My buddies and I grab $1 gin and tonics every Thursday night after our student ministry gets done around 9:30pm. We love the variety in rap music, drinks ranging from local to European, no tv's, and a great setting for deep talks. The environment is a dimly lit tavern with a sophisticated ambiance making for a more tame crowd focused on conversations opposed to dancing. Every once and a while a band will play live music. Free popcorn in the back with foosball and pinball too! All in all, I'd describe this as a "bar for professors" great for just chilling out with some close friends. read more

London Underground - Thursday night $1 gin and tonic! - Pubs Near Me - Ames, Iowa

Cool place. Obviously British themed. Very chill when we went. Really neat bar - very historic looking. Mix of young and mature. Good specials and friendly bartenders. Good Mules and Pimm's Cup specials. read more

My wife and I came here on a pubpass and we parked in back. When we first arrived at this hidden gem, I thought "am I at the right place?" Then I noticed the big flag and I decided that we were There was cool music playing at a reasonable volume, The bartender was very welcoming. They have a cute menu with a descent happy hour menu (pic attached) they had Paulener Hefeweizen on tap so I was happy. My wife ordered Slingshot from local Backpocket. Then she ordered a cucumber mint mule that was delicious. If you're looking for a nice,chill, dimly lit atmosphere, then London Underground is a great choice. I will definitely be back here again! read more

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If you're looking for a low-key, fun environment with a couple friends and dollar gin & tonics on a Thursday night, look no further than London Underground. Regardless of what goes on in my weeks, I can rely on my favorite $1 beverage, as well as other types of brews from a variety of locations at this bar. I've had a lot of great memories here from great music to even winning tickets to a show from performing splits in the middle of the bar. London Underground (or "Lunderground" as some might call it) is a small but awesome atmosphere. Service is typically quick, but get your order in fast because it can get busy! read more

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Best cocktail bar in Ames. Friendly bartenders and a great selection of craft beers and cocktails. Would recommend!!

Funky, quirky eclectic nieghborhood dive bar with a varied and interesting clientele. $1 gin & tonics on Thursday nights, which is cool. This place is a lot of fun but the only negative is that they sometimes have live music but there really isn't enough room for a band and everyone gets wedged shoulder-to-shoulder, so I just stay clear of the place those nights. read more

Best pub in town. Amazing bartenders, great atmosphere, super lgbtq friendly. People tend to be kind and outgoing here and happy to converse. By the way, they have truly, truly amazing house martinis, especially if you like them sweet. read more

Bartender was drunk, openly taking shots She was clearly "on one" since her significant other (the other bartender) couldn't talk her down Whiskey was good, but I'll get it from somewhere else next time I'm in Ames read more

London Underground - Pubs Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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Nice vintage kind and small intimate of bar. Bartender was friendly. Beer was good priced. People were friendly.

Friendly staff, diverse locals, live music every so many weeks. Sometimes a mysterious writer can be spotted working in one of the corners. This is a fun place. read more

Great bar, with tons of fancy brews from all around the world! I used to frequent this bar quite often when I lived in Ames and went back this past weekend! It's still the same, full of good people, great beers, and that wonderful glorious popcorn machine! Salty goodness always makes classy beers go down better! Not the hugest bar in the world, but a perfect size for hiding out in the back, or hanging at one of the high top tables up front! Bar tenders are always rocking some good jams and they even have small live music shows from time to time! All in all this is a great main street bar, where you go to get a bit tipsy! read more

A dive of an English pub. If you are looking for a chill time at a place that has well priced drinks, Foosball, and pinball...you've come to the right place! No food that I can tell other than the complimentary popcorn. Friendly bartender and a well stocked bar of European beers and plenty of liquor. With the limited options in Ames, it is a place worth 4 stars but in a major city, it would be but a blip on the radar. We came here two nights in a row so it clearly had some retention power :) read more

London Underground - Pinball!! - Pubs Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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Great place for friends and coworkers to enjoy a beer and informal discussion. Find the night with the special that fits you, dollar off Tuesday. Good place to hobnob with business owners. read more

I happen to spend a great deal of time in this establishment, and it's for good reason. There is definitely a community attached to London. A lot of it's patrons return over and over again. This can be attributed to it's laid-back yet fun environment, and the super friendly and personable bartenders. Not only does the staff here know how to keep a healthy and happy bar, but the are very knowledgeable of the products they keep behind it. London has a broad selection of imported and specialty beers. You wanna try something new? You wanna try something you can't get at that local bar in the small town where your parents go to drink? Ask. They'll hook you up, my friend. No, there is no TV. But come on, every town is riddled with lousy sports bars with busch on tap. Go there if you want to use a screen to hide yourself from the world around you. Come to London when you want to look straight ahead and have some good old fashioned human interaction. Awesome stories aren't rare here. Sometimes you can even convince your bartender to do some madlibs with you. It's fun and it's good for you! Now, I just don't get the food thing. Since when do all bars have to be a restaurant in disguise? Look at Cheers: there were those little bowls of pretzels, but if you wanted a meal you had to go upstairs Melville's and eat some fish. That's where food is made. And the bar was where alcohol was made. So simple. That being said, the staff at London don't want you to waste away like a neglected pot of primrose. They're well stocked with takeout menus from local eateries. They also have that big ole popcorn machine which isn't just there for looks. They'll give you some of that salty goodness for--brace yourself--FREE! How lovely is that?? This all goes with the fact that they're located on Main Street, so depending on the time of day, you can find things to fill your sweet little belly with. So if you feel like kicking back with some of the greatest people in Ames, this is a great place to do so. There are daily drink specials that change each day and Happy Hour until 7!! read more

What a great dive bar! I love that this bar has grit, character, and authenticity that many other bars in Ames lack. It's not a sports bar or a frat boy hang-out; it's just a cool place to pass the time and have a beer. Lots of regulars dot the bar. Staff are laid-back, knowledgeable, and friendly. One of the best features of this bar are the arcade and board games. I've spent many hours playing the pin-ball game with friends. The complimentary popcorn is great for soaking up all the liquid you'll likely consume at this place. read more

Okay, so it turns out that dramamine and tylenol are a bad combination for me. I remember being here, but I also distinctly remember not being able to properly interact with my environment. I had been really sick and nauseated, so I took the dramamine, and I was super sore from using muscles never before noticed playing in the snow, so I took some tylenol. This resulted in a zombie version of myself, that for the purposes of this review, I shall nickname "Zomberin". No, Zomberin didn't want anything to drink, it didn't want snacks, and dammit... it didn't want to be asked questions. Zomberin wanted to be left alone in its dark corner, and watch the goings on at its table. It recognized the love coming from someone it vaguely noted was its boyfriend in another of its incarnations, but the only response it could give to inquiries about its health were low grunts and muted facial expressions. It was about an hour of that before Zomberin realized it was actually kind of hungry, and started inhaling the free popcorn this place offered. On that note, I think free popcorn is awesome. Free, delicious, wondrous popcorn. This was about the time I began to wake from my stupor. I attribute this completely to the 3 baskets full of the popcorn that I ate. I noticed other people trying to observe some weird social standard of not eating too much of the salty snack within a certain amount of time, but I was too out of it to care anything about that. I pretended that it was because they were saving it for me. Anyhow, that's about it from my perspective. Everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves a great deal, so that's worth four stars to me. read more

Writing this review from inside the bar, but it's high time to chime in. This place has some of the best staff in Ames, who know their beers. Many are able to help guide you thru the mysteries of their cooler to find the right beer for you. Selection is great, prices are decent, atmosphere is intimate. Pluses for decor, small minuses for layout. (Not their fault, building limitations.) Popcorn, pinball/foosball and decent music selection support the experience. read more

Our favorite bar on Main street, my only complaint is that the lack of food doesn't allow it to be a weekly work happy hour event. I'll second what others have already said, great beer selection, interesting people, good service. I actually like that it is decent sized and not huge. Everything about London feels right, and if you haven't discovered it yet, add it to your list of places to go. read more

First of all, it's the only bar in Ames with no TVs, so that's pretty sweet. They have a great selection of imported beers, as well as a good whisky selection. The bartenders are friendly, it's a great low-key place to chill, and there are minimal college frat types. read more

London Underground - Pubs Near Me - Ames, Iowa

If you're hitting the bar scene in Ames, London Underground is enjoyable. No tvs (that I saw) so you get to have an actual conversation with the people you're with! Good selection of unique craft beer, efficient service, accepts cards...doesn't get much better than that! I liked the vibe as well. It was on the darker side, with retro style British decor. Enjoyed my time! read more

Definitely my favorite bar of all time! Great staff, good people hang here, awesome beers...in fact what brought me here was that they had my fav beer (at the time) on tap, Franziskaner. Years later they have my other newest fav beer on tap too...Skrimshaw. Must be destiny. Pinball in back, cool music, good whiskey options (and the staff knows their stuff), nice bathrooms, and they just st refinished the floors last year, so it looks great! Gotta take a photo at/inntheir London style phone-booth. Cheers! read more

London Underground - The Wall of Whiskey - Pubs Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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Summary: Great dive bar with a noisy casual ambiance and a surprisingly good selection of local and not-so-local beers. I admittedly do not come out to Iowa often, but when I do visit the state, I try to get my friends to take me out to the Underground. I love the vibe of this place - it's definitely a dive bar, but it's not disgusting and trashy. The daily specials are great too (though admittedly I've only been here on Monday ($1 PBR) and Tuesday ($1 off bottles). Perhaps most surprising (and most important) to me is the beer selection. In addition to the aforementioned PBR and other light adjuncts available, there usually is also a good microbrew available...the last time I went there was Bell's Two Hearted on Tap and several bottles of Sculpins and West Coast IPAs that remind me of home sweet home. Also, free popcorn if you ask nicely. read more

Don't ever go here, I want it all to myself. Too good to share with the general public. DrupalCorn closes out the night here ever last Monday of the month. http://groups.drupal.org/iowa read more

If you're looking for beers you're not going to find in another bar, this is your place. They know their beers and they're friendly here too. And you can bring in your own food to eat -- perfect! It's one of my favorite places in Ames. read more

I love the eclectic crowd at the Underground. The staff are friendly and make an effort to get to know repeat customers. I don't like big crazy bars, and this one is a good mix of people, music, and activity. They've got dart boards and a foosball table, but they've also got these neat cave-like booths if you're looking for a more intimate setting for conversation. My friends and I like the $4 martinis on Wednesday nights-- try the Roxy. Sweet and delicious! read more

Boddington's on tap gets 3 1/2 stars, and a bartender who knows how to pour it gets London Underground up to 4. Why not 5? No food -- except for the free popcorn. read more

Love this place. Always friendly staff. Popcorn is great but hit and miss if they offer it to you. Just ask for some and they will get it for you. This is not a dive bar. This is a very comfortable pub that could easily sit in the city centre of London. Order up a beer (decent choices) or look over their selection of whisk(e)y, scotch, rye, etc... They do have a menu if you would rather choice one that way. Nice little booths, a couple of snugs in the front and a long bar to lean on if you so choose. Will keep returning. They let you bring food in too! Park out back, FREE! Back door available to use. read more

Fun place with great beer! No food service but you can bring food in (Great Plains pizza is down the block!)

We've fallen totally in love with London Underground. We've adopted it as our bar. It's always full of interesting people and the bartenders are great! The jukebox is great too so the soundtrack is always perfect. I can't say enough about it! read more

Really like the atmosphere its like an authentic old time pub. The beer menu is almost impossible to read due to the font and paper choice. Had a great time till the bar maid just kept the change from a 20 for a $14.00 tab. It was extremely presumptuous not wanting a conflict on our date night my boyfriend let it go. If I'd been there with girlfriends or by myself I would of raised hell. With that being said they have lots of beers to choose from and that always helps. read more

Perhaps the most relaxing bar in town! Always some great music playing on either the jukebox or the bar iPod. I always run into somebody I know when I'm there, plus free popcorn is great! read more

The best local in Ames. This is one of my regional favorites, and a go-to for some no nonsense beers with friends. No TVs, no loud music, but $2.50 Guinness pints during happy hour and plenty of "craic." If you're looking for a great place to wrap up a date or engage in weighty conversation with friends go Underground. read more

Good selection of beers, great service. I only wish they would serve food, but they do allow you to bring in food from outside.

I love this bar! Great atmosphere, filled with locals, who enjoy great beer and good times! The staff is friendly, and they are always eager to share with you a new beer on tap! Plus they have a English style phone booth inside! Does it get any better? read more

Some of the most friendly bartenders in Ames. If this place served food, they could easily make the investment back in no time at all. Clean and modern facility, but again, the popcorn is not sufficient when consuming adult beverages. read more

Hands down the best bar in Ames. Great beer selection, free popcorn, intelligent and friendly crowd.

Best bar on Main Street if you're interested in drinking good beer and looking for a Pub-style atmosphere. Only downside is the lack of TVs if there's a game you'd like to watch, but sometimes it's just nice to get away from flickering screens for a couple hours! Staff are always courteous and it is not usually so overcrowded as to be detrimental to service. They have most of the UK/Irish standards on tap or available in bottles, plus a few other nice surprises. Only gripe is the columns on the tables along the wall, opposite of the bar. Not sure if these are functional or just cosmetic, but they make it very hard to carry on a conversation between groups of more than 4 people. read more

Very average with some good drink deals. There are many better bars in Ames with a larger beer selection and friendlier staff.