We were in town for a basketball tournament at the IYAF complex and were looking for a place to do…read morea team dinner. Central Standard was so easy to work with to make a reservation for a group of 25. I called a week in advance and placed the reservation. Then the day of the reservation I had to add a couple more people, then our game got done early, so asked if we could come earlier. Each accommodation was met with such friendliness. Our server was great! Must be used to dealing with big groups. We enjoyed our food as well. My family got the garlic teriyaki dry rub wings as an appetizer, they were good! I ordered the mushroom Swiss burger - delicious! And got the tater tots - probably the best tater tots I've ever had. Perfectly salty!

4.6* (out of 5) Food: 4* Atmosphere: 5* Value: 4*…read more Service: 5* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $29 05/09/2026 Yet another return trip to Central Standard, this time with our son and daughter-in-law as an early Mother's Day celebration. Tonight we started by sharing a Pretzel & Beer Cheese appetizer (see picture). While I don't often order pretzels, this was a great combination of texture (soft / tearable) and flavor (buttery with tasty seasonings) that I really enjoyed! For dinner, my wife ordered Traditional Wings (see picture) while I opted for the Oh No! burger (see picture). While we both enjoyed the wings, sweet potato fries and a side order of tots, we both found the burger to be well done and a bit on the dry side to our tastes.

I wrote a five star review 5 years ago and wanted to update it. Still five stars!!! Excellent…read moreservice and their weekend breakfast and Monday night steak night never disappoint. Call ahead for steak night to reserve it, they can go quickly!! Keep coming and they do remember your name!

Reasonably priced with a good handful of food options. A menu with pizzas, a couple of sandwiches,…read moreand some appetizers....and a good selection of nightclub specials. Drinks are well made and very reasonably priced. My wife and I sat at the bar and for the Tuesday night Taco Salad Special. There are a few options, but we each got the salad and it was good! Food came out quickly too. Service was OK, and while it's not a real big place there is quite a bit of seating.

Food, service, & atmosphere all great, new bar/restaurant in waukee for the last year, great place…read morefor sports entertainment and a high attention to food quality which is hard to find nowadays. Highly recommend

Good Chicago-Themes food and drink. Met a friend for dinner and enjoyed a couple of drinks and some…read morefood She got the Monday Night special-burger and fries l, and I got the Chicago Italian Beef with onion rings. Interestingly, our server didn't ask for us to pick sides, but I got onion rings (very good), and my friend got fries (also, very good). The Italian Beef was very good, with hot Giardiniera that was great and tender meat. There are indoor tables and a bar and outdoor seating as well. Our server was excellent too.

4.2* (out of 5) Food: 3* Atmosphere: 4* Value: 5*…read more Service: 4* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $25 10/02/2026 Stopped last night for the sole purpose of checking out their newly announced Happy Hour, as the information on my sister site HappyHourDesMoines.com was getting a bit dated. Since it was Happy Hour pricing (app. 1/3 off the items we checked), the Value bumps to a 5* for this trip. All things considered, I like Barn Town Brewing and really like a few of their beers - not to mention, they are close to home. Because we were here for a Happy Hour review, we ordered only from their Happy Hour menu (all of which have pictures included below). My wife started with an amber Core beer, while I chose the Featured Flight - since it included several of their beers that I hadn't yet sampled. For our meal, we ordered the Bavarian Pretzels (see picture), Crab Rangoon Flatbread (see picture) and Wings, split between Buffalo & Honey Hot (see picture). The Pretzels are just what you would expect and the combination of mustard and cheese dipping sauces were a great complement. The wings were also tasty, although several admittedly appeared to come from a pretty deformed chicken. The flatbread would be the only thing I wouldn't order again. I expect very thin to cracker type crusts for flatbread and this was more of a thick / deep dish pizza type of crust (the picture shows it, about 1/2" thick). Further, the sauces / topping were a bit sparce - so it was quite bready and dry. If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow.

Good service and creative beers, especially in the sour and sugary spectrum. The unfortunate part…read moreis that some of those beers are TOO sugary that it doesn't taste/feel like beer anymore. I had experienced Barn Town at a beer festival and researched them before visiting town, so I know the experimental candy-influenced collabs are kind of their thing. The PB and Grape Jelly sour was nice and the Watermelon Sour Batch Buddies was the best of the State Fair themed bunch. Everything else packed too much of a flavor punch for me... to the point of upsetting my stomach which NEVER happens when I drink beer. I would actually go back and try some of their flagship (normal) beer offerings and food specials to get a more well rounded opinion of the brewpub.

4.6* (out of 5) Food: 4* Atmosphere: 4* Value: 5*…read more Service: 5* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $20 04/01/2025 We have stopped here a few times since the last review, including a Trivia Night with a great taco value (unfortunately, we ate before the last minute invite to join a team there) - but hadn't taken the time to update my review. We stopped for their Tuesday night Burger Special...which left me wondering why we weren't going there every Tuesday night for burgers! I ordered a Burger (of course - see picture) and was thoroughly impressed with it! Usually when you ask for a medium rare burger, it is brought out medium well to well done. Not only was the burger excellent (a little beyond medium rare, but at least some heavy pink in the middle), but the bun and the lattice fry sides were all delicious! Unfortunately, I gave up alcohol for Lent...so didn't have a beer with the burger - but you can bet that I'll be back for both after Easter! If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow.

Went here for late breakfast. Had been being advised to check it out for months now but it's not…read moreconvenient to get to from where I live. Anyway. Finally went here and I was not let down. There were only 3 gals working the entire time taking care of cooking and bartending and waiting on everyone in the estaishment. Definitely efficient and friendly staff. We ordered drinks and breakfast. Both were quickly served. My breakfast burger was delicious with layers ofhashbriwns and eggs and bacon and a burger. The diced potatoes were also great. My partner had the meat lovers omlette and was very happy with the entire meal. My only complaint is the price of the state fair lemonade (vodka lemonade) was 8.50$ which a typical vodka lemonade or cranberry is 6$. However it was delicious and the prices in this area are just typically higher than other areas so I do understand. I'd definitely go back again for food & drinks!

I absolutely love this place. I live in Chicago and my fiancé is in DSM so we split time between…read moreboth places until he moves. Being in a transitional phase his kitchen is useless so if we want to eat it's got to be in a restaurant. We've been everywhere so no clue how this gem snuck past us. I would put them next to any of the high end places downtown without a second thought. The ambiance is clean, casual and cozy - think Colorado log cabin. It's not a big place so I imagine you'll find long waits on weekends. If so, wait. Trust me. It wasn't crowded because we typically don't venture out until late but 3/4 of the tables were occupied and several people were at the bar. Even so, it was easy to carry on a conversation without needing to raise our voices. It's difficult to choose what to order because everything sounds great. We ordered chicken fried oyster mushrooms for an app and they set the tone for everything else. Perfectly breaded and seasoned with actual flavor being the stale oil taste of a lot of fried apps. I had the Lobster Mac and it was absolutely decadent. There was a generous amount of lobster and the pieces themselves were substantial. The blend of cheeses was perfect. For the side (which wasn't even necessary because the size of the Mac was more than big enough) I got the Boursin Mushroom Au Gratin. I can't think of a word that describes how delicious it was. Perfect creaminess, rich with a slight tang...it could have stood on its own. My fiancé ordered the Iowa Chop and we were both shocked at the size of it. Again (yawn) cooked just right, not even a hint of the dryness you see a lot with chops. The Creamed Brussels Sprouts were great but I had eaten myself sick at this point so I had to admit defeat. Portions were big enough that I had plenty in the take home container for a whole meal the next day. I wanted to try the amazing looking pie but needed to be able to fit through the door to go home. Next time for sure. Service was really good. The server was laid back and quick with recommendations that she could back up instead of the standard "I like it" you get. I was shocked at the reasonable prices. These days $20 for a mediocre burger is standard so I couldn't believe the quality of food for the price. Our running joke is that once a restaurant starts laminating their menus, the quality is about to tank so I'm keeping my fingers crossed theirs steer clear. It's independently owned by the same people that own Barntown Brewing a few doors down. We will definitely try that out based on our experience here. My only critique is that they serve Pepsi instead of Coke. Seems like DSM leans that way which breaks my heart. My southern roots and common sense keep me loyal to Coca Cola. Where I grew up when you order a Coke the server asks what kind of Coke because it's just what you call every soft drink. Go. Go tonight. You won't regret it.

4.6* (out of 5) Food: 5* Atmosphere: 5* Value: 4*…read more Service: 4* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $40 05/20/2026 The neighbors suggested the Guesthouse for our dinner tonight and given our experiences, we heartily agreed. We started our meals with a glass of beer, then ordered our dinners. Tonight, my wife opted for the Sweet Potato Gnocchi with grilled shrimp (see picture) - at our server Chelsea's suggestion (Chelsea was great). While I usually prefer trying different dishes vs. ordering what I've had before, it was Wednesday and I'm a sucker for specials...so again opted for Walleye Wednesday (see picture). While we both enjoyed both dishes after sharing tastes of each, the highlight of the meal was the Campfire Pie (that Chelsea recommended) along with a scoop of ice cream (at our neighbor's suggestion). Check it out in the picture and be sure to give it a try!

One of my favs in DSM never disappoints !!! A must visit !!! Staff is very good along with the food…read more!!!

4.4* (out of 5) Food: 4* Atmosphere: 4* Value: 5*…read more Service: 4* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $28 02/06/2026 We were running out of time for Happy Hour availability on Friday night, so picked something closer to home and decided to give The Club Car a try since we enjoyed previous visits. For drinks, we started with a Pineapple Jalapeno Mule and a Coconut Mule while waiting for our food. For our Happy Hour food options, we chose the Boursin Mushrooms (see picture), Nachos with Beef (see picture) and BBQ Shrimp Kabob (see picture). While the Mushrooms and BBQ Shrimp Kabob were worthy of 5* ratings (both were fantastic and highly recommended), the Nachos were average at best - as the chips tasted like a cheap no-label variety and the beef had little taste. We finished our meal with a couple of sweeter martinis (see picture) at the bar. We have been impressed with the drinks and bartenders during each of our visits and tonight was no different - both martinis were delicious!

The food is consistently good at Urban Cellar. On my last visit, our server Ashley was superb. She…read morewas attentive without hovering and kept my iced tea glass full at all times. I only suggest on their side dish menu they need to have a more complete description. I ordered the cheddar polenta with my sandwich. It was cover in a sauce that overwhelmed the polenta. Ashley very graciously took them away and brought a dish without the sauce. It was delicious! The atmosphere is very warm and welcoming with a nice noise level and privacy.

This place and the staff are amazing! My husband and I stopped in for dinner since we were in the…read morearea and have wanted to check this place out for a while. We were treated so wonderfully and our waiter and the general manager went above and beyond to make us happy. Our wonderful waiter Derek welcomed us and was excited to learn that this was our first visit. He was friendly and helpful and seemed genuinely interested in helping us choose something on the menu that we would enjoy. I decided to get a supreme pizza because I like a lot of toppings on my pizza and my husband got the cavatelli because he was in the mood for pasta. The food came out extremely fast. Unfortunately, I didn't like my pizza very much because the center of the crust was very limp and droopy and the toppings fell off because they were kind of heavy. The outer edge of the crust was crispy but the middle of the crust seemed like maybe it needed to be cooked longer. I felt like the pizza should have been better. My husband loved his cavatelli and gave me a bite. I agreed that it was very good. I was wishing that I had ordered that, too. When Derek came and checked on us, I debated on whether I should say something about the pizza. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't great either. He could probably see the disappointment on my face. He said he really wanted to know what we thought about the food so I told him I was disappointed with the pizza. He was very understanding about it and said he didn't like his pizza droopy either. But we told him the cavatelli was excellent. It was a little bit sweet with the right amount of spiciness. A few minutes later, Courtney the general manager came to our table and apologized about the pizza. She was truly sorry about the pizza and even said she talked to the chef about cooking it longer but he said it might burn the pizza if they did that. And it had so many toppings on it that it might not make a difference on the crust. So she wanted me to pick something else on their menu for free. I was going to decline but she insisted, so I chose the cavatelli. They made it for me and brought it out quickly. We appreciated everything Derek and the GM did to make it up to us which really wasn't necessary. They went above and beyond. I felt bad about it but they wanted our first visit there to be great. Then when Derek brought our bill to us, we saw that they comped both the pizza and the extra cavatelli. So they were only charging us for my husband's meal. AND Derek brought us a free dessert. My husband and I were flabbergasted. They did way more for us than they should have. We have never been treated so well at a restaurant before. I didn't think that restaurants and waitstaff like this existed. It seems like since Covid, when you go to restaurants, they're understaffed or the workers don't seem like they want to be there and barely acknowledge you. But here they bend over backwards to make sure you're happy. I love that and appreciate everything they did. The atmosphere is casual yet upscale. It feels cozy and welcoming, too. There is outdoor seating as well. Believe me, we will be back and we'll tell our friends about this place. If you love excellent service and good food, please check this place out..

If you're after a clean, well-stocked salad bar, John & Nick's in Clive is an easy choice…read more The salad bar is a standout, and their steaks never disappoint - easily the highlight of the menu. The seafood can be a bit hit or miss here, but the quality of their steaks more than balances things out. I keep coming back for the salad bar and steaks. Sitting at the J&N's bar is part of the appeal (for me) - always great service, super relaxed atmosphere, and an overall comfortable vibe. The bar is great for the solo diner or also lovely for friends catching up .

Had dinner with friends on a cold winter night. Great service and very good food. They really pack…read morein the people so be ready for somewhat tight quarters but it was good to be cozy on a cold night! My Steak de Burgo was excellent. My wife and another in our party got Steak Kabobs-also very tasty. The salad bar was OK, but not the highlight for me. An OK selection of toppings with one type of lettuce, and a handful of other salads. Great drinks and fair prices, along with the good food and service, make this a must try!

Amazing bacon cheeseburger to start my week vacation. Perfect unplug moment, relaxing environment…read moreand amazing food

It's just not consistent. Went once and all was fine. Went second time and burger was average,…read moreonion rings were barely fried, bun was stale, end cut tomato was used. Too expensive to have poor consistency. Threw it out and went to Freddy's for a great burger and le$$ cost.