beers and handmade cocktails while enjoying a snack or meal from the revolving food offerings. The staff are always friendly and quick to fill your drink orders. In addition to that they have a massive selection of board and card games to help pass the time with your friends and family! Go check it out!

Great place for live music! Smaller patio but still good size. Picnic tables. Looks like you could…read moremaybe bring your own chairs. A few snacks sold inside. Huge beer menu. We had Jell-O shots on the 4th! Very friendly staff! Would definitely go back & recommend . Check it out!

I attended a Holiday Open house. They had free wine tasting, hot mulled wine and free cookies plus…read moreTony Valdez was signing fun 70's music upstairs. They have wine to purchase and cheese and crackers. You can also bring a picnic with you and purchase beer and wine here. It was a very nice afternoon with friends. Great place and friendly staff.

Loved these wines. The staff were very friendly and clearly enjoyed their jobs. Loved discussing…read morethe history of the winery and wines with them. The wines run slightly on the sweeter side, but the dry wines were in fact dry (and yummy). Loved the atmosphere too- options for being inside and outside (on a deck overlooking vineyards). They do have light fare food options though I didn't try any of it. Love that their grapes are all estate grown. And it's the oldest winery in Iowa!

Lua is a great spot for a group dinner, drinks with friends, or grabbing some food at the bar. They…read morealso have a nice patio and outdoor seating. The staff was super friendly and attentive. It does get busy, though, so it can take some time to be waited on. The vegan mushroom French dip was phenomenal! A friend and I shared the sandwich and fries, along with the vegan miso mac with tofu, and everything was SO good! The bread was soft, the sauce took me back, and the mushrooms were . The sandwich got the right kind of soggy, soaking up all that delicious sauce. And they have THE BEST fries, which are mostly soft shoestring fries. IYKYK. The miso mac is spicy, so you may want to request the chili sauce on the side or ask them not to stir it all in. So grateful they have a vegan menu (don't forget to ask for it ) and that they're continuing to expand their vegan options!

Cool brewery right off the highway on my road trip to towards the east. Maybe 5 min off the…read morehighway. Small parking lot and street parking available. Outdoor seating. Allow dogs. Open air indoor seating during nice weather. I got the sausage gnocchi with broccolini. It was delicious. There were only ten pieces of gnocchi - wish there were more! Broccolini was cut into tiny pieces that looked like green onions. Had a nice crunch. Sausage and sauce was good. Smush burger was ok. The Lua sauce lacked some flavor but the burger patties were cooked well. We dipped it in ketchup for more flavor. Fries were small and tasty! Server and service was , could have been better.

I was able to attend a small event recently at Speckled Hen Farm encompassing Speckled Hen and a…read morecouple of businesses they closely partner with including Covered Bridges Winery. Kevin from Covered Bridges Winery was an excellent host and let us know about their business in the same way as our hosts from Speckled Hen Farm and Lone Oaks Farms did. Where they started, where they are now, and what they have coming up. He offered tasting of 8-10 different wines from sweet to dry of his different blends. I tried the St. Croix (dry red), Frontenac Gris (dry red), LaCrescent (dry white), Marquette (dry white), Petite Rose (dry rose), and Rattlesnake Red (semi-sweet red). I'm not a huge wine drinker...some over the years...and I know my taste leans to dry and not overly sweet. I enjoyed all the samples I tried; both red and white! Ask Kevin about how the name rattlesnake red came to be...! Since we were on the Speckled Hen property we didn't get the full winery experience, but Kevin had the same enthusiasm as Kris (our host from Speckled Hen Farm) and Luann (our host from Lone Oaks Farms). You can tell why they all partner together so well! Winterset is just a 30ish min drive from where I live in Clive. A trip to the Northern part of Ankeny or to the South side can take me just as long...so it's really not far away at all and it's a nice drive. If you're like me and you enjoy a little bit of a day trip to find new things... It's worth the short drive from the metro! Check out upcoming events at Covered Bridges Winery on their Facebook page and site (as well as those for Speckled hen Farm and Lone Oaks Farms on their respective pages). https://coveredbridgeswinery.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CoveredBridgesWinery

Good wine, great service and nice location…read more I stopped here with Harvest Hosts for an overnight stay. It was packed when i got there with live music and a packed house. One of the owners saw me trying to find a place to park and pointed me to the best area to park, said after the band was over people would think out and I could park anywhere i wanted on the grounds. After getting setup i came in and grabbed a bottle of red wine and a charcuterie plate. The owners and staff were wonderful, the wine was great and the music was fantastic!! I had a great time staying with them and if i lived in the area i know i wold be there often.

We popped in to use a gift certificate that I got for Christmas. It was a scorching hot day so a…read morebeer from Back Pocket sounded about perfect. This location is nicely situated in the heart of Johnston and offers a fantastic menu and a wide variety of house made beers and they even have some guest beers on tap. (nice touch). They have mini bowling here and the venue is a grand 2 story building with high lofted ceilings and huge rollup doors to let the outside in. But not today...to hot ! Why only 3 stars? We opted to sit at the bar, because that is what we do. After a while the bar tender finally took our orders, and honestly he was not busy enough from my perspective to warrant that long of a wait. After the initial pause (and honestly we did almost get up ad leave) He was decent enough but left us wanting a more attention the entire time. Moving on.... If you are not aware Backpocket originally started in Coralville and are the original sponsors of the Iowa Craft beer tent that follows along RAGBRAI. I have earned several shirts over the years! #earnedit. IYKYK. Today we were just after beers, but after we saw some of that fancy Mac and Cheese come out we decided to top off the bellies and share a bowl! So glad we did, the Honey Pepper Mac and Cheese is worth the calories and then some. DELICIOUS! Of course the beers were good as always. All in all a good experience and I hope the next time we visit the service is just a bit more hospitable.

We were visiting from out-of-state and pretty impressed with the whole concept! Hostess wasn't very…read morehospitable, but our server was great! We loved the food and the drinks! Cheese curds and fried pickles were amazing! The duckpin bowling was such a hit and the arcades are fairly priced and offered a wide variety of games for everyone! Casual and fun setting with clean amenities. Such a fun night and hope to be back soon! This would be a great place for a birthday party both for adult adults and for children!

Very fun and small environment. Didn't try the food but the drinks and everything were great. Great…read moredive bar

Classic dive bar with the usual line up of regulars you would expect to find on a Friday night in a…read moreplace that feels like it has been here forever. We don't typically come in so I suspect we stood out, but the bartender was friendly and the game was on. We should stop more often.

Great selection and reasonably priced. Found a unique Tequila. Friendly service and helpful.read more