Jethro’s BBQ

I had seen Jethro’s on several food/​travel-​related shows on TV but had not had a chance to eat there. The previous night I had eaten at Hickory House, the BBQ landmark in Ames, Iowa. Jethro’s is much, much better! I got the sliced beef brisket dinner with two sides. The amount of meat was very large (enough for leftovers the next day). The meat had a nice smokey flavor, was very moist and tender. Jethro’s has an assortment of about 5 – 6 different styles of BBQ sauces at each table so you should find one that fits your palate. The side dishes were homemade. The jalopenos cream corn was interesting but I probably would not order again. Out of the can corn with a jalopenos cream sauce. The homemade onion rings were very good and I received a large helping (slight upgrade in price for the rings). Prices were very reasonable. Service was very quick and good.

Great bbq! I’m a truck driver that’s tried a lot of BBQ restaurants around the United States. Definitely! a must stop. Man vs food has been there.

Waited 30 minutes to sit in a «tent» that is an extension of the restaurant where it was hotter than it is outside in mid June. Very disappointing.

I came here for breakfast a little before 11am. There were 7 of us, and we were pleased that the wait was only 15 minutes.
April was our waitress, and was annoyed that some of our group had ordered bar drinks ahead of time. She was rude when any of us asked for a coffee refill etc.
We ordered food and it took 40 minutes, when it arrived at the table it was cold. It was as if the food had all been sitting at room temperature for 20 minutes, which would make sense given that a kitchen turn time should never approach 40 minutes. April never bothered to ask us why no one ate more than a few bites of our meal.
Jethros has a good reputation, but this was the worst dining experience I have had. I can’t tell if this is a terrible restaurant, or just the worst server in town. I wouldn’t come back to Jethros if the food was free.

Good spot for BBQ in Des Moines. The portions are huge and love the beer served in Mason Jars. You won’t go wrong with the dry rub wings and the pulled pork is really good as well. The pork tenderloin is very good and try it as the Jethro, comes with pulled pork, ham and bacon… it’s bigger than your head!

On April 2 I had the opportunity of having lunch at this location. I ordered the Texas dip. Absolutely fantastic. Please see my photo. If you’re ever in the area please stop by, you’ll be glad you did.

Not impressed with this place at all! After placing our order, we waited 40 mins for our food to come out. The ribs were tough and not very good. I make better at home! The cole slaw was flavorless, the cornbread muffin was disgusting, brisket had no flavor and my son’s chicken strips were all breading! Our waitress was terrible. Definitely would not go back!

We’ve been to all but one (Bacon Bacon) of the Jethro’s locations. We have our favorite ones and this one is not in the top two.
They were decently busy as are all the locations. Lots of TVs throughout the interior. Every Jethro’s has the same «feel» to it. Tables just far enough away from each other, same general menu, etc.
My favorites at the other locations are wings and ribs. So, we got the Dinner for Two with wings and ribs. Sides were applesauce, green beans, jalapeño cream corn, and Mac n cheese. The sides are good at every location. The ribs were not as tender as I’ve had at other locations. They tasted great but just weren’t as tender as I like. The wings were good but we got one wing and the rest were drummies (we prefer wings).
Good food but not great.

A good spot-​not as nice as some locations. Food is very good.

It was a Sunday night and the music was blaring with rock music.
The first person we asked to change the station or turn down said she can’t change it but would turn down.
After the music wasn’t turned down, I asked for a manager.
I explained that we are a family and we have a family with us and we want to enjoy a great meal with them… not over powered by the music.
He agreed to turn it down… But was less than sympathetic. It was very disappointing.
The food is average… service is average and atmosphere is less than average.
Bottom time– if you have options– try something else.

The melt was great and they had the coolest kids toy. Instead of crayons they had twisty twigs. Service was great even though it was super busy.

Hands down best BBQ in des moines metro! Have yet to have a bad meal! No doubt 5 stars! Amazing!

This was our second time at this Jethro’s. The food is excellent and the staff is friendly. The only downfalls (I am still giving FIVE stars because the great food outweighs the two downfalls) that we have for the restaurant is the parking outside, it’s always hard to find a spot and inside the tables are too close together. My husband got elbowed in the head last night as the waitress turned from one table to another. We laughed about it.
The food is always excellent!

I love coming to Jethro’s, the wings are fabulous.
I got the dry rub wings and they were excellent. I love the fact that you can get all drummies. I wish they would drain some of the grease off the plate. Due to the grease the vegetables aren’t very good.
They have a good beer selection and usually have a special. This is an excellent place for lunch.

Spicy buffalo wings are smoked and flavorful, probably the best «appetizer» I’ve had. They’re awesome even as a dinner meal. My picture is of the smoked half rack ribs, which are very tasty! Eat here if you’re hungry. The atmosphere is friendly even for families with small children. My husband and I ate at the bar and Emily was our bartender and Jeff was the manager, they were attentative, cool, down to earth people.
Jeff even offered us a sample appetizer tray which ended up us purchasing the jalapeño corn side. Amazing stuff.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would come here again.

I am new to the area, and when my husband and I saw the packed house at Jethro’s, we thought it was a place probably worth checking out. We were horribly disappointed and based on our experience, it’s surprising this place could stay in business, never mind be so popular.
It’s kind of noisy, loud, lots of TV’s and has campy dinnerware. I liked that. It was the atmosphere I was looking for, pretty casual and laid-​back. They have cocktails in HUGE mason jars. I didn’t try one, but they seemed fairly popular. They have SO MANY tables crammed in there, it’s like the Army cafeteria. Our table was about 18″ from the next table (howdy, neighbor!) and we learned not to let our elbows stray from the confines of the table top. Much like the beverage cart, which is the bane of many in an aisle seat on a plane, our elbows were constantly getting hit by people walking past the table.
We shared a dinner for two– a half slab of ribs, smoked sausage, smoked shaved turkey. For our sides, we chose fried pickles and sweet potato fries. My husband and I opted to get side salads for two of the four sides we got… the upcharge was FOUR DOLLARS on a $ 24.99 meal — for just the salads. We also incurred an additional $ 3.00 for the other sides we chose. And the salad was from a bag with shredded cheese on top and runny «blue cheese» dressing which did not contain, nor did it taste like blue cheese. My salad contained a lot of «core parts» of the lettuce head– the compact, inedible, white parts in the middle, parts which are normally discarded.
Here’s the thing… we ordered our meal and within SIX MINUTES, she brought ALL of that food to the table on a giant platter. The fried items were just out of the deep fryer… all of the meat was room temperature. The «shaved» turkey was one small slice of turkey breast — about 1/​8″ thick. Our waitress brought us our drinks and food… dropped them, and never came back. No drink refills, no asking how the food was (I certainly would have told her). We just sat there for a while and finally my husband went to the hostess stand and said we would like to pay our bill. The person who brought us our check and said «I am sorry this took so long» wasn’t even our waitress. We literally didn’t see her again.
We will never go back there and honestly don’t understand why this place gets such great reviews. I have had much better service at Pizza Ranch and they don’t charge extra for pale green iceberg lettuce salad from a bag. Awful.

My Jethro’s experience — cold and loud. The food was ok but it was the air conditioning was frigid and the noise level was insane. All I wanted to do was eat fast and get outside where it was 90 degrees and I could hear myself thing.

My boyfriend and I have gotten take out or eaten here a bunch of times, so last night, we called in our order and immediately left to go pick it up. My boyfriend got a melt sandwich with pulled pork and sweet potato fries, and I got an order of bbq wings and a side of mashed potatoes. My wings were really overdone, to the point of being dried out and had hardly any sauce on them, and my potatoes were gritty and inedible. My boyfriend’s meal was just fine, and he enjoyed it. I’ve ordered the wings from Jethro’s before and had no problem, so I am hoping it was just a fluke and I can write a more dazzling review in the future.

I come here for their wings. I am not generally a person who likes chicken wings, but OMG, they are the best here, don’t even bother anywhere else (and if you say BWW you are crazy). I just go for the basic buffalo style, but what really sets them apart is that smokey flavor (I am literally salivating right now thinking about it). I have tried many items on their menu, but as mentioned in a another BBQ review, I am not a huge fan of BBQ. But here, I love their wings, waffle fries, side salad and at another location their Buffalo Shrimp salad oh and their buffalo chicken wrap. For apps their fried cheese is deeee-​lish and onion rings are tasty too.
If you were not already aware, each location has some core items (like wings and standard BBQ.) but they also have their unique food items and here, it’s the smoked steaks which my husband absolutely loves, along with their mashed potatoes and sometimes beans.
Like most other BBQ establishments, their side options are meh and carb loaded. Their mac and cheese lacks flavor (and color, it reminds me of the school cafeteria) and their green beans??? Seriously, no ham hock in here while cooking? It’s the blandest bean I have ever had and I have tried them a few times in hopes it was just a fluke. B+ for having something other than a side salad for a vegetable option F for no flavor. Really??? Not even salt???
No, I have not attempted to eat their Emmenecker sandwich, nor have I witnessed anyone else’s attempt, but have seen it in passing while being delivered to other tables. It’s no joke humongous and I wouldn’t mind sampling some items from it.
Parking — they need more of it. Good for them for having all the customers, I have even dined at odd hours (late afternoon) and have to drive around a few times before making my own creative spot.
Music — you alt 90s fans will love their selection. We do, unfortunately the acoustics make it a bit hard to hear it, but still awesome to hear all those beloved songs of our past.

Food is great. Service is abysmal.
Fantastic barbecue and reasonable prices. This is the place to go when you have a craving and don’t want to spend hours cooking it yourself. Wings, pulled pork, and brisket all got rave reviews and empty plates. Fries are also great.
Received absolutely horrible service the last time we came, and it seems to be the norm here. Rude, inattentive, slow, and annoying. Maybe they hire everyone who strives to be the antithesis of «Iowa Nice.» I’ll spare you details — just be forewarned that you should ONLY come here expecting to walk out with a full belly of BBQ goodness, not necessarily with a smile on your face.