Guru BBQ

These guys know and care about their food and it shows. Stopped through Des Moines while road tripping, enjoyed it so much that we went out of the way to eat here on the return trip. Thanks for the great food and for taking care of us.

Our 8 year old son: «That’s probably the best food I’ve ever eaten in my life. Just throwing that out there.»
We stopped in DM for a late lunch to break up a road trip. It’s always hard for our family to find good food out of town due to celiac and our long list of food allergies. So glad we ended up at Guru! The staff was extremely helpful and accommodating (it helped that we arrived at a quieter time) but most importantly knew what was in the food so we could make decisions. The chef came out and talked to us about our options, and we were floored when he went back and whipped up a custom batch of allergy-​friendly BBQ sauce for our son. The food was absolutely delicious. We were impressed with everything from the fresh ingredients to the presentation to the unexpected flavors. Definitely an unexpected, delightful find. And thanks for making our little foodie’s day.

We enjoyed our first visit to Guru BBQ on an early Sat. evening. It was busy but not yet packed. My husband and I split wings with their house sauce and a side of Mac and cheese. Both were really good. The wings were good sized and cooked to perfection. They were some of the best wings I’ve had in Des Moines. Several menu items looked good and we will be back to try them. Our server was very pleasant and appropriately attentive.

I really don’t understand Des Moines’ obsession with Asian fusion (there’s so many places!). I’m not a fan. This place literally had a bottle of sauce on the table called «Korean» next to other bottles that didn’t call out any other ethnicities. I don’t know what was Korean about it at all. Just call it sweet seseme sorta sauce instead. For lunch, I got the special which was a brisket burger with gouda that the server said was sooo good. Meh. Nothing special. Overall, all the sauces & everything tasted too sweet. I was left wanting more savory, salty & spicy. It definitely felt like a chain. Glad I didn’t get the «Korean tacos» also in the menu. My friend liked her shredded pork sandwich so maybe I’d of been happier if I avoided the Asian fusion. That’d be my recommendation with this place. Price & ambiance was decent.

With my better half hankering for some BBQ, we looked for a place that did things a little different, but kept the spirit of the delicious meat roast — Guru BBQ did both and did them well! They do some awesome stuff mixing BBQ, Mexican, and Asian cuisines in a way that’s new, but remains familiar.
We’d sampled their cuisine at Baconfest in the past and were excited to try it out. Armed with two tired little dudes, we started right out with a Chopped Pork and Brisket meat duo, with a mac ‘n cheese, cornbread and a potato and watercress salad. This may have been our favorite BBQ meal this year!
The pork was good, but the brisket was perfect! Smokey and juicy, it paired perfectly with all three sauces — Guru, Korean and Harissa. The Korean sauce is sooooooo good, like spoon it or bathe in it good. Great flavor with a heavy sesame influence and a tiny bit of kick — it’s just boss. The ale mac and cheese is delightful as well. Just enough ale flavor to make itself known, but not enough to seem like someone substituted a PBR for water while making it. The cornbread was a crowd pleaser as well — honey at the table would be nice, but this is good enough to eat alone. The potato and watercress salad may be my new favorite side! A bleu cheese vinaigrette with grilled potatoes, some green and bleu cheese chunks — it was incredible. Flavorful, a little crunch and some pixie dust.
We shared the s’mores dessert and it too was a treat! It was like s’mores and an ice cream sunday had a baby and showered it with graham crackers — perfect size to share with 2 – 4 people when you want something sweet, but are approaching full.
All in all, an incredible spot that’s doing some magical stuff mixing cuisines and kept us happy all the way through! We got out for under $ 30 with dessert — We’ll be back and you should check it out!

This place quickly moved up in ranks to be one of my favorite BBQ spots. The chicken wings are one of the best in town I think, and they’re big! Love all of the sauces they have. The Guru Nachos are one of my favorite things on the menu! The staff is super friendly and helpful. The vibe is awesome, reminds me of something you’d see in a bigger city. They’re drink menu is kind of small but all of their cocktails are very creative and super delicious! They also have patio seating that faces east so when you go after work you’re not sitting in the sun. Will be back again real soon!

Um, hello, where have you been all my life?
Good price, delicious and unique food, and just the right amount of hipster (not enough to make me want to vomit but the nachos were served on a metal pan, I mean come on).
Since I’ve been to Guru (a total of 5 times now), I’ve never received bad service. The wait staff are amazing, and the bartender is super efficient.
This restaurant is so good. I won’t be picking another taco place for a long while.

I really wanted to LOVE Guru BBQ but like is ok too.
For those who just read the first few lines… The building/​atmosphere is great. The food was just okay.
First off, the location and building are excellent. There is a large outdoor seating area that looks like it would be great right about now. (It was cold and rainy when I visited). The interior was cool, exposed brick, industrial, yet very clean. The seating was comfortable.
We ordered the Guru nachos and they looked really good. I usually love contrasting/​interesting twists on classics. But the grilled grapes and overall sweetness were just too much and couldn’t be offset by the brisket and other salty/​savory flavor. Maybe it’s just not for me.
I ordered the one meat meal with brisket. I was hoping they’d have burnt ends, but they weren’t on the menu. The brisket was very good. Perfectly cooked and not too lean or fatty. I generally eat it with just a touch of sauce but this didn’t even need it. The flavor was good on its own.
The chile verde cornbread was not very spicy/​sweet but it was warm and soft. The ale mac and cheese was tangy but otherwise unremarkable.
In BBQ, the meat is the star and they did mine right. It’s obvious that they are thinking/​innovative and not just trying to push out food. With some tweaking and feedback, I think this place could be remarkable.
I will definitely return and try it again with some different items when the patio is open!

We came in with a large group and they were so accommodating!!! They got us in a table quick so we could all sit together. 6 adults and 1 kiddo.
The smell here alone drew us in.
The look is a pretty sweet industrial artsy vibe. Really awesome. They have a beautiful patio area.
Our waitress was awesome super sweet at making sure our 2 year old nephews food was distracted with him theses bendy things which he loved.
And one of the other waiters saw I was checking out the other food going by and made sure I knew what each of it was. Totally sweet.
My husband had the pork and apple melt with their chocolate chili. The ape melt was phenomenal!!! So juicy and full of flavor. The chili was spicy but a little disappointing. It wasn’t all that chocolatey. But still flavorful.
I had their brisket sandwich with the Mac n cheese. So delicious! The brisket do flavorful with just s little spice. The Mac and cheese was wonderful. So creamy Zane delicious with a touch of beer flavor.
We also ordered the pork steam buns appetizer. It was wonderful. So full of flavor and the buns it was on were sweet and doughy.
Unfortunately our nephews order got a little mixed up but they got it quickly fixed.
If you park in the 300 MLK lot they will validate your parking pass so you get 2 hours free.
They do offer a military discount which is great! Especially since the food is so good.

I was hoping this place would be great because it would be nice to have good barbecue place downtown. Unfortunately this is not that place. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. It’s too bad because the atmosphere inside the restaurant is really nice with the exposed brick and cool pendant lights hanging from the ceiling. The look is modern and rustic. There is also a patio outside for when the weather is nicer.
I ordered the two meat dinner with chopped pork and brisket with chocolate chili and roasted potato and watercress salad as my sides. I will say my meats were pretty good but cold when they were served to me. My sides were very disappointing. Our waitress told me that the chili was sweet with the chocolate added to it, but it wasn’t sweet at all and I could barely taste the chocolate in it. It was pretty bland, in fact. The roasted potato salad was lacking in flavor, but the potatoes were well roasted. My husband ordered a half pound of wings. On the menu it said a quarter pound of wings is three wings, but he only got five wings instead of six. For his sides he got beans and corn bread. The beans were pretty bland and the corn bread was just so-​so. He thought he could have gotten better wings at Buffalo Wild Wings.
We both thought the barbecue sauces were just ok, but not great. The Korean barbecue was too salty and had too much sesame flavor overpowering it. It should have been sweeter like true Korean barbecue is. The house barbecue sauce was probably the best one. It was sweet and spicy. The Harissa sauce just tasted like it was missing something. You can hate me for saying this, but I think Famous Dave’s sauces are much better and have more flavor than any of these sauces.
We probably won’t come back again. For the amount of meat we got and quality of the sides, we thought this place was kind of pricey.

I think Jethros and Smokey D’s has got some stuff competition now that Guru is here! The ambience is modern but slightly rustic/​industrial with unique fixtures and décor.
We only had to wait for about 10 minutes to get a seat during peak hours on a Friday night. We got an order of their nachos for the table — these are not to be missed! Mouth-​watering flavors like brisket, house bbq sauce, red onion, blue cheese, topped with balasamic and arrugela.
I ordered the two meat dinner: chopped pork & brisket and mac n cheese & Cole slaw as my sides. The meat was tender, moist and melted in my mouth. The smoked flavor was bursting and was complimented by the house bbq sauce nicely. I tried the other 2 sauces available and didn’t care for them.
My wife got the wings with the Thai chili lime sauce and those were also cooked to perfection. The sauce had a fantastic flavor with a slow building heat.
They had a full bar with local Iowa beers on tap, and a tempting dessert menu, but we were absolutely stuffed. I’m so glad we tried this place; We will definitely be back!

Des Moines food scene is on a roll lately! And Guru BBQ is a wonderful addition!
Really unique awesome space with booths, bar, tables, and outdoor patio space perfect for sipping a local brew they have on tap pre or post I-​Cubs games, the Farmers Market, or any other downtown summer event!
The bar is really cool and prices are standard for DSM.
The food is unique and if you are a fan of BBQ sauces they have 3 to choose from on every table! You can go from Spicey to Nicey if you know what I mean!
Love the variety of options, on the menu, what Im most stoked about is the tacos they come packed to the brim with stuff and can be made vegan!
I think I will find myself here quite a little bit!

There’s no shortage of BBQ places Des Moines right now and Guru is a welcome addition. The menu is unique and creative. If you’re a BBQ purist, get ready for a little experimentation here. Harrissa and Thai sauces (which I had on tacos) were packed with flavor. The jalapeño cornbread is a must-​have.
The atmosphere lacks charm and is a little cavernous, but I suspect they’re still growing into the new space.

Four of us came here on a Thursday night. The parking lot was pretty full but I’m pretty sure that’s because of the fitness place in the building. Guru’s is one of the various establishments in this location. They are on the bottom, right under the big clock.
We stood for a decent amount of time before anyone greeted us. As we walked to the table, we saw a bar to the left, booths to the right, and tables straight ahead. I think they’ll have outdoor seating once it’s warm out but we’ll see.
The place was not very busy. A few more tables filled up while we were there. Looking at the menu, I was instantly drawn to the Pork and Apple Melt Sandwich. I chose a side of the Ale Mac & Cheese. We ordered the Kid’s Grilled Cheese with a side of beans. My husband had the two meats (brisket and sausage) with the Ale Mac & Cheese and cornbread.
The food was good, it really was! My sandwich had a spicy kick to it that I wasn’t expecting. I can handle spice just fine but if someone can’t handle spice, they shouldn’t order this sandwich. My guess it was the raspberry jam (maybe it was like jalapeño raspberry or something). The Mac & Cheese was good too! My dining mates seemed to enjoy their dishes.
One of the waitresses was obsessed with out toddler. Which was fine at first. She’d come up and talk and «play» with her. Our toddler was living it. Then the waitress took her to help roll silverware. We could see her so that was fine too. Then the waitress started to take her around to the tables because «she gets better tips.» This is when it just became strange and I was over it. The waitress was nice and all but don’t use my daughter as bait!

Love the Thai chili wings! They are very flavorful & taste good on their own but the harissa bbq sauce definitely adds in an extra kick. The tacos were good but I thought the pork meat was a little bit too greasy for me because it literally leaked out while I was eating them. The root beer float there is good too. I tried some of my BF’s brisket and it was very tender. Our waitress was quick & friendly. The owner was nice as well and made us feel very welcome. He told us about the sauces and how they taste differently. He also brought out our food too. I’m not sure why people complain about the service here. Definitely will come back to try the BBQ meats!

This is a very good place for BBQ!
1. Has a few varieties of meat to chose from, the three meat sampler is around $ 16 and comes with a nice helping of each. They do a great job of getting a nice smoke flavor with well seasoned meat. You can tell it’s not rushed, good quality stuff here.
2. The sauces are pretty good, I loved the original but didn’t like the others as much. You may, they have a Korean and a Mediterranean style sauces which is different.
3. The Mac n cheese is one of the best that I’ve had. The put Pilsner in it from what I was told, has a very unique flavor to it.
Overall nice place to get a lot for your money while trying multiple items.

Had the pleasure of a weekend with the kiddos so I was finally able to get out and try some of the new places in town. Guru was one I have had my eye on for a while.
Guru is located in an old warehouse building near Principal Park that recently has been converted over into a complex of bars, restaurants, and a gym just in case you need to burn off some of the calories from the night out. Guru itself isn’t that large of a place. A long bar stretches most of the length of the restaurant and then there is a row of booths and some tables at the end. Not really a high occupancy type place. There is a nice looking patio out front that will be opening up once spring kicks into full swing. There are a handful of TVs around the bar but this really isn’t going to be confused with a sports bar.
They don’t have a large number of beers on tap but it is nice to see that they populate those taps with a good amount of local and regional craft choices instead of clogging them up with a bunch of macro beers. They also have a large list of interesting cocktails including one that used a frozen cube of cranberry juice.
But the food is what most people are coming here for. I must say I was pretty impressed. I got the brisket sandwich and it was overloaded with moist brisket and topped with dill sprigs and fried onions straws. Honestly at first the dill was kind of iffy for me but I wanted to try it as the chef intended and I was quite pleased. The deal breaker for me was the sauces. The Korean sauce was just OK but the house Guru sauce and the Moroccan based sauce (can’t remember the name) were both killer. In fact, I think the Moroccan sauce stole the show. All three of the table sauces are quite different than what you see at other local BBQ places in town.
Price wise Guru is pretty comparable to other BBQ joints in town. Sandwiches with a side were right around $ 10. Meat platters with multiple sides range near $ 20. My only quibble on that night was the service at the bar where we sat was a little iffy. There were a couple of times where my beer glass was empty and the bartenders were standing around having a personal conversation and not paying attention.
I was quite pleased with this addition to the downtown scene. The cool menu and funky offerings will get me back in to try other things on the menu. Definitely need to stop at least once!

I loved my lunch here. Got the three meat and two sides meal and couldn’t get enough.
This place is modern and has a bar. It’s very nice and clean inside and the place isn’t too big. Could probably seat 35. So to the food… I got three different meats, Mac and cheese, and chili. The sausage was great. The brisket was perfect with the BBQ sauce they have, pulled port yummy, and the Mac and cheese went well with everything. It was $ 2 extra for the chili as my side but was well worth it. I honesty really enjoyed all my food and have nothing bad to say besides perhaps upping the portion a tad bit. Compared to other BBQ places its a bit smaller, but the flavors are great.

Wow I expected so much more from this place. Everything here was meh, more form than substance. Presentation was great but boy the food sure disappointed. Honestly, Famous Dave’s, Jethro’s etc are better than this place. BUZZ LINE: Fancy looking, dry, not flavorful food.
Rating by dish:
Nachos 3 Stars — White Cheddar, Smoked Brisket, Arugula, Blue Cheese, Red Pepper, Red Onion, Marinated & Grilled Grapes, Sour Cream & Balsamic Drizzle
This tasted like eating a cheese course but in nacho form. It was decent. I would have given in a 4 star rating if the toppings were more generous. Normally nachos have a «heaping» component of toppings. This was far from the case and left many chips untopped.
Steamed Buns 1 Star — Carrot, Cilantro, Daikon with your choice of Pork, Brisket, (our choice) Jerk Hen, or Crispy Chicken
Wow, I expected so much more, the brisket was so dry and the bun was also so dry that it sucked all the moisture out of my mouth. It was actually quite gross. They bring three steamed buns to your table, we ate two and left one, didn’t even bring it home for the dog.
Three meat dinner with wings, brisket and chopped pork, mac and cheese and guru chips and dip as a side — 2 Stars. barely
Wow the brisket here is dry, horribly dry. It’s just not good. For those of you that have eaten at the Salt Lick in Texas you know what good brisket is. The brisket here isn’t even in the same category. it should be called DRIsket. The wings were decent, but they didn’t come with any dipping sauce and the chopped pork… well its about as good as the chopped pork that I make in my slow cooker. The chips weren’t house fried (at least they didn’t taste fresh) and the dip for the chips was so watery.
I am so disappointed here. Too bad, I really wanted to love this place.
Don’t come unless you like dry food…
The one plus, the cocktails are decent.

Stopped by here with the girlfriend last night and the restaurant is in a newly built area that has a contemporary feel about it, so it was quite nice. You park and walk in towards the back and you walk into a common area which you can then access Jimmy John’s, Fuzzy’s Taco, Guru BBQ, and Anytime Fitness (if you want to workout afterwards!).
The restaurant was very clean, bright and a bit narrow since the bar and booths were across from one another. We got served right away and ordered the pork steam buns as an appetizer and a 3 meat platter with brisket, wings, and pork. The platter came with 2 sides, so we got mac and cheese and coleslaw. We thought that would be enough food, but when it came out, I could have eaten the 3 meat platter by myself :)
There were 3 small sized steamed buns, and these were a little bit of a disappointment. I expected the buns to be more «Asian» style, where it is white in color and more light and fluffy. It had a light yellow/​doughy color to it and it was kind of mushy, to the point where it gets stuck in your teeth. The ingredients inside tasted good though, but the bun is a key factor too.
The brisket was good and tender, the pork was very tender but a bit dry, and the wings were very tasty. We got the Thai chile lime sauce on them and it had a bit of a kick too. For $ 16, there wasn’t that much meat, though it «totaled» ¾ of a pound. The mac and cheese and slaw both needed a little more seasoning too. We found ourselves using more BBQ sauce to add flavor to our food. One thing with their sauces is that they’re in these bottles that have tiny spouts, so it takes a while for it to pour out due to the sauce being a bit thick.
Since we were still hungry, we ordered a rack of ribs. The waitress must have thought we were pigs lol. The ends of the ribs were dry and alot of the meat did seem a bit tough. Like it wasn’t completely fall off the bone. It was also hard to cut the ribs into individual pieces.
Overall, our dinner was decent. Nothing spectacular, but for the price, I felt that we should have gotten more food with the meat platter. I did see a good beer selection, so this could be a nice place to meet up with friends due to the lively environment.