Bandana’s Bar-B-Q

We have tried this place a couple of times and it is just not worth the money we spent. The staff are friendly and it is a clean and neat place inside but the food is very average. The menu is nothing special. We tried it again in hopes our experience would be better but it wasn’t. There is better bbq in the area to be had.

Exceptional ribs, a great aroma, and terrific service! It started when Ally greeted us at the door with a vivacious smile and a red, white, and blue head gizmo made of a sequined hat, waving flags, and spinning pinwheels. It was quite a hoot and got our evening off to a great start! All the wait staff was in competition for the best July 4^th outfit on what they call ‘Freaky Friday.’ Customers voted for the best look. Our waitress, Danae, had some flag stripes on her cheeks and was wearing the right colors, but we had to rib her about her low profile bling. She took our ribbing in stride. She just missed Freaky Friday’s full July 4^th dress code memo,. Denae definitely gave us stellar ‘stars and stripes’ customer service! Breanna, stopped by to brighten our day with her Uncle Sam tribute outfit complete with wild glasses with an attached white beard and a fancy big bow to wrap up her costume. Rosy the Riveter (I am sorry I missed her real name, maybe Ally), Alesha, Breanna, and Danae sang, «Happy Birthday» to my husband. He was grinning ear to ear. Sarah, assistant manager stopped by to wish us well. Coming up with ‘Freaky Friday’ is definitely a way to reward the staff and give customers a great experience. We’ll be back again! Loved it!

I’m only giving them 3 stars because of the food. Our waitress, Breanna, was horrible! The only thing she did was take our drink and food order. We sat for over half the meal with empty drinks and she never came back to ask how our meal was. She didn’t even bring our food out to us.
I’d recommend them for the food and the waitress that sat us/​brought us our food but avoid Breanna.

When we pulled into the parking lot we could «smell the smoke». I had the BBQ chicken and my husband had the BBQ ribs.
Delicious plus several choices of BBQ sauces to choose from.

Oh god I got the pulled pork sandwich with the sauce on it. I have been craving more of it ever since. The bread is a French loaf that is TOASTED so it’s kind of crispy but still super soft in the middle. That alone made me love my sandwich.
But I could not get enough of the sauce. It was sweet and tangy with just a little heat. I would go back all the time if I were local. I will definitely be returning everytime I’m in Iowa.

My husband, our toddler and I visited here for the first time finally. For under $ 6 each, we each got the «small» platter. My husband and toddler enjoyed the smoked sausage, homemade applesauce and beans. All were great! I got pork, fries and corn. All came with garlic bread. It was delicious and we will be back! Service was fast and friendly.
Update: we tried the donut holes. The powdered ones taste like a funnel cake at the state fair!

I’m always looking for great BBQ and in Central Iowa, there’s a fairly decent selection of barbeque restaurants. Bandana’s (301 E. 1^st St., Ankeny) is an okay option, but I don’t find their food to be better than either Jethro’s or Smokey D’s. Those are the two places that I would deem «go-​to» barbeque restaurants and this would probably be an alright «third» selection. It’s far better than crappy places like Ames’ Hickory Park (see our other review) but again, isn’t the first place we’d pick.
Nothing about this place blows me away. The service is good, I’ll give them that. The staff is friendly and attentive. The décor of the restaurants is what you’d expect to see at a BBQ restaurant, but is VERY spacious compared with many. The menu is nice because it’s not overly-​complex. It’s easy to order.
They advertise «KC-​style sauces» and «St. Louis-​style» ribs here and I don’t think either one of them is even close to anything you’d find in either city. They do have a wide assortment of sauces, but so do any of the other local places. I didn’t think the meat was all that special. It was smoked nicely and had good color, but I found my meat to be chewy. The baked beans, fried okra and corn all tasted like they came from a can. The cole slaw is not good at all — this is a STAPLE at any good BBQ restaurant.
Would I eat there again? Yeah, I probably would. The food isn’t terrible, nor is it anything to write home about. The sides are basic and pretty unmemorable and the meat is just okay. The service is excellent and the restaurant has an authentic BBQ-​themed décor, but other than this, not the best BBQ I’ve ever had. Plus, this place is a franchise and with most franchises, the quality of the food is inconsistent varying on location.
I’ll take my Jethro’s and Smokey D’s before going here.

This past weekend our server, Traci, gave us yet another wonderful experience at Bandana’s! My parents were visiting from Michigan and we took them here as we have had such good food/​service. This visit was better than ever, though. The food was terrific (as always) and Traci was awesome. She was attentive, helpful, friendly… And she did something I’ve never encountered and GREATLY appreciated. My son was with us — he’s 6. First — my mom asked if he could get some more lemonade. Traci asked me if it was ok (it was, of course). THANK YOU. Most servers don’t bother to check with the mom and just do whatever. What a pleasant surprise. Then we had a mixup with his dinner and he got baked beans instead of fries. She offered to bring him some but he said he’d just eat the beans (which he loved!). So she said maybe if he ate his dinner she might be able to give him a little ice cream later. After he was done she again checked with me if he could have it (very subtly so he wouldn’t hear/​get upset if I said no — but I said yes). She even brought him a little chocolate sauce on the side.
You get big portions of excellent food for very fair prices. We’ve now tried all of their meats and everything is delicious (particular faves are the ribs and turkey — the ribs don’t even need sauce because their rub is so amazing!)
Thank you again SO MUCH. This is exactly why we have become very loyal customers and will absolutely be back for more!!!

Delicious! I can never eat an entire serving, so I have to take it home. I love the vast array of BBQ sauces. Service has always been great. The restaurant has been very clean each time I’ve been there.

Looking for a different place to eat while in Ankeny and found this. Not very busy when we got there which worried us but that disappeared fast. My friend got sweet tea and within several minutes of ordering our food was greeted with it. I had the pork platter with baked beans and sweet corn, my friend had beef platter with sweet corn and fries.
Sweet corn was delicious and our pork and beef were pretty much perfect! Still very moist. I enjoyed the KC style sauce and original bbq sauce. Roommate enjoyed Chicago style.
Baked beans didn’t stand out but weren’t bad and garlic bread was bland to me. Overall service was fantastic and cheap meal overall. Total was about $ 26

Ever since moving to Ankeny I always wondered how the barbecue here would taste, only way to find out is to eat here. We stopped in and saw there was a good amount of customers inside, but the restaurant never felt crowded since they divided the area and had great spacing between tables and booths.
The menu was not extensive and easy to follow, you do not need to much time to decided what you want. I got the 3 meat dinner combo with pork, beef, and sausage because I wanted to try their different meats. My fiancé got the full slab of ribs, because that’s always what she gets from barbecue places. For the sides we selected fries, sweet corn, coleslaw, and potato salad. The entrees also cones with big slices of Texas toast.
While we waited we noticed they have different barbecue sauces, that got me excited because I wanted to try them all. The atmosphere was calm and had a classic wooden theme. The staff was very friendly and were very apologetic when they found out the ribs were still being prepared and would not be done for a few more minutes.
Time to eat… the ribs were probably the best I have ever had in a restaurant. (This may be an above average slab because it was JUST made). The ribs were flavorful and juicy, basically no sauce needed. My meats were okay, nothing special, the sausage was the best part. I used the different barbecue sauces on my meats and they enhanced the flavorful quite a bit. The only sauce I did not like was the KC sauce, everything else was phenomenal. The fries and sweet corn were okay, nothing special. The potato salad was my least favorite side, but it wasn’t that bad. The coleslaw was the best side, good taste and large portion. The Texas toasts were extremely flavorful and big! You won’t be disappointed with the toast!
We obviously had a great time here and took the leftovers home for a late snack. We also got the donut holes to go, they were warm and an awesome dessert I will cone back and check out their other meats and sides, possibly some appetizers as well.

Is there a potato famine somewhere that I’m not aware of? Man, either way, get ready to see more of your plate then fries when you order them. Very disappointing! Nevertheless, the BBQ is the best!

Nice BBQ place and very friendly service. Especially Lydia and Brandi. Will definitely visit again when I’m in this area again.

I should start by saying i am not a huge b-​b-​q fan. Regardless I have not had a good meal here yet. The people I have gone with didn’t seem to care for it either. Now we ask where our friends are going just in case they want to go here. The meat I have had has been very fatty, and not a lot of flavor. The Sausage sandwich was ok, would eat it again if i had to.

We’ve been here a few times. The service has been consistently attentive and prices are fair for the value received. The meaty ribs were very good but not the best that I’ve tasted. I’m looking for that really robust smoky «flavor» with a little more kick in the spice rub. They have their sauces that you can put on, but I believe good ribs should stand on their own.
I’d like to try the ribs smoked at a lower temp and cooked longer to dry it out a little more to give those ribs that great, wonderful smoky flavor.
Also, they have a WONDERFUL Root Beer Float that you’ve got to try while you’re there!

This is hands down my favorite place to eat in Iowa. So good!

For Iowa BBQ, it’s good. I think Hickory Farms in Ames is better but for Ankeny, this place is nice. I like the choices of BBQ sauce and the shredded chicken salad was actually quite good too. The service is excellent so if you’re in the mood for BBQ and in the Ankeny/​Polk City area, I would check it out.

This is a decent barbeque place, with the added convenience of being within walking distance from my house.
As noted in a previous review, they do serve sweet tea here. It seems that this is becoming more and more common in Iowa. It’s a nice reminder of the South, which I miss dearly.
The barbecue is good, if not remarkable. You won’t be transported to Memphis or anything, but it’s a good option to satisfy that persistent barbeque craving.
They do server St. Louis style ribs, so if you’re expecting baby backs, you’ll be disappointed. I stay away from the ribs and go for the chopped pork or beef (or both). They also have very good smoked sausage.
Fries are good, cole slaw is good, if a little too runny, and the beans are good. I don’t care for the fried corn. It’s almost rubbery.
For dessert, try the donut holes. Served piping hot, they are excellent.
Good place for eating on the cheap, as any barbeque place should be.

We do take out at Bandana’s a lot, and it’s always fresh. Usually I’ll ask for a sweet tea to go and they will just give it to me for free. The slow smoked meat is as good as any homestyle dive, and the pick 2 or 3 combos are priced well. My mom likes the fact that they don’t smother the meat in sauce while cooking like other places.
I probably eat here once every couple months, and enjoy it just as much as some of my favorite bbq places.

Sometimes, reading a newspaper is all that it takes to find a place unique to the area you are visiting. When I visited my father in West Des Moines, he wanted to take me to a Russian restaurant. I couldn’t understand why. Perhaps he thought I thought I was a food snob and only wanted to be taken to a «cultured establishment.»
What he didn’t understand is that Iowa is a culture too, and I wanted to go somewhere that would be familiar with the locals. I asked him, «what about corn, or good barb-​b-​que or something like that?» Upon reading the restaurant and entertainment of the Des Moines Register, someone recommended Bandana’s, about 18 miles north off highway 35 in Ankeny, Iowa, the heart of middle America.
The experience was perfect. The interior is warm, homey and friendly with the name of the restaurant, «bandana» written out with a rope.
There are interesting artifacts including a gigantic barrel of lard. Bandanas isn’t really unique to Iowa. In fact, it makes St. Louis Style Barbeque. The server was a charming young woman who was flakey but friendly, charming, and fun to talk to. She is the first waitress that has ever given me a straw with my beer (lol).
Anyways, there are 5 types of barbeque sauces that you can add from hot, tangy, sweet, and two other moderate mixtures.
I liked the the hot. We ordered a pitcher of beer that was ice cold and gigantic! With dessert (an amazing apple cobbler-​esque pie a la mode), the full dinner cost under $ 45. The servings were not too large. But just about perfect. I had the triple barbeque combo of turkey, beef, and ribs. I never had Barbeque Turkey and I must say it was great.
The barbeque had a very interesting wooden/​metallic aftertaste that is living deeply in the memory of my taste buds. One other surprise was the grilled corn on the cob which tasted excellent and was unlike any I’d ever tried.
I feel honored to put this establishment on the Unilocal map. Should find yourself in Des Moines, this excursion is well worthwhile.