Reviews of The Iowa Taproom (Restaurant)

Lori Doyle

HUGE selection of beer. The buffalo chicken sandwich was SO good. The place is enormous so getting a table was pretty quick even on a Friday.

James Webster

The music was nice, the app's were good and the service was great. We will go back again. We couldn't try a full as the kitchen was mostly shut down.

Marie Harms

This is such a nice atmosphere. Lively, but muted noise-wise. The acoustics are well managed, making talking possible. Always good food!

Steve Wilke

Always a fun place to come when I'm in town.

Wayne Pittard

Good beer good food,wonderful service

Kaila Cantens

They had a veggie burger that was vegan and locally made hot sauce which was really tasty!

Mike Dodor

Great staff, awesome selection

Bill Dunkin

Cool place, food was average. Got chicken sandwich which was hotter than a garlic milkshake. Still, great atmosphere and drink selection. Even though I might not eat here again, still a cool place.

Ann Marie Evans

Great service. Excellent recommendations. Wonderful ambience.

michael podoll

Iowa brews. Good feel. Good service. Haven't had the food yet. Just had some drinks with friends, but couldn't ask for better on this visit.

Steve Treat

Our Son's wedding was held in the Taproom's event room area in late June. During the planning we visited and had lunch in the restaurant. The food and service were good. We were also happy with the support our daughter-in-law and son received during the wedding planning. The wedding activities all worked out well. It's a great location for an event. We did learn they had a power-outage the next day and closed the restaurant for lunch but opened later in the day. We've heard that happens there on occasion during really hot days. I don't know how that impacted the events room but would have been a disaster for the wedding if there was no power!

Catara Bolling

The Servicewas great and the food was delicious! Glad I celebrated my birthday here!

dragon788

Had an event speaker party here and the food they provided was fantastic. One of the best taco bars I've had.

Joseph Ryall

Massive and impressive variety of beer on tap, and all Iowa local stuff. Friendly and helpful staff who know what they're talking about. No complaints.

snigdhodeep mukherjee

This is an amazing place for beer lovers. They have huge number of craft beers on tap and they are very reasonably priced. They also sell beer in crowlers! Food is good too. They have limited options for vegetarians though. The staff are very nice and friendly and the the ambience is pretty good too. I loved this this place at Des Moines .. highly recommend.

D E

Great food Good service

Randall Sgro

Great local brewery What a great place to eat and drink. The food is outstanding, you can't find a better place with better servers as the service is amazing.

Tina Jordan

Good service. Good food.

Jeff Martin

With an extensive selection of Iowa brewers on tap, local whiskeys, and good food, this casual laid back pub is a must visit in Des Moines. Would have been 5 starts, but I felt a bit ignored at the bar.

Chuck Meyer

Delicious food, fantastic beer selection, nice wait staff!

Matt Peters

Slightly disappointed with the cheese curds. Mostly fried breading. The southern fried chicken sandwich was OUTSTANDING. The tenderloin looked good as well. Excellent portions and amazing beers. Love this place.

Matt Paulsen

Pretty standard for food. Yes they have a good selection of beers so if you are just for a couple beers it’s a good place. I had the chicken sandwich and it was just super basic, it looked like no effort went into it. Maybe it was because it was super busy and the kitchen was swamped but who knows.

Dylan Mike White

Fish tacos! Pretty good beer selection with a lot of local options. The tacos were solid but the unexpected thing, was that the spinach artichoke dip stole the spotlight. Fantastic!

Ray Centa

Great selection of beers. The food was delicious, and the wait staff was helpful and personable

Ogi Surlan

Great food and even better beer!

Anna Wolvers

It has a HUGE variety of beers on tap including several different gluten free options! They even had a good selection of gluten free foods. The chocolate mousse cake was delicious! Bonus, it was my bday, so the cake was FREE! You can get a free shot, dessert, or beer on your birthday. The staff were friendly, sociable, & helpful with sample selections for beers. Only bad thing: street parking with meters to keep up on while you eat or celebrate. I met a cool couple from Australia visiting there today. The gluten free pineapple, peach, & apple ciders were all GREAT!

Ethan Dix

Took an out of town colleague here for lunch and he absolutely loved it. Had the Farm Hand Burger.

Mark Nall

Awesome beers, great atmosphere, and an excellent selection of eats to go with the drinks. It was my first time there and I'll definitely be back the next time we're in the Des Moines downtown area.

Chris Johnson

Great place to hang out. Amazing selection of beer on tap. Food is perty good too. Service is awesome.

Zsuzsanna Kocsis

Very nice place, huge selection of beers on tap, local beers only. Food was also really great. Would definitely go back!

Keith Shields

Great service! The hamball appetizer was ok, but the lunch pulled pork with cole slaw was excellent.

Demetrio Alailla

The is a little expensive , the cucumber wasn't fresh on my burger ,other than that great service .

Nicky V

Stayed at the Embassy Suites over the weekend and the Iowa Taproom was within walking distance so we decided it sounded like a good place for a late dinner. We got there around 9pm, but almost every table was filled, although we didn't wait at all to be seated. Our waitress was excellent and suggested a great beer for me, which I usually never drink. She suggested a cider and it was delicious and flavorful. Their selection is vast, but not so huge that making a decision is difficult. Excellent food, too. I had the fish and chips and it was perfect.

Justin Carlson

Try their wings, spicy dry rub!

Brian Macey

The good was I thought the service was great. They were attentive, timely and just nice people. They have a ton beers on tap so definitely go here if beer is your thing. The bad, I had the bbq burger and thought it was just ok, actually I regretted ordering it which is a rarity for me. Would’ve really have made this place good if they had solid pub grub but the burger was luke warm and the bun had to have been a day or two old or previously frozen.

Mike Morris

They have a nice bet selection and pretty good food. The service had always been decent and it has a neat atmosphere. It's also a good place to watch the game as there are TVs everywhere.

Grandma Suzy

Beautiful, historic, good food, friendly staff ~ we are planning a family even there next winter

Ken Mason

What a great place. Loved the atmosphere, food, and craft beers.

Beth Roundtree

Great food, great beer, in a family environment at reasonable prices. What's not to love?

Mack Dadi

My husband and I hosted our reception for our wedding here and they did a great job with everything. Food was phenomenal, staff was attentive and everything was perfect. They also have a wide selection of beers domestically, imported, and locally. Great experience and would do again

Nate Barnes

Great Atmosphere, Awesome food, huge selection of different craft beers, will most definitely be back.

Zach Lewis

Great vibe! Real nice environment! Great food. Gotta go check this place out if you haven't already.

Katie Hutchins

Huge IOWA beer selection!! Our server was very knowledgeable with the beer selection and recommended a fantastic beer from a new brewery in Newton, Iowa (Dopptoberfest). Very cozy atmosphere and beautiful outdoor patio.

Justo Juarez

Really good service and the food what I eat was really good.Iowa chop, Delicious thank you guys

Mark Nelson

Beer selection is one of the best in town, especially for local breweries. Appetizers are great too - get the Iowa hamballs!

Jim S

Great place for lunch. AWESOME beer selection. The service and food was perfect.

Joseph Cosenza-Weaver

Great place for beer and food but the bartenders could be more attentive.

Marcel Nienhuis

Awesome place for comprehensive Iowa beer selection. 99 Iowa beers on tap!

Marty Hogan

Great place and the feel of the room added to the good food. Had a flight of ciders that were all Iowa made and sampled a few others. Waitress was excellent and made great suggestions. Our anniversary night and was just the thing we needed after working all week.

Kate Bieler

Excellent food!! So many beer choices. If you are someone who loves beer beyond the basics bud and bud light this is the place to go and try them.

Rachelle Long

Nice fun atmosphere. Good food and ouf Waitress was great...she handled our table of 8 with ease.

Steve Davis

Such a cool venue with a ton of things on tap!!

Mike Dixon

I liked the atmosphere, the service was very good, the food was ok.

Patrick McClain

I had the chicken fried chicken which is not a chicken fried steak as a previous review mentioned. Ambience is busy and friendly. Beer selection is vast. Food was fresh, corn was nicely made, mash was fresh, chicken was average to good. Worst thing in takeout dont get the white & green paper underneath your food. If you do RIP it out and throw it away fast. Their napkins are expensive above the norm quality but that tray liner in to go containers is cheap and will easily get in your food. More of an annoyance and overall the food was decent not great. I cant give it a 3 though as I feel its above average.

Sara Sweeney

Yes! Food was great as well... so good I forgot to post photos

Brooke Kienast

The food and service was great! The Taproom is a fun and relaxed atmosphere for any occasion from date night to night with friends or family.

Kara Vorwald

The Iowa Tap Room has some fantastic food! I love the jalapeno poppers! The venue has lots of windows for amazing natural window light. I also love how they have the twinkle lights hanging from the celling to give ambiance to the space.

Kelli Dix

The food was excellent. They have outdoor seating, which I enjoy.

Tom Woods

First time customer here, I was really impressed with the fine quality of food. They are known for the local brew but I think their food is something to talk about. The food is not regular bar food, this is a place to take friends and family to eat dinner.

Todd Harrell

Jalapeño Poppers second to none, surprising this Texan, especially since they were absent whole peppers inside. They are incredible! Same with the local beer selection. I don't know where you'll find more. Great place!

Matthew Ferrell

All the beer is from Iowa and that’s pretty cool. Didn’t have the food, the atmosphere was okay.

Andrew Heineman

Great place to hang out! Lots of beers and good times for all!

Michael Virga

Great, no, Amazing place. Excellent choices, knowledgeable, and friendly staff.

Laura Madsen

Kelly is an awesome waiter. He is great. Best at pick something for me. Seriously a best to try local beers

Ivan Guerra

Very nice place. I would totally come back for a brew. Came here for a political event. Nice place. Has beautiful wood floors and offers a nice atmosphere.

Lukas sommerhalder

Good beer good service. Friendly staff food is pretty good!tons of beer and knowable staff. Would recommend it to couples or groups that like beer and American bar food!

Jim VanWaardhuizen

Service during lunch can be slow. The brisket grilled cheese was great however they need to rethink the breading on the tenderloin it was awful.

Kevin Schmelzer

I was there for a wedding reception and I was quite impressed. Great beer selection, of course.

Lance G.

This place was very full at 1 PM on a Saturday. Huge selection of Iowa brewed beers. Good atmosphere with a young crowd. Staff at the bar was busy but kept good care of us. My only complaint was the pork tenderloin sandwich. Heavily breaded and didn't let any flavor of the pork come through. Disappointing results when in Iowa. Overall would stop again and try something else from the food menu.

Adam Benway

Awesome place that offers nearly 100 Iowa beers. Lots of seating, even when it got busy on a Friday night. Food is worth going for as well, plenty of great burger choices. Spent just as much on food as drinks. Easy place to sit around for a long time.

alex nolan

Amazing food and service

Bill Ferrel

Attended a wedding rehearsal reception here in a private room. Good service but very loud. Hard to talk without yelling. Nice place to visit and would recommend visiting. But if you want a low key quite dinner or lunch, probably not your place

Greg Christie

This place is awesome and I was really surprised by the lack of people that were there on Saturday night. I came down by the bars on Saturday and all the bars were full. I looked around and found the tap room and walked inside and had plenty of space for a group of 7. The Beer selection is beautiful and has something for everyone's taste. The taps look like a corn crib which is quite Iowan even the Sukup name sign. The Food is good too. Had just appetizers but they came very well cooked and the service was awesome. Will be back soon to enjoy the rest of both the beer and food menu.

Jim Hickie

Best beer selection around, and food that is superb. Try a flight to zero in on the beers you like best, try a few appetizers to pass around, and meals are great too. One of my go-to places in DSM.

Frank Stieg

Understand why the Iowa Taproom is highly recommended. Phenomenal selection of beers (and the bar tender was VERY knowledgable). Very, very good pork tenderloin sandwich. Tender. Tasty. Enormous.

Julie K Munden

Beer and football were great on a fall Thursday night!

Sarah Feerhusen

Great beer selection and food. It's crowded and loud. Still prefer the vibe at El Bait.

Stephani Livingston-Smithson

GREAT gluten free options!

Jacob Jensen

Their staff is super friendly and knowledgeable, and their food is great. This is a great place to unwind after work, or a nice place for a 2nd or 3rd date (it can get kind of loud).

David Johnson

All Iowa beer selection with great food options. Come hungry or ask for a box. Be warned this is a loud environment.

Michael Rose

Really neat old building. The food was very good and reasonably priced. There are lots of Iowa beers on tap. We tried a couple of flights. Very good!

Sue Ann Niehaus

Great atmosphere and service! So many good beer options.Those ham balls though!

Chris Curtis

Food was good but service was atrocious. Super long waits in between every interaction. Seemed understaffed for the amount of people that were inside the restaurant. 15 minutes to get check and another 10 to wait for a box the waitress forgot.

Josh Ritchey

Amazing food and drinks. A must stop everytime that I am in Des Moines

David Strong

Enjoyed the food, Iowa beer, and our bartender. I can't spell her name but she's always great, very friendly and knowledgeable. Favorite food, curds and the MAYTAG burger! Fantastic!

Taylor Peterson

Great Iowa beers on tap. Food is pretty good, typical bar food like cheese curds and cheeseburgers, but also other dishes if you're feeling something a little more fancy. If you go on Friday or Saturday nights around 6:00 or 7:00 there's usually at least an hour wait, they don't take reservations for small parties. They are open for lunch and every time I've gone we've gotten our food fast. There's usually plenty of street parking and metered parking around within a block.

John Gregory

Excellent food, staff were very friendly and helpful

Josh Machande

Such a wide variety of beers. Choose your own flight of beer and enjoy an appetizer or two. I highly recommend the Ham Balls and Spinach dip.

Dawn Reisdorf

Second visit while in Des Moines and remembered why we like it so much. Great food, great atmosphere. Thanks Taproom!

ahenderson8654

Unique presentation of traditional great food. Love this place

Caitlyn Negley

The service and food were great, and the beer list covers just about every style you'd want. This place is a real crowd pleaser. I highly recommend.

Steve Neofotist

Good food great service

Gregory Foulke

This is a very fun place with 99 Iowa beers on tap and a full food menu. I went with 8 other co-workers and we had a great time. The service was friendly and the price was very affordable. The food was good, but probably the weakest point of the experience. I'll be back.

Zoe Meek

Lloooove the amount of alcohol OBVIOUSLY! I usually get a burger or wings, but this last time the just regular wings and it was delicious. Give it a go if you have never been here, plus there's this cute cupcake place for afterwards.

Greg Howes

Amazing food and service. Above and beyond most eateries and pubs. 100% recommend!!!

Brandon Parizek

A cool spot, with all the Iowa beer you can shake a stick at!

Kenneth Sprague

Great place to eat, and visit with friends

mike arens

Handled private party perfectly. Good time,food and bar!

Billy Foster

First time in Iowa...this was the first place I ate at. GREAT PLACE!!! Food was good...must drop by if you’re in the area...

Brian Schrage

Good food. Good service.

abe kline

Great service. Surprisingly good food

Lina E

Went there for a wedding. Very nice place, AMAZiNG Staff! Super nice and very helpful to this craft beer novice. Great beers!!

Jesse Narducci

Can’t beet the IATR. Best of the best in Iowa. So amazing to have access to all these local brews. The event rooms are best in DSM in my opinion

Angela Dominguez

Awesome beer selection and great service. It's one of my favorite places.

Lois holmes

Best Hamburger I have had in a very very long time!!

Jeremy Sims

Great food, great Iowa brews on tap, reasonable prices, relaxed atmosphere.

Ann Atterberry

Great beer and great food make for a great night!

Filemon Guzman

Cool little place and excellent cheese curds.

Tiffany Banks

Would recommend Iowa Tap Room Events for weddings or other big days!! The staff is so easy to work with and accommodating - we loved our experience

Jonathan Covalt

The food and service here were both excellent. My wife and I went for lunch at noon, and we got seating very quickly (which can be difficult downtown during lunch time) and the waiter was very attentive. I got the BBQ pulled pork and bread pudding, my wife got the French dip and creme brulee cheesecake. Everything tasted great, even the fries (and I'm normally not much for fries). Will definitely go back!

Bruce Perry

Wide selection of beer, good food, and friendly staff. There was plenty of metered parking (25 cents/hour) in the vicinity around 12:30pm on a week day.

Chris Brown

Great Beer Selection and best pork tenderloin that I have ever had. I get it with their honey siracha sauce. Fantastic!!

Lion Place

The chicken wings are tooo big for me and had no flavor. The place is to loud, I don't prefer

Ash Miller

Great place with tasty noms and local beers. Perfect for an out-of-towner like me.

RIFF WORM

Great service, tasty food, tons of beers on tap and to top it of a very welcoming atmosphere!

Scott Jones

Great spot! Good food and excellent selection of craft beer!

Rhonda Weins

Beautiful facility, with an excellent selection of beer and local cider. Unfortunately, we were there at a busy time and the noise level was insane, there's nothing to dampen the sound. The food was okay, they're trying to recreate Iowa favorites. We could have been there on a bad night, but the food was just bland and blah. I'd go there to drink again, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Dale Gearke

We usually have to wait to get in here, but on a Sunday at noon, we walked right in. Best selection of Iowa craft beers, bar none! Try them and try some great beers.

Jamie Butenhoff

You want beer? Good luck choosing from 99+ taps! They will do samples and custom flights to help you find your perfect brew! Great staff and the selection is amazing. They also fill growlers and crowlers (32 oz can version of a growler).

Marsha Nienhaus

Lots to choose from. Great service@

Mitchell Moehling

Fast and really good food! Service was excellent so glad since we are from out of town.

Garrett Harris

Lots of local beer....LOTS! good food too.

Moises Palomera

Good food but an even better selection of Iowa beer on draft. Great for travelers or locals!

Eddy Randall

Service and food was amazing.

John Kennedy

If you like Iowa beers, this is the place for you. I have always had great service and food too. I think they have one of the best Caesar salads downtown. If you are in the East Village, check this place out!

cmateski

Good was great and beer selection was awesome.

Richie Guzior Photography

I really likes this place for a company dinner. Private area and bar. Good food and cupcakes. Staff was on top of things. Nice location.

Jeff McDonald

Rotating beer selection. Nice atmosphere. Can accommodate larger groups. Menu has nice variety and the food was great. Service was fast too.

Shane Cox

Great food and atmosphere. The Italian Grinder is delicious. Lunchtime is more relaxed and less crowded than dinner. Definitely recommend it!

Aaron Donaldson

Great selection of Iowa beers with just enough food selections to satisfy everyone in your group! Make sure you try a flight of beers you wouldn't normally order!

Ace McCarty

Great beer at a great price. It is a must visit

John Albanese

Food was great! Sweet potato fries came out cold but they quickly brought some hot ones, beer selection was insane!

Robby Clark

Best beer selection and food combo in des moines. Hard recommends for the cheese curds, capital pie, and breaded pork tenderloin. The wait is never quite as long as they tell you it will be, and it's always worth it. Service is always above average as well.

Eric Jacobson

Great pork chop and great service

Jeffrey Armitage

Very knowledgeable staff that allows a vast amount of free sampling prior to deciding what beverage you will be imbibing for your stay.

Sue Frogge

It was awesome! Food was good, the room for the wedding was beautiful

Chad Frerichs

A great place to have all kinds of beers and ciders and a great bite to eat.

Karys Lillie

Great place, ton of variety. My server was so sweet and helped me sample a bunch of beers. I had a fantastic wheat beer with apricot that smelled like heaven.

Amanda Lewis

I don't know if you know this, but Iowa has a lot of really great beers! The Iowa Taproom helped me to discover some of my new favorites. We sat at the bar and had great service as well. We'll definitely be back!

Chad Belton

Nice private room. We were here for a wedding, so our selections were probably more limted than regular diners. The food was ok, and included meatballs, chicken fries, a fried cheese hushpuppy kind of thing, chips and spinach-artichoke dip.

Alex Y

Great food. Great beer. Friendly staff.

Tyler N. Creed

Pretty good. They were out of a couple of the beers my group was looking forward to trying and the server didn't refill my coffee even once. Other than that, a solid place with good food.

John Goldsberry

Great room, clean, service was excellent. Fun experience. Burger was average, smaller buns or larger hand made patties. I will definitely try again.

Steven Thulin

I enjoyed the bbq pulled pork. It was a bit messy, but I guess that's the point of bbq, right? It was a great sandwich! We got there toward the end of the lunch hour and the atmosphere was very nice. The servers were attentive, but they didn't pester. Wonderful experience. I'm glad to find a good place to eat within walking distance from the office while I'm visiting Des Moines.

Nora Wineland

Highly recommended and when you finish Molly's Cupcakes is a great endpoint for your sweet tooth with their build your own cupcakes!

Jason Hunsicker

Told it was a 35-minute wait. Stood waiting next to a half-dozen empty tables. Finally seated at one of them after 35 minutes.

Josh Jongko

Good beer and food selection! Be prepared it is popular and packed.

Tammy Lyons

Bean burger alert: best ever! With over 1k reviews, saying how awesome Iowa Taproom is would be redundant, but it's so good it bears repeating. Amazing service from friendly and attentive waitstaff. Amazing selection of local beer. Huge portions of amazing food. Great location by the scenic river bike trail. If you haven't been here yet, go now and thank me later.

Amyah Moreno

Great food! And Fantasic service! Im so hooding there again!

Tom

Above average food. Good service. Prices were fair.

T. Jo F

Huge selection of Iowa brews. Great service in a vibrant atmosphere. Love coming back when we're in town

angie hauser

Always a fun/friendly place!

Jake Riffel

Great place!!! Awesome appetizers (we had the Fried Pickles and Cheese Curds) and also great burgers! I can't remember how many beers on tap, and if I remember correctly, all made in Iowa? It was a great place to go and hang out with friends or co-workers.

C Eidbo

Tremendous tap selection of Iowa beers. Just a bar, staff knows very little about beer. One inch head on a 16 ounce pint equals 12 ounces.

Christina Peterson

Food was delicious, beer not so much. Probably because it was warm from sitting on the bar for so long before the wait staff brought it to me. Only to leave us sitting there ignored until the end of our meal. Service should be improved.

Logan Schneider

Terrific beer selection. Great picks for the rotating menu. Great appetizers. Food is wonderful with friendly service.

Robert Bredice

Great food. Large beer selection including many Iowa beers. Oxygen is free and ready to come by. No lines waiting to get that precious life giving gas. The food here is excellent as well, and the staff is friendly and helpful.