Jethro’s BBQ n’ Pork Chop Grill

Best BBQ in Iowa. The food is great and if you don’t like a crowd get it to go! Well worth the price and the portions are HUGE. Cant think of anything I don’t like on this menu but the boneless wings are my personal favorite!

Made it in for brunch after a youth hockey game and sat at the bar. Ordered our food and waters and it came out quickly. The portions here are huge so either order smart or prepare to be FULL and hopefully have left overs. The breakfast has always been fantastic. I love their platters. Fresh, hot and quick which is a perfect trifecta for food. Staff was attentive and friendly. The people at the bar next to us had been out a little too late the night before which meant loud mouth 30 something men who acted like they were having a bachelor party. Ugh. Not the restaurants fault at all but definitely made our experience less nice. Huge place and clean. Large parking lot.

We stopped into Jethro’s for lunch. There was a 20 minute wait with over 16 6-​top tables available, I quit counting after 16 and didn’t count the 2 back rooms. After 20 minutes we were finally seated. My husband ordered the Texas Dip with no onions. Our food arrived and the Texas Dip was piled with onions. My husband sent it back and the waitress was furious and gave an attitude toward us.
With all the newspaper and television bliss this place has received– the food was nothing to call home to Mom about and the service was horrible. We won’t be back and I don’t recommend you come here either.

The food was good, but don’t go here if you want to talk to anyone at your table or hear the waiter. The noise level is ridiculous.

I thought that we were in trouble when we stopped by on a whim on a Friday evening.
Thank goodness it was just the two of us. They had a line out the door for tables but we were able to sneak right up to the bar.
The place was busy and the game was on.
The bartender was right there for us getting our drinks and handing us menus.
I was slow to decide. Since this was the Pork Chop Grill I read over the options on the menu for the pork chops. I know we are in IA and are known for some fabulous pork chops but some places they just aren’t as good as I can make my own.
I did my favorite thing and asked the cute bartender.
She was darling. She gave her honest opinion on what she liked and let us look a little more.
She came back soon and I still kinda was looking at Smoked Pork Chops… she just looked at me and smiled. I caved right away, she said the State Fair Pork Chop was better so, that’s what I got.
Sitting up at the bar that night really made it a good experience. The bartender was sweet, blunt and honest. I wish I could remember her name. She was crazy busy, just her and one other. She flew around like crazy and was taking to go orders every few minutes.
Our food came and, yup, so glad she talked me into that meal. I got the side of mac and cheese and waffle fries (yea i was naughty) Ill probably go with other sides next time but more than likely the bigger version of this pork chop cause i could not get enough. So juicy and delicious. It was fantastic!
5 stars on the service at the bar! YAY!
For my doubts walking in on having a quick meal we were in and out in just about an hour. What a great experience, no wonder the place was crazy busy from the moment we walked in and as we were walking out!

Great variety for a bbq place. Ribs, wings and sauces were great. Sides good too, especially jalapeño creamed corn. Only coleslaw was C minus.

Pretty good bbq. I sat at the bar and got faster service than you’ll get at most sit down restaurants. Food came out less than 10 mins after order was placed. Nice staff and overall good bbq. They were featured on man vs food.

What do you do when traveling in business? Try some of the local favourites. This one did not disappoint. Great brisket, great pulled pork and savoury sides. Just wish they offered a range of various sauces to try with those great meats. I know I will be back in Des Moines often and Jethro’s will be on my list to go back to.

Tried the sampler for 2. Delicious brisket, ribs and pulled pork! Sides of creamed corn, Mac n cheese, cole slaw and sweet potato mash. It was all really good, great atmosphere and friendly staff.

Don’t be dumb, try the cream corn. Speaking of dumb, the s in Des Moines is silent… feeling like a meat head.

This was excellent BBQ, and are server was wonderful, we went with a Large group of family. Most of us got the dinner for 2 with 4 sides and all shared was smart way to feed a lot of people and we had lots of left over. Sauces are awesome with great vatiety I will go back!

As average BBQ as you can get, but for some odd reason they keep appearing all over Des moines. You will eat here with a big group sometime, you will not mind the food, you will forget about this place because it is a dime a dozen.

I went here alone when in the area for business and sat at the bar to watch a game, eat some food and drink some beer. There were both bar seats and tables available around 8pm which was nice. The TVs were huge and all on the game I wanted. The bartender was great at letting me try 2 local brews before I decided which was helpful because I ended up getting the one I didn’t think I would like.
I ordered a 2 meat plate (brisket and pulled chicken) with sides of mac and cheese and stuffing. Both sides were recommended by the bartender, and man were they good. I eat a lot of of BBQ and while the chicken was awesome, the brisket was just good — only reason for 4 stars.

Other than me being the only one cheering for Iowa state, we had great service and the food was wonderful. Thank you! GO CLONES!

WOW!
Stopped in after a long day of driving.
Staff was friendly.
Food was bonkers good… sauces were OK, but the chop spoke for itself.
I tried the smoked chop, mac n cheese, and the waffle fries… all of which were great! The cornbread was fantastic as well!
A must try for locals and travelers both!

I guess you could call me a BBQ snob, I love to grill and smoke my own, so I expected to be underwhelmed by Jethro’s BBQ n’ Pork Chop Grill. I had the Jethro, which is a pork tenderloin with Carolina style pulled pork, house smoked pit ham, and a double order of thick slab bacon.
First off, the thing as HUGE. I’m a big man and I couldn’t finish it. The ham was the star of the huge sandwich, had excellent flavor.
I had the mac ‘n cheese as a side. They use big pasta shells and the cheese sauce is excellent.
Service was excellent.
The place was packed, yet there was ample room. It does get really noisy there (at least when we were there) which is a big turn off.
As much as I like this place I WILL NOT RETURN. They have a NO WEAPONS sign posted on their front door. I’m a big supporter of the second amendment and refuse to give my money to businesses that don’t want me to protect myself and my family. There’s a Facebook group with over 16k members that list businesses in Iowa that are anti-​gun and I didn’t check it before I went, shame on me… and Jethro’s is listed as anti-​gun. Most Unilocalsters (hipsters) won’t give a shit about this, but I don’t give a fuck about them ;) so, it’s whatever.
Good restaurants should focus on food and not politics and not treat their customers like children.
Bad move Jethro’s… bad move.

I have been here several times. Must have: MAC N CHEESE! So creamy and delicious! My sister actually brought a vat of the stuff back to WI for us. Yes it’s that good! The «applesauce». More like applesauce with apple slices and cinnamon. So delicious.
Thye have a great array of sauces for every taste.
Only downside, our service is always lacking a little. Nothing that stops us from going back every time we visit, but prepare to wait.

There are few BBQ joints that I would go out of my way for and Jethro’s is one of them.
We had an epic selection of meats, sauces and sides. Standout favorites were the wings, cheddar cheese jalapeño smoked corn (holy awesomeness!) and the hand dipped onion rings within chipotle ranch.
The place is large (~250 seats) and has a big bar with good beer selection.
Enjoy!

I remember watching a Man verus Food episode that included Jethro’s BBQ. Add on that newspaper article about Jethro Bodine of the Beverly Hillbillies showing interest and I just had to stop.
This place is brand new and immaculate. There’s plenty of parking in the rear if you’re worried about a full parking lot up front. There’s also plenty of space to sit inside. The all wood interior and televisions just made this place more fun.
I ordered the half rack and half chicken combo. I also added the macaroni and corn dishes for my sides. I was not dissapointed with the quantity for all four. That rack looked a mile long and it felt like it after I finished.
I do prefer the meat of my chicken and ribs to fall off the bone. I didn’t quite get that this time but it was still good. I did try all four sauces including that mysterious white sauce that I actually liked.
The sauces were pretty good and added a lot of variety.
I’ll be back.

We had a group of 10 come here for lunch a couple weeks after it opened. I had called ahead the week before and requested a space for 10 and was told they were not accepting reservations since they had just opened. However, they agreed to give us a table «away» from the noise as much as possible.
We arrived at 11:30 am and were the only ones initially in the back room. Our waitress took our drinks order right away. The place filled up VERY quickly and we saw many people who were waiting for a table.
We started with a large order of wings (40 total) with 4 different flavors. My favorite Jethro’s rub for the wings is the BBQ Rub. We devoured the wings and then ordered our dishes for the lunch. I opted to get the special that day which was pulled rib meat with pickles, onions, and cheese on a hoagie roll. I had a salad as my side. I really like Jethro’s ribs and this meat was no exception. I will admit that I didn’t eat any of the roll as the meat was plenty.
The only reason for four instead of five stars is that it took quite some time to get our actual lunches out. I’m not sure how long we actually waited but it was a while. Also, I do not like the arrangement of tables in this location (and most Jethro’s locations). It leaves little room to move and get around the other tables if needed.