February 8, 2012
The reason to come here is due to their non-regular lineup of beers. The regular lineup is just like any other Rock Bottom, but the stuff that the brewer goes out on his own and produces are very good. The brewer is also friendly and willing to talk beer with you. Service is average and sometime bar service is a bit slow. The food is decent, but not the reason to go here. This is, imo, the best brewpub in the Des Moines area.

January 24, 2012
Love this place, awesome brewmaster, great staff, beer is always great, only cons are there is next to nothing healthy on the menu

September 24, 2011 [ Updated December 21, 2011 ]
Stopped by here on a Saturday evening. It was packed early on, but by 8:30 it had largely cleared out. Good feel to the place, and the staff were friendly. Very impressed by the selection, as they had (amongst others) a IIPA, a pils, a single hop IPA, a braggot, a pumpkin beer, and a barrel-aged imperial stout on-tap. The food was standard chain restaurant stuff, at average prices. Overall, don’t expect much with the food, but the beer has ensured that I’ll be back some time.

Having been back a few times, I’m raising my score a little. Selection is still great,and I’ve found that some of the food is better than my first selection. Seating isn’t a problem unless you go on a Fri/Sat around 6pm.

August 10, 2009
Great service and varied menu. This is the second Rock Bottom I’ve been to and it measured up to the one I went to on Minneapolis. Good selection of brews on tap; the Iron Horse Stout was very good as was the Lumpy Dog Brown Ale. Unlike many other brewpubs I’ve been to, they have collector pint glasses with the logos of the beers on them; I brought home an Iron Horse for my growing collection. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the Des Moines area.

August 9, 2009
I like the food here and the beer is not bad.

February 4, 2009 [ Updated May 8, 2009 ]
The only Rock Bottom I have been to, I like it pretty well though. The beer is always quality but the food almost never is. they have some good apps, but I’ve never had an entre that wasn’t burnt in some capacity. The service is fantasic and they make a very broad range of fairly well made beers.

January 9, 2008
Kinda similar to every other rock bottom, with the same dark wood and leather and similar fake atmosphere. But the beer selection was nice enough, with a few interesting seasonals, and the regular fare being brewed fairly well. Sits in a sort of mall/shopping area, like most, so it’s not exactly the best place for a true beer geek, but it works for Iowa.

August 1, 2007
Visited for dinner on a Sunday night. Located in a shopping area like most Rock Bottoms are. Of all of the Rock Bottoms that I’ve been to, this one was the worst by far. The service was not good. She was slow, not very friendly, and didn’t stop by very often. The beers were the most pedestrian of all of the Rock Bottoms too, especially since the Warrenville, IL was so good when I went. The food was good, as I had my standard Titan Toothpicks. I’ll still go to other Rock Bottom Breweries, but I’ll go to Court Avenue if I’m in Des Moines again.

November 12, 2006 [ Updated January 15, 2007 ]
Been here a few times. Pretty decent crowd but, usually no wait in my experience. Generallly they have 8 or 9 of their own on tap. This is one of the only places in Iowa that I have seen cask conditioned hand pumped ales (the other is Court Ave Brewing Company in Des Moines). Overall, the beer was pretty good. The food was also decent. I would say that this is the best brew pub in Iowa.

January 16, 2005 [ Updated December 1, 2010 ]
The beers here have gotten better in their uniqueness and quality. I would rather visit here than one of the pricey places downtown. Older rating follows. Ok, I visited again recently. The idea of presenting Iron Horse Stout as a rotating seasonal brew that varies in style is confusing, especially to those that know little about beer. That is something that needs to be changed. I thought it felt a little claustrophobic. The food is solid, but far from great. The beers are average, nothing bad, but nothing exciting either. I am glad that they keep a couple of beers on cask.