We've made several trips to the Des Moines area over the past eight years, and a meal at Gastro Grub & Pub in Waukee has become a must each time. From the start, Chef Sean has delivered inventive, memorable flavors while maintaining an impressive level of consistency in both quality and service--beautifully supported by his wife Andrea, who helps create a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Our visit this past Saturday was no exception. I ordered from the seasonal menu--so I'm not sure how long these dishes will be available--but the Roasted Cauliflower Salad and the Cajun Shrimp Alfredo were outstanding. Truly crave-worthy. The cocktail program is just as thoughtfully crafted; my personal favorite is the "Gone Sailin'." We're already looking forward to our next visit :) read more

4.8* (out of 5) Food: 5* Atmosphere: 5* Value: 4* Service: 5* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $40 04/17/2026 It is becoming a bit of a broken record...as this place is in the top-tier favorites in the area. Tonight, we met with friends before a concert and enjoyed the food and drinks. I started with a Blind Tiger tequila drink (see picture) along with Fried Babybel (see picture) - both very good. For our dinner, my wife ordered Steak Fajita Tacos (see picture) and I went with the PB&J Wings (see picture). Not only were all of the food and drinks fantastic, but we also caught the end of Happy Hour, so we also saved some cash on several of our plates! read more

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Gastro Grub & Pub is a must try! Went here with some family and everything about the place was fantastic. The atmosphere in the restaurant on Saturday was buzzing, and it's in a strip mall-ish type complex with tons of other great things, like breweries nearby. On top of that, their wait staff was extremely friendly, lively, and quick to check in. For my meal, I ordered the chicken pita with fries and it was incredible! The portion sizes were great, the fries were crispy, and the chipotle aioli that came with the fries was the cherry on top. Definitely worth a visit if you've never been! read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Chicken Pita - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

Jayden is an amazing waiter and you can tell he loves his job. From the minute we walked in the door he recognized us from the previous week. He's always happy and so personable... and just fun! Oh, and the food is delicious! Highly recommend Gastro & Jayden! xoxo read more

If the food itself weren't impressive (it is), I would still want to go in here for the atmosphere. The wood-fired stone leaves the places smelling amazing based on whatever they are using for the wood. Atmosphere is cozy in winter especially. read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Gastro exterior - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

The staff and food are incredible. We are so glad we have something close to home that we love. They are great about remembering and the servers remember that I like my salmon cooked a certain way. It's incredible service and food. read more

I have been eyeing Gasto Pub for quite some time; every time I pass by the parking lot seems full which is a good sign. Conveniently located with ample parking, the place is a vibe. The music sets the mood, and the slightly dim lights create the perfect ambiance to enjoy a nice meal. Opting for something different, I went for the Short Rib Grilled Cheese with a side of fries. The sandwich looked amazing when it was brought out, I couldn't wait to bite into it. Unfortunately, the garlic aioli overpowered it due to the excess amount on the sandwich. Despite the server's attempt to remedy the situation by offering an extra piece of toast, there was no saving the sandwich. I tried to salvage the meat, but it was too salty. However, once the server informed the Chef, he came right over and was so understanding. I explained what was going on and he apologized and offered to make me another dish. I declined as it was getting pretty late. The fries were good though. Despite the setback, the enticing menu offers tempt me to give them another chance. I would like to explore more dishes in the near future. read more

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I've tried several items on the menu and all were delicious! The servers have always been kind & helpful when we had children with us, too. The outdoor patio is adorable & I love the interior aesthetic as well. Great stop that isn't a chain in Waukee! read more

Quite literally the BEST food I have ever had! I have lived in Scottsdale, Chicago and NYC and this is some of the best and most innovative food ever! Chris was our server and told us all about the history of the place and had the best recommendations for the menu. He and all of the staff were SO kind and told us about the owner's wife who had just had her first child after overcoming stage 4 cancer! His passion and kindness added to the great ambience. I recommend the bacon-wrapped dates, short-rib grilled cheese, cajun pasta, and steak frites. Zoe was the bartender and made the BEST Pumpkin Espresso Martini EVER. My boyfriend and I could not stop thinking about it, so we went back for New Years Eve to have it again and tried the Tiramisu Martini, which was also AMAZING! read more

Love this place! The french fries and garlic aioli are amazing and worth it alone, but the food is delicious and the atmosphere is good too!

Wow! This was a surprise at how good it was. Very creative, tasty, and generous dishes. We ordered several small bite plates, during their happy hour, and for the price, could really not be beat. Outstanding and attentive service. Delightful! read more

Food was okay, service was amazing and the drinks were awesome. We arrived at 5:30 on a Friday and it filled up fast. It was close so we will probably visit again. read more

Found a hot spot in Waukee! We came out here on a Thursday night and it was packed!! We were able to get an outside table. If we didn't, it would have been a one hour wait for indoor seating. During COVID all patrons were unmasked. All Employees were masked. We were served by the manager of the store. He was great and took great care of us. Their patio area is a sweet spot once it's warmer. We ordered the Waygu burger, truffle fries, Buffalo chicken wantons, vegan brussel sprouts, and vegan burger. Two drinks. Total was. $71.xx before gratuity. Truffle fries are extra. I really appreciate the vegan options! So plant based eaters, vegans, and meat eaters have a great selection. I can't wait to get back out to Gastro when it's much warmer to enjoy the patio. We appreciated the service and the great food in our date night! Definitely recommend. read more

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Gastro Pub is my favorite neighborhood hang out. The food is excellent, and the service is so friendly. I love the atmosphere and always feel welcome. The bacon wrapped dates, beet salad and classic burger are my go-to favorites. Oh and the truffle fries with garlic aioli. Yum!! read more

The service was great and we both had one of the best restaurant meals we've had in a long time. The sirloin was cooked perfectly and the house sauce was delicious and some of the best "frites" we have had. The chicken street tacos were unbelievable. The homemade lemon vinaigrette was perfection on a large side salad. Save room for the homemade chocolate chip cookie for dessert. We love finding local places that make their meals with love. We will definitely be back, and often! read more

I really enjoyed the food and was impressed with the menu selection. I was watching plating and the dishes were beautiful. I'm going with 5 stars due to menu and passion. My suggestion would be staff up for efficiency. It did not seem cohesive or fluid. Albeit; it was a Saturday, but we waited a long time and I saw food sit in the window a while. Really a great spot, worth the wait and I look forward to returning. read more

The bacon jam burger and sweet potato fries are legit! Maybe my favorite burger in Iowa so far. Gluten free options and a dedicated fryer are nice options as well. Service has been great and the vegan tacos my wife got were very tasty as well (yes we eat beef and vegan options for dietary restrictions. GF/DF). read more

A friend and I visited about 11:30 on a Sunday morning and were quite impressed. Admittedly, I was expecting typical bar food when she suggested Gastro, but I was happily shocked to find anything but the typical. I enjoyed the small bite of pork belly on fried plaintains. The jicama slaw was a bit sharp for my taste, but I took some off and enjoyed it with a dab. My friend had the chicken and waffle and her serving was huge. She ended up taking home the leftovers. The service was good. I will definitely revisit to try something new. read more

Really enjoyed my visit. Great flavors and comfortable space. Great location with plenty of parking

Fantastic food. Service is always good even when it's super busy. There is something on the menu for everyone. I am the only vegan in the family and I really appreciate it when restaurants have good vegan options. Gastro's vegan truffle fries and vegan Brussels sprouts are two of my favorite things! read more

Happy hour / late night happy hour situation was a bit confusing. I called before coming in to confirm that the late night happy hour includes food on the happy hour list. They said it does. We arrived and there's actually another menu (smaller) for late night happy hour. The bartender allowed us to order from the regular happy hour menu--which was nice. Also, the menu says late night happy hour Sunday: 7-9. Yelp shows they close at 8. Supposedly, they keep serving after they close. We ordered the fried Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, breaded & fried wings, and pork belly tostones. The fried Brussels sprouts were decent, nothing special--but, not bad. The first sip of the butternut squash was good but subsequent spoonfuls were too salty. We set the bowl aside because we were not in the mood for salt water today. The chicken underneath the breading was tasteless. The poutine also started out good until it became too salty to eat. Maybe smaller portions would be better. We ordered the bone marrow the last time and I would highly recommend this dish! It was delicious. I'll have to come back just for this dish. read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Late night happy hour menu - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

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Friendly and fast service. Delicious, fresh, unique food! My husband and I tried the Buffalo chicken wontons (amazing), the shrimp po boy (his favorite) and the short rib grilled cheese. We both LOVED our meals and are excited to come back here with my vegan parents. read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Short rib grilled cheese with sweet potato fries - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

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Second review with the original 5 years ago. Ambiance is symbolic of "gastro" with an open kitchen and high top tables. With a full house it can get a little noisy but not as bad as other places. The cocktails were well made and service was well sassy but in a good natured way. My poboy was well made but when you get 5 deep fried shrimp for the price I wouldn't say it's a great value but I guess it's the going rate for restaurant food nowadays. 3 cocktails, 2 entrees and you lay down $65-70, just seems expensive. Get used to it. read more

Great American style food out in the suburbs. The burgers are amazing. Salads fantastic. Fries and solo dipping sauce outstanding. Great mixed drinks. Great beer list. Wonderful service! read more

Excellent service. Excellent food. Love the changing menu and mission of this place to donate to different organizations. The Brussels are amazing. Burgers are good too! read more

Great happy hour 4-6. Old fashioned and the mule were really good, brussel sprouts and buffalo chicken wontons were small portions but tasty. Bacon jam burger and sweet potato fries were also really good. Big patio and really cool looking bar, waitress was also super sweet. read more

Great food and normally busy, food tastes great. It is especially nice when you can sit outside. Inside smells a bit smokey.

I expected this to kind of be just another bar and grill type of restaurant, and it was so much better than that! Atmosphere: it had an upscale, clean, almost swanky, but not too uppity feeling, type of vibe. There was a violinist playing music up front and would walk around and it was just such an awesome touch making it so unique vs other bar & grills that typically just have TVs on. Our waitress said they usually have music on Saturday's but this was a Friday and she was playing Christmas music. Just a super awesome addition and overall great atmosphere for a nice dinner, date, or anything in between. Service: Really great! Our waitress was named Sarah and she was awesome. Really personable and helpful. The place was pretty busy but she did a good job of checking in. Food: Started with the poutine because I heard it's a must-try. SO GOOD. Hot, fresh, and pieces of, I think, steak were on top too it was delicious. I had the steak frites. The fries were fresh, sauce was so tasty, and steak was cooked perfectly! Crispy char on the outside and juicy inside. Friend had wagyu burger and truffle fries. Said it was SUPER delicious. I tried some of the truffle fries and they were very good! Drinks: Had the blackberry cucumber cooler and it was really refreshing! I thought the cucumber might be weird but couldn't taste too much of it which was nice. Friend had the St. Germain and said it was fresh and citrusy. The best part of the drinks was that the straws were environmentally friendly and made out of reusable metal. Overall: everything was super tasty, fresh, great atmosphere and I can't wait to go back and try other things off their menu! read more

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Just had dinner at Gastro Grub this evening. Have eaten several times in the past BUT tonight was our last time. My meal (Chicken pita) was an overstuffed pita served on a small appetizer sized plate. The chicken was so peppery that it was almost not edible. The caramelized onions were cold. My wife's veggie tacos were good sized but not very tasty at all. She ate about half of one taco. She has had those in the past and were quite good. Service was adequate. Nothing out of the ordinary. The tabletop was very sticky until I cleaned it myself. read more

Yummy food and our server Danny was great! The poutine was amazing the gravy really set it off and the fries were crispy enough to hold up to it. The bread pudding dessert was to die for. They bake it, and then fry for crispyness and serve it alamode. Don't miss out!! read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Bread pudding - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

This is one of very few restaurants in the Waukee area that is a little more let's say high end. Good food and ambience. There is a variety of things to choose from but nothing unique about the menu. Wine list and beer list is average. I like to travel and my wife and I have eaten at many different restaurants. FOOD and the EXPERIENCE is PARAMOUNT. I'm always very happy to tip the servers accordingly and often above the ordinary it's not an easy job. The willingness to interact with people you are waiting on is important and caring changes everything. read more

I've been here a couple of times now. Once to drink and another time to eat. It's perfect for late night quiet place to drink or daytime lunch hour. The staff are friendly and seem to be knowledgeable about drinks and food. You know there is passion in the food here when the bread and buns are all toasted. There are several fry options and they ask for what type of sauce you want such as ketchup, ranch, mayo, or various other creations they have. It just feels like an extra step is taken for any of the food they serve. I will definitely be back for more and see why this place is liked amongst many. read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Short rub grilled cheese sandwich was great. The toasted bread definitely gave it that extra YUM! - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

Food is very good; service wasn't great both evenings that I visited. Fun environment for post work drink or nice evening out. If they can figure the staffing, this will be a nice experience. read more

We love how Sean and Andrea Gleason overcame all odds to open this restaurant. https://mywaukee.com/gastro-pub-grub/ We stopped in on Easter Sunday afternoon. They said they were closed to food prep but we just wanted a glass of wine and a little ambience. Andrea spent an hour with us explaining their business model and her illness. We wanted to help them succeed so much that we asked if it was OK that we brought our daughter, an Army Dietitian, in for a consult. Our daughter was back Mother's Day weekend, another busy day for this restaurant. With a seven-year lease, our local community needs to support this restaurant more than any chain down the street. The food is wonderful, they have a wide variety of beverages and offer both inside and outside dining. The summer is upon us and it's time to support a small business. read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

Food gets a 4 star. Service was a little slow and a 3 star Appetizers are outstanding and they make great craft cocktails read more

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A group of 4 of us went on a Friday night - get there early to get a table! We scored a table but there were constant lines of people waiting after 5:30. If you do have to wait...it'll be worth it. We got drink orders in and our drinks arrived pretty quickly. There wine selection is good and I got a martini which was generous, reasonably priced, and very tasty! One from our group got a burger stripped down to just the burger and cheese (how he likes it) and even without all the additional toppings it was very large and he said very good as well. The two distaff members of our party both got the salmon sandwich. It comes with a dill sauce, pickles, tomato vinaigrette, and greens, so there is a lot going on there, but the combination is really, really delicious. I got the chicken pita, which sounds fairly run of the mill, but it was also delightful. The caramelized onion, feta, tomato and bacon blended wonderfully to highlight the taste and the pita was fresh and warm. Between all of us we had a variety of fries - garlic, 'regular', and sweet potato. They were all cooked nicely crispy (which can especially be an issue with the sweet potato ones at times) and they were especially flavorful and tasty. Service was very good -- our server was very engaging and attentive. The only drawback I might point out is it gets VERY LOUD on a busy night. This was similarly noticeable at the previous establishment in this building. It's just a big open space with high ceilings, so carrying on a conversation can be a bit of a challenge, but hey, it's a lively atmosphere and the wonderful food and drink makes that small challenge one that I'll gladly overcome again! read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Fresh, warm grilled chicken pita - delicious! - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

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Casual but semi-refined. Good beer selection on tap and in bottles/cans. Lots of wine, hard stuff. The food is pretty good. Took awhile to get here, but I was warned. Not complaining, I was glad they took the time to prepare it fresh. Bone marrow is tasty. Poutaine is large and pretty good. Going for dessert... read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Poutaine. Has pieces of beef. - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

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Went here while I was out of town for a late night eat. I googled places with happy hour specials and this place popped up. They had $5 plates from 9-12am and I believe we got there right around 9. The restaurant itself is very clean, nice, and rather large. At 9pm, the lobby was mostly empty, so we got right in. Service was great and prompt, quick. Food was delicious, the fried brussel sprouts were my favorite out of all of them. Our server brought me all their sauces to try, because I had ordered the parmesan fries, which are just a bowl of fries with parmesan cheese sprinkled on them. All in all, great experience. read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

Loved the atmosphere and great food. Me and the wife wanted to try several things. Smaller dining area so make sure u make a reservation on their website. Weren't in open table. read more

Gastro Grub & Pub - Shrimp and Sirloin - Gastropubs Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

Stopped in for an 11:30 lunch date on Friday. There were four other tables, so lots of seating options & no waiting. Our server, Damian, was charming, tentative, knowledgeable, and helpful. I am impressed with the menu! I wasn't expecting such yummy vegan options. There's a lot I want to come back to try. I ordered the bbq jackfruit sandwich with sweet potatoes fries. Yeah, it was damn good. Messy but worth it. My friend ordered the grilled cheese and a side salad. That also looked pretty tasty. read more

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