Jethro’s BBQ

I don’t get the Jethros thing… the BBQ isn’t great, about the only thing good is their jalapeño corn. Definitely not good BBQ but the beer is always cold.

Delicious BBQ brisket and ham. Very moist with just the right amount of fat cap. The cole slaw was delectable. Crunchy, very fresh, with a plenitude of dressing. The BBQ beans were a disappointment. Too dry, obviously left on the stove too long. A family-​friendly place with sports on large TVs. Friendly and attentive service.

Best Barbecue I’ve ever had! They also have the best food and service out of all the other locations in town. As a bonus, they serve breakfast all day

Very fast service. I was seated right away, the waiter was very polite. I got the Des Moines skillet and it was fantastic! This is my go to breakfast spot…

Came on a Sunday. Quoted a 20 minute wait, but waited 30 despite there being empty tables. Normally I wouldn’t care but I had a squirmy baby with me. Once seated everything went really well for the most part. Had a really good Bloody Mary, and I got the better homes and gardens melt. The turkey in it tasted a little weird and the cheese was clearly two squares (one each of American and Swiss) slapped on top and kind of had that weird greasy look to them. It still tasted pretty okay though. Sides were pretty solid– green beans could’ve been steamed longer since they were a little tough and went cold quickly but the mashed potatoes were great. Overall okay– but was just fun to be there with friends and have a nice Bloody Mary.

I’ve been to Jethro’s many times and it’s decent. I don’t think they have the best tasting BBQ in town, but the atmosphere is very enjoyable. Though I do like their bone in wings. They’re big, juicy, and very flavorful! The portion size at Jethro’s is very large so come hungry or be ready to take food home :) I tried one of their mixed drinks in a mason jar for the first time and it was very good. I think I could have chugged the entire thing down… though that could have been because I just got done playing volleyball :) The food is ok, but spending time here with friends is a lot of fun.

Pros:
Only tried bacon bacon steak sandwich! THE bomb!!! Good positive atmosphere. Wait staff was very tentative! Definitely will be back for sure!
Cons: non for the 1^st visit.

Other than the burnt dry toast this place is amazing. I ordered breakfast. They FEED YOU! There is not way one person can eat all this food but it is so tasty!

I have now been to three of the locations in the Des Moines Metro area. I stumbled onto Jethro’s by using Unilocal in May of 2014 while at Adventureland in Altoona. Did not realize that there was a restaurant across the street and wound up at the restaurant by the Drake University Campus. I have been to the one across the street from Adventureland and now have been to the new restaurant in West Des Moines.
The food was quite tasty and some of the best barbecue that I have had. The ribs were smoked really well and quite tasty. I have sampled the smoked links as well and those did not disappoint. My ten year old son really likes having pulled pork sandwiches at barbecue places and loves Jethro’s pulled pork. My wife who is a «Super Taster» and some what of a gourmet likes Jethro’s a lot as well. If you want some good barbecue in the Des Moines area, I highly recommend Jethro’s. The only thing is if you have a large group (I had 60 roughly ready to go on ½/​2016) you’ll need a couple of people to get there early to start saving space as Jethro’s will not take any reservations even with a large group. The server that handled the group we brought in on ½/​2016 to West Des Moines was very innovative in using the hockey players numbers to help keep separate checks for each of the families that made up our group. Everyone was impressed with that care that she took to help us all.

If giant portions is your thing, then this is the place for you. This place screams Iowa. Huge portions, pork in more than half the dishes, and plenty of grease to go around. :)
I’ve been here three times now and I can safely say that this is three star food, in a four star environment. The atmosphere is great if you want to come with friends or workers in a group to eat some breakfast or some BBQ. Biscuits and gravy are awesome and a MUST, however, hash browns and everything else is well under seasoned. Its like they don’t know that there is more to breakfast and seasoning than butter. Just some simple salt and pepper would do. When I got my eggs and hash browns I had to salt and pepper all of it like I was cooking myself. Three of us went there, one wasn’t satisfied, myself was in the middle, and my other worker said he would give it four stars.
After thought and consideration, I can’t give this place more than three stars because the majority of the food I have tried here is okay. Biscuits and gravy are exceptional however. You will surely enjoy coming here, just don’t set your expectations too high.

Jethro’s Bacon is another great Jethro’s restaurant. I typically go to the Drake neighborhood restaurant, but wanted to give the Bacon one a try. Typical Jethro’s menu for the most part, but with the addition of breakfast served all day. I visited with family on a Sunday night and there was plenty of seating and the restaurant was pretty quiet overall. Service was fast and very friendly. I will definitely be back.

Breakfast all day!
So we finally got around to trying Jethro’s BBQ ‘n Bacon Bacon in West Des Moines and we’re definately impressed.
We love the original Jethro’s in the Drake neighborhood so we’re kind of reluctant going g to any if the newer locations. We were assured though that the breakfast served all day is worthy of the Jethro’s name.
We got in and sat in a decent amount if time even with the crowd. After scanning the menu I went strait for the skillet and so did my wife. I got my skillet with hashbrowns, easy over eggs, cheese, bacon, sausage, onions, and peppers. My wife got similar only tater tots instead of hashbrowns.
The food arrived fast for the eggs being made to order. Everything looked good. Hashbrowns wernt as good as my wife’s tots but the eggs ouzed yolk perfectly when cut into with a fork.
Atmosphere and décor was similar to the Jethro’s in Drake neighborhood. The place is family friendly accomodating kids great. The sound level was a bit lower than we expected for a sports bar but we were there for breakfast and it was early.
Overall very satisfying. We have gone back since our first visit. I highly recommend Jethro’s BBQ ‘n Bacon Bacon for a great breakfast.

It’s fine, but not the most consistent Jethros location. Wings are almost always really good. Other items have been hit or miss. Expect to wait on the weekends and even some week day evenings. We’ve had good service each time we’ve been there.

Try the Brisket Bacon Melt and the Meaty Marys! Their spicy pickles take it to a whole new level. Otherwise a typical Jethros experience…
If I wrote 50 Shades of Grey…
«Christian takes Anastasia into his playroom. They’ve been here before. Soon she finds herself bound and blindfolded on the bed. His satin sheets caressing her smooth skin, her stomach, her breasts. But something’s different this time. A warmth. Sizzling flesh. What’s that smell? It’s decadent. Heavenly. Christian removes her blindfold as he takes a seat in a chair just inches from her face. She knows and he smiles. She struggles, pulling against her restraints, trying to wrap her lips around it… She’s wanton.
He slowly devours the entire pound of bacon by himself, one piece at a time, as her eyes plead for just a single strip…»
Oh come on… You knew it was going to end in bacon.

Great service and GREAT when you are feeling breakfast, even at supper time. I had the bacon biscuits and gravy and they were fantastic. The biscuits had great flavor and were very fluffy. My fiancé had the bacon peanut butter pancakes and they were GREAT as well.
Our server was a bit quirky, but that’s okay with us. Just like the other Jethro’s, the tables are a bit too close to each other for my liking, but that’s not enough for me to knock them down to 4 stars.
We will be returning soon!

My friend, Sam W, would be screaming 10 f words in excitement spewing it like a machine gun if he goes to Jethro’s. In fact, he would get weak in the knees just looking at the big sign outside that said.“Jethro’s BBQ n Bacon, Bacon.” This place would make the bacon whisperer very happy.
I went here for a business lunch and people I worked with had been promising to take me here to try the Adam Emmenecker’s sandwich. That thing was supposedly gynormous and filled with all kinds of meats weighing 4 pounds or 8 pounds. we didn’t really know. People at the table was debating on the weight but to me either sounded like a suicide waiting to happen. What a great way to go though? Mh… maybe if I ever get desperate enough to off myself, I just eat this sandwich. LOL. That Man vs. Food guy tried it but he failed. However, there was a tiny local woman that had devoured it several times like it was nothing. She must be what people refer to as «bottomless pit.»
It took awhile for me to decide as there were tons of things that sounded great but I wanted to be able to get a perfect combo of some BBQ and also some bacon. I ended up following suit of the choice of the table — brisket bacon melt. Hell yeah! If that wasn’t a perfect combo, I wouldn’t know what else, other than perhaps that giant sandwich above or The Jethro sandwich that was still pretty huge. The others ordered bacon cheeseburger, buffalo chicken wrap, and Ultimate BLT.
I was happy with my choice. They chopped the bacon and incorporated it in the brisket patty, some thousand island dressing and tucked it in two slices of toasted rye bread. Oh my! Deeeelicious! Nothing about the sandwich screamed healthy. I felt somewhat guilty eating it but I couldn’t say that it wasn’t tasty. In fact, it was too tasty! Everyone seemed to enjoy their food. I liked my sweet potato fries. Some ordered regular fries and tator tots. The buffalo wrap was quite spicy it seemed like as my coworker who had participated in hot pepper eating contest said it had quite a kick. The BLT looked ridiculously great. It looked like Medusa’s head with the snakes being crispy bacons just protruding out from both sides.
The place was an old Hooters building but I hardly recognized it if I weren’t told. It was totally Iowa and the pork theme is definitely central. This Jethro’s also serves breakfast all day. Service was fair and price wasn’t bad for the amount of food you got. I was so full I couldn’t even finish my meal. Plus, I skipped dinner because I was still full.
I guess there are several Jethro’s in Iowa and each has its own theme. Maybe, I would make it a project to try each one when visiting Iowa. Sounds like a yummy plan!
People said there’s nothing better than bacon. In fact, there’s something better than bacon. What is that?
More Bacon.
Jethro’s is that place that can deliver more bacon on every turn of the menu page. You can pretty much eat all the bacon you want from a bucket of bacon appetizer to a bucket of chocolate covered bacon for dessert.
It’s not just bacon. It’s Bacon, Bacon!

Bright and early 8:30 rolled in with our niece.
Sat right away with no wait. Our first time in since the remodel take over of the old Hooters.
Bacon bacon bacon all over the menu.
Our niece got a fun twisty toy instead of crayons.
Picked out our meals. I got the recommended French toast and big glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.
Yes the oj was fresh. And delicious. The French toast tasted really good. Done just perfect for me.
We got a Mickey pancake kids breakfast. It was enough food for me.
I really enjoyed my French toast. It came with the crispy bacon like i asked. Perfect.
Wish the butter hadn’t been cold single servings.
He had a meal with brisket with his eggs and biscuit. The Jake. The biscuit tasted like it was made in house.
So overall good experience. Good food. Nice overall feel. The hype was a little much but it was a good experience.

Waited 30 minutes and gave up on the promised table.
Then went to the bar and felt ignored.
There was hardly anyone there– so we just left.
Sooooo
Avoid eating on a game night.
It’s terrible service.

I don’t totally understand all the excitement around Jethro’s. It’s totally Iowa, which is awesome, and the prices are very fair for the [huge] amount of food you get. It’s just not what I usually like to eat… but to each their own.
My coworkers from out of town always like to visit Jethro’s while in town. We usually hit up the Waukee location, so visiting this location was a nice change of pace. The restaurant, occupying the old Hooters location, is on the small-​side, so the wait was pretty long, especially for our Tuesday evening visit.
Once seated, our server was very helpful. She made recommendations and was attentive. We started with wings and drinks and took some time to chat while we decided on our orders.
I will say: I LOVE breakfast, and it’s pretty awesome that breakfast is available all day here. I tried the breakfast quesadilla with brisket, which was good, but I’ll try something different next time (other things just looked better). My coworkers got the club, French toast, one of the breakfast entrees with eggs, bacon, a biscuit, etc., and a pulled pork sandwich. Everyone was very happy with their meals, and no one left hungry. In fact, that’s probably my one piece of advice for Jethro’s: come hungry and wear stretchy pants.
.too.much. ‘Merica.

I was really looking forward to going to this new Jethro’s because everyone had spoken highly of it. I was really disappointed in the quality. I ordered an omelet (this location does breakfast all day), and it was over salted and super greasy. My husband got a breakfast platter, which had a bit of everything. I will say that their biscuits and gravy were pretty good, but overall everything seemed like it was just frozen then microwaved, or out of a can! So sad.
The environment is really casual and laid back, so I did enjoy the atmosphere but I would not pay to eat there again.
The service was so-​so. When we were able to get the waitress attention, she was very sweet, but we could never find her when we needed her. This was a similar experience with another Jethros Jambalaya.
Try it for yourself, but I don’t see what people find in this that makes them line out the door.