Since finding this place in the Pub Pass last year and hearing a good recommendation on their burgers from our neighbor, I’ve been anxious to give it a try. We had the chance this week while my brother and sister-in-law were visiting, so stopped by to try out their Happy Hour.
While admittedly it doesn’t look like much from the exterior (see pictures), the decor of the interior was unique (see pictures). They have a very good selection of tap beers (see picture) and their most unique drink was their Old Fashioned Slushy (see picture), which I ordered at the suggestion of our server and thoroughly enjoyed.
We already had plans to eat dinner elsewhere, so we just ordered Buffalo Cauliflower (see picture). The initial smell made us think that it was going to be extremely spicy but after tasting it, we found it to be a good balance and quite tasty. I look forward to the opportunity to stop by another time for a burger.
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We have stopped here for food on a couple of occasions and have found it to be an above average pub food location with an interesting historical atmosphere. Today, we stopped by to try out their Happy Hour that we found on www.happyhourdesmoines.com and enjoyed our stop as well as the service and interactions with our server, Brent – who was fantastic! Brent went out of his way to give us great service, including bringing sample tastes of their local brews without even being asked – to encourage them over the Busch Lights that our guests ordered.
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We stopped here shortly after moving into the area 2 years ago and had the opportunity to go back tonight while celebrating Birthdays of our son and daughter-in-law. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the smell when you walk in and thought the food was above average, the value and service only rate average to me.
We started with a round of drinks – and since the Tequila Sunrise (see picture) was the special for the night, we each ordered one. We decided to order Crab Rangoon (see picture) as an appetizer and thought they tasted quite good. For our main meal, we ordered the Family Platter (see picture) and added 1/2 pound of sausage. While the butter and seasoning flavors were great, I felt that the seafood and sweetcorn were over-cooked and a little tough / rubbery as a result.
While it can be tough to rate the quality of the food for a place like this, I landed on a 4 based on the taste being good but the cooking time being a bit too long. Given how messy it is to eat, this likely isn’t a place where you take a first date nor wear your Sunday best clothes. Relative to this type of food, this is a reasonable place to enjoy some good Cajun seafood and seasoning.
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Family Platter w/ 1/2 lb SausageCrab RangoonTequila SunriseBirthday Shot
We stopped here for dinner this weekend while staying at a house on Gull Lake and enjoyed our stop. From the outside, it had a large log-cabin type of appearance – but the strongest feature here was the atmosphere and the beautiful lighting and stone work that awaits you when you walk through the front door. It was truly an amazing visual experience to see!
We started with a round of drinks. I had the Old Fashioned (see picture) and was honestly quite disappointed with it as it seemed to be nothing but straight bourbon and possibly a slight dash of bitters. My wife ordered a Margarita and both of us thought it tasted quite good.
For dinner, my wife and I decided to split the 16 oz Ribeye (see picture) while she added the salad (see picture) and we shared the Popovers (see picture). I really liked the Popovers and the flavored butter that came with them. My wife enjoyed the flavor of the salad, but didn’t like that it had to be cut at the table to eat it. The Ribeye was above average in flavor and was prepared as ordered – and the Cheesy Potatoes (see picture) were fantastic, so rich, creamy and delicious.
Last but not least, we ordered a piece of Turtle Cheesecake (see picture) and that quite frankly was likely the highlight of my meal – I thought it was wonderful and would highly recommend that you end your meal with a piece of it yourself!
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Turtle Cheesecake16 oz RibeyeCheesy PotatoesPopoversOld Fashioned
I always try to stop at a brewery in a city we are visiting so couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check out the Roundhouse and was glad that we stopped. We were surprised at how many cars were in the parking lot and were impressed with the additional activities (such as axe throwing) that they advertised.
The building and interior were modern and clean and the service was friendly and quick. The beer selection was good (around 20 on tap) and my wife and I shared a 6 sample beer Flight. We found most of the beers to be well above average and rated them all in Untappd.
Definitely worth a stop if you are in the Nisswa / Gull Lake area.
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It was a Friday during Lent so we were looking for seafood takeout options to take to our son’s place for a late lunch. This place was right along the way, so we ordered ahead to pick it up on the way by. While I love trying new places and like to support small businesses, I feel that this place is going to need some management assistance to stay alive. For starters, my wife wasn’t able to order online through their website and was tricked into signing up with a contract with another company when she thought she was placing her order for the food. Therefore, she gave up and called in instead…and while taking our order, the order-taker suddenly stopped taking our order and proceeded to yell at one of the other employees.
Since we ordered ahead over the phone, I dropped my wife off at the door and waited outside with the vehicle running as I thought it would be a quick stop to pick up our food. After 15 minutes of waiting, I parked the vehicle and went inside to see what was going on with our order. My wife then informed me that the menu in the store was different than what she ordered based on what showed online. Beware that the in-store menu does not include beverages as is shown in their online menu and the prices are higher.
Once the food was finally finished and we got it to our son’s house, we found the food to be relatively good. The best part in my opinion was the Hush Puppies (see picture) with the Shrimp & Fries basket (see picture) also being tasty. We weren’t as impressed with the Fish & Fries basket (see picture), as the breading was very dry and cornmeal like, with little to no flavor or seasoning.
Bottom line is that the food was reasonable for a fast food restaurant, but the service is definitely not fast. Don’t expect that they will be organized enough to have your food ready if you call ahead – I’d order at the restaurant and make sure you have about 15 minutes available to wait for the food.
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This place was directly across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn where we were staying and since we didn’t stop here for dinner, we stopped here for an after-dinner cocktail on the way back to our room.
Given our penchant for unique cocktails and my love of spicy and smokey drinks, we really enjoyed our stop (see cocktail pictures below). Our server was very friendly and helpful relative to helping us find a great cocktail for our tastes and in addition to enjoying the drinks, we had great conversation with a couple of people at the bar.
The food that was being served while we were there looked and smelled delicious, so we look forward to stopping back here for dinner sometime on another visit.
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We came across this place somewhat by accident while staying at the Hilton Garden Inn a block up the street. The Thai Pop across the street from the hotel caught my eye, but my wife was interested in American food for the evening so I did a quick search and talked her into the Blue Duck Kitchen based on their reviews and menu items.
We were impressed from the moment we walked into the place – unique, modern, clean, friendly and welcoming – with the owner floating around and making sure things were just right throughout the evening. Since we were there before official dinner hours and the dining room was still closed, we took a seat in the bar and decided to enjoy a few Happy Hour items from the sign (see picture). That brings me to the first call-out for great service – Leo was a fantastic bartender, was knowledgeable about the various drink selections and made wonderful Happy Hour food suggestions.
I started with an Old Fashioned (Happy Hour special – see picture) and wanted some food since we hadn’t eaten lunch, so Leo suggested the Kimchi Dog (see picture) – talking about how great it was. We were a little unsure about ordering a hot dog in a nicer restaurant, but went with his suggestion – and boy were we happy that we did. The hot dog was split in half the long way, had a nice ‘snap’ skin and was made with high quality meat. That, combined with the quality bread used for the bun and the great seasonings made it a dish that both my wife and I loved so much that we ordered another – the Chili Dog (see picture), which was also delicious!
We were then called to our table in the dining room…bringing about the 2nd call-out for great service – Alisha was quite the treat as our server. She was knowledgeable and friendly – and had great information about the menu items as well as some great recommendations! I usually don’t mention that I do reviews until after the meal is complete, but decided to flip the script tonight as there were so many things that looked great on the menu, so wanted Alisha to pick for me.
For our dinner, my wife ordered the Chef’s Catch (see picture) and I Alisha surprised me with the Nashville Hot Frog Legs (see picture). Both of us loved our meals and as I told Alisha – while I never would have ordered the Frog Legs, I thought they were delicious. The Nashville Hot sauce was great (loved the burn) and the macaroni and cheese that they were served on was rich, creamy and tasty. I highly recommend both dishes.
As good as everything was, we just had to try some dessert. While Alisha suggested the Strawberry Crepe Cake (as did others we met later in the evening), we were afraid that would be too much – so went with the Chocolate Chip Cookies with sea salt (see picture) and coffee. They were bite-sized, warm (fresh out of the oven) – firm on the outside and yet so soft and wonderful on the inside. The next time we come back, we will have to try the Strawberry Crepe Cake – but that doesn’t take anything away from these cookies, as they were delicious!
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Nashville Hot Frog LegsChef’s CatchKimchi DogChili DogOld Fashioned (sweet)Mezcal PalomaChocolate Chip Cookies & CoffeeHappy Hour
I’ve heard about this place and driven by it multiple times thinking that we needed to go sometime and last night finally presented its opportunity. Friends were in town and we were enjoying some Happy Hour specials from happyhourdesmoines.com at a nearby pub when the owner asked if we were going to the comedy club.
We decided to give it a try ordering tickets on our phones while at another nearby restaurant. Tickets weren’t too bad ($17/person) but there was a 2 item per person minimum order, so I was bracing for some really expensive food and/or food.
While finalizing our evening plans, we checked out the menu and were pleasantly surprised by both the food selection as well as the pricing. After reviewing the menu, we decided that we would plan to eat at the Funny Bone before the show, so we arrived a little early, ordered drinks (see Lemon Drop Martini picture) and then ordered our meals.
I went with a basket of sweet potato fries while my wife ordered the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (see picture) and our friend ordered the Chicken Strips (see picture). The sweet potato fry basked arrived early, so we all enjoyed them with the sauce that was provided. I shared the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with my wife and was pleasantly surprised with how good it was.
I found both the sweet potato fries as well as the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich to be at least in line with other nearby pubs and restaurants. The fries were flavorful, crispy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside. The Buffalo Chicken Sandwich was loaded with hot sauce (very juicy) and the bun tasted great. Our friend also thought that the Chicken Strips and fries were very good – so we would recommend both of them.
I was a little hesitant and not sure what to expect here, but found the atmosphere (it was packed for the early show on Saturday night), food, comedy and value to all be good enough that I look forward to a return trip in the near future.
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Walked by this place on numerous occasions and finally took the chance to stop for dinner tonight. Nothing super fancy as far as the atmosphere, but the food was top notch and our server (Ethan) was also excellent.
We started with a Cafe Sua Cheese Foam hot drink – mostly because we hadn’t had one before and wanted to try something different. Boy was it delicious – best way I can describe it is a great cappuccino with a foam that has a wonderful salted caramel flavor to it that feels wonderful in your mouth! If you haven’t tried one of these before, I highly recommend that you give it a try.
For an appetizer, my wife and I shared a Banh Mi sandwich (see picture) that was one of the best that we’ve had – I would have been happy to have that for my meal. For our dinner, I ordered the Pho Special (see picture) and my wife ordered the Broken Rice (see picture). We weren’t exactly sure what broken rice was, but Ethan described it as rice topped with an egg – and it was every bit as good as his recommendation. As is our standard, we shared our plates and both of us thoroughly enjoyed both dishes.
If you are looking for some great Vietnamese Pho or an excellent hot or cold Asian drink in downtown Des Moines, you won’t be disappointed with a stop at Pho Real. We definitely won’t hesitate to stop by again, even if only for a drink – as there are so many more to try!
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Saw that this place won best Burger in town (specifically recommending the Smashburger) in Cityview, so asked our neighbors to join us and ventured downtown for dinner after the big snowstorm. Given the name, I was expecting a fairly high-end and expensive place – so was a little surprised when we walked in to see a colorful retro-diner decor.
While one of the servers shared that a previous reviewer had made disparaging remarks about the workers appearance, I’ve shared in my online profiles that I enjoy servers with some character, opinions on the food and a story to tell. I found the atmosphere to be quite inviting with friendly and professional workers looking for ways to be of service to their customers.
Given the award and recommendation for smashburgers, I ordered the Uncle Denny (see picture). I loved the soft, moist bun and found the Duke’s mayo & pepper jelly to be the perfect level of spice to complement the smashburger and bun. The included fries were also very good – great combination of crispiness on the outside, yet soft inside.
My wife ordered The Big Gym with Tots (see picture) and also enjoyed it – commenting especially on how good the tots were. She liked the fact that the tots were nice and crispy on the outside and not soft / soggy. Our neighbor ordered the The Chili Charles (see picture) open-faced chili burger on Texas Toast and also enjoyed it. Admittedly, it looked so good that I think that is what I will try on our next visit.
The pricing, including $5 tap beers, seemed reasonable and the burgers were top-notch. A great retro-diner experience that you will want to try!
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Update: We stopped back again last night with our son and again enjoyed the experience. I’m also happy to report that they made improvements following my initial review regarding poor lighting (and clutter) in the restaurant. The lighting was much better, enabling me to take some better-quality pictures (see below). From this, I increased the Atmosphere rating to a 4*.
We ordered Lamb Curry (see picture), Chef Special Grill Platter (see picture) and Coconut Chicken Curry (see picture) along with Garlic & Butter Naan (see picture). We really enjoyed all of them – with the Chef Special Grill Platter providing the most food (including full chicken drumsticks) and the Coconut Chicken Curry having the best flavor (even though it my son ordered mild and I prefer spicy). I ordered the Lamb Curry as Hot on the spicy level and my wife ordered the Chef Special Grill Platter as Medium…but I’m suspicious that they mixed those two up, as hers was the spiciest at the table and I ordered extra spice for the Lamb Curry.
Service was good for drink orders and food orders as well as a follow up shortly after we were served to check on spice level (and bring more spice…). Following that though, we ran out of rice and wanted another bowl but after unsuccessfully waiting for our server, I walked over to the kitchen area and asked for another bowl.
Overall was still a very good experience and we really liked all of the food, so I wouldn’t hesitate to return and would recommend it as one of the better Indian / Himalayan restaurants where I’ve eaten.
11/09/2022
My wife and I stopped here for dinner to give it a try and are sure glad that we did. While the service and atmosphere were average, the food was all delicious!
We ordered plenty of food, expecting to take the extra home with us for later meals at home…so enjoyed several meals. For the main course, we ordered Coconut Chicken Curry, Lamb Biryani & Shrimp Fried Rice (see pictures of each…poorer quality due to lighting). For sides, we ordered Tandoori Roti (found it to be dry), Cheese Naan & Raita along with Rasmalai for dessert (pictures of each attached).
We ordered each of the main dishes medium to medium-hot spiciness and really enjoyed all of them! Don’t leave without trying the Rasmalai for dessert – described as cheesecake soaked in a sweet milk, it was delicious and not overly sweet! We will definitely be back!
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My wife’s co-worker recommended this place, so we stopped for a quick drink after our dinner on the way out of the area to check it out and gather information for happyhourdesmoines.com.
We liked the atmosphere and the value for the drinks seemed in line with other similar locations. The service at the bar was average but the Salty Pretzel (see picture) was good, although a bit salty. We will have to stop back to try the food sometime.
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This place has been on my Want to Go list for a while and finally got to try it last night. My wife was quite hungry, so we thought we would quickly resolve that and try out some $5 apps during Happy Hour. While the first external impression was a little negative (store front came across as a fast-foodish), we immediately felt better after stepping inside – very nice atmosphere and bustling with activity.
Long story short…we arrived just before 6pm on a Friday, didn’t have a reservation, were told it would be “5 minutes” – then proceeded to wait 50 minutes before we were seated. We thought we would help the time pass by enjoying a cocktail, so asked the primary server about ordering a drink (behind the bar seating area is food preparation only and no bartender). He said he would be back “in a second” to take our order, but never did return.
Other than cooking, bussing tables and table clean up, he was the only one doing everything else in the service area of the restaurant. While he was very friendly, pleasant and apologetic – he clearly could not keep up with all of the demands of the customers and made some mistakes. If he would have help on the service side, they clearly could move more people through (all told, we spent 2 hours and 20 minutes there) and increase their revenues while providing better service.
Now onto the good part – the food and drinks were FANTASTIC (see pictures for menus and food / drinks)! I did make one mission trip to Peru that was quite enjoyable and introduced me to ceviche and pisco sours – but have not have the opportunity to sample a lot of their cuisine.
For starters, I ordered a Pisco Sour (see picture) and it was delicious – very foamy egg white on top and the cinnamon / presentation was great! For appetizers, we ordered Chicharron de Pescado and Causa de Pollo (see pictures). I absolutely loved the Causa mashed potato / chicken salad / avocado stack and the Pescado was also very good.
For our dinner, my wife and I shared Cremoso Ceviche (see picture) and Arroz Norteno (see picture). As our 5* rating implies, we loved both of them – as the name implies, the ceviche sauce was a bit creamy and the Arroz dish was fresh and very tasty. If you read my reviews, you know I love sweets – so the meal wasn’t complete without Alfajores Peruanos (see picture) for dessert. Again, it is highly recommended – the soursop ice cream is best described as unique (the first word used by both my wife and myself) and the caramel cookies were great – caramelly, yet not too sweet.
Do not go here unless you have reservations (the place was packed and stayed so until less than an hour before closing when we were there) or go during a less-busy time. If you do that and are patient with the service, you will definitely not be disappointed with the food! As the pictures show, the presentation is fantastic and it tastes every bit as good as it looks – I highly recommend the food and cocktails! If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow.
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Pisco SourCausa de PolloChicharron de PescadoCremoso CevicheArroz NortenoAlfajores Peruanos
We had heard about this place, driven by it several times and wanted to try it, so were looking forward to it when asked by friends to meet them there. We started with a Margarita (see picture) based on a recommendation and it turned out to be the highlight of the evening. It was not only a generous serving (separate shaker as shown in picture to refill your glass), but it tasted great – not too tart and not too sweet.
For our meal, we started with a Greek Salad (another highlight) – the salad and the dressing were great! For our meal, we ordered a 10″ double crust Pepperoni (see picture), a 10″ double crust Bacon Cheeseburger (see picture) and a 14″ House Special (see picture). I ended up disappointed in the pizza (heavy, dense crust with little flavor that wasn’t my favorite) as well as the value ($19 for the Cheeseburger and $26 for the House Special – and both were relatively small).
If you are looking for a great Margarita (who would have thought in an Italian restaurant…), I think that you will love your stop here. However, as to the pizza (their namesake specialty), I really can’t recommend it based on the value as well as the crust. In my opinion, it is in the lower tier of pizzas that we’ve had in the area.
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Stopped here to meet a friend after work this week and was impressed with the beers and the atmosphere. If that isn’t enough to capture your attention, they also have an attached arcade area with lots of fun entertainment.
The beer selection is good, it is served cold – and if you like sampling different beers, their beer Flight is a pretty good value (5 samples for $9). This place is definitely worth a stop after work or for a casual stop out before or after dinner. The have a pretty good selection of ‘Bytes’…so will have to try the food during a future stop.
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We stopped here primarily to use our Pub Pass for a free beer, then ended up utilizing their $2 Off Iowa beer special instead and ordered some food. The beer selection is good and the Pork Quesadilla (see picture) that we ordered was better than we expected – it was very good.
While it is a very casual, open and loud atmosphere adjacent to the movie theater in the mall, the beer and food are better than average and I’d recommend it for a stop after work or a casual night out.
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We stopped here for lunch while in the area as we had stopped before but hadn’t eaten – just had taps. An initial disappointment was learning that they no longer were a part of the Pub Pass in 2023 (as they were in 2022), so we wouldn’t be able to enjoy a complimentary tap.
Even without the Pub Pass, we ordered a Bloody Mary (see picture) and Tip the Cow w/ Vanilla (see picture) as a starter…and enjoyed both of them a lot. For our meals, my wife ordered the Steak Sandwich (see picture) and I ordered the Cubano (see picture). My wife enjoyed the cheesy Steak Sandwich and having just returned from Tampa and some great Cuban sandwiches, this one here in Ankeny held its own – quite authentic with the pork, mustard and great bread. Maybe the best part though was the french fries – I really liked the thick, crunchy coating and they were fried to perfection (see picture).
While I found it to be a bit on the pricey side with $16 sandwiches, the food taste and quality were good and worthy of a recommendation.
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We have enjoyed the Bahama Breeze in Lutz, Florida so thought we would stop by this one on our way to the airport to fly home from vacation. The experience was very similar and we enjoyed this location just as much as Lutz.
We started with a Cuban Mojito and Aruba Red beer (both hit the spot), then moved on to our main courses. I ordered the Tropical Fruit Chicken Salad (see picture) and can’t express strongly enough how much I enjoyed it – light, refreshing and so tasty! My wife ordered the Fish Tacos (Blackened) with a side bowl of Seafood Chowder (see picture) – both were delicious and are highly recommended.
This was my 3rd visit to Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill – all with my son while visiting him in Tampa. This time, we have a VRBO and stayed on Clearwater Beach within a mile of the restaurant.
We started with an order of General Antonio bacon wrapped Scallops (see picture) – have enjoyed them before and once again, they did not disappoint. My wife ordered a bowl of the She Crab Soup (see picture) that we shared and both found to be delicious (very thick and rich).
For the main meal, my wife and I shared The Three Kings pan sauteed grouper (see picture) and found it every bit as good as the description. My Mom ordered the Seafood Pot Pie (see picture) and loved it, while my Dad had to be talked into the Old School grouper sandwich instead of the hamburger he wanted…but really liked it.
For dessert, we shared a piece of Keylime Pie – and I’d highly recommend you have a piece before you leave on your next visit. As you can tell from our multiple visits, we really enjoy this place and would highly recommend it for anyone looking for dinner on the beach.
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