The Keg Stand

Excellent Turkey Club sandwich served at Kegstand. Variety of beers is outstanding. Wait staff does an outstanding job. Best bar to watch Iowa State football and basketball games.

Love Keg Stand and Jake is the best server! Great drink suggestions and just a great guy! :-)

This is one of fav places in west Des Moines, love the selection or craft beer & Great bar food. My last visit was one of the best yet, i had great service… i believe the servers name was Jake.

Only have used for Pork Tenderloin sandwich and fries.
Excellent and fast.

Wow, I thought this would be better! We went for lunch on a Saturday afternoon and I was expecting this to be a rad fun sports bar! Which it is a sports bar, with beer pong table, basketball games, pool tables, tv’s, lots of beers on tap and loud music cranking!
First off I just want to get this out of the way the coolest thing here is definitely the design of the bathroom, cool mustache paintings, and an actual keg urinal!
The patio is also pretty nice, we choose to sit out there!
There were a few other patrons out there, and there seems to be a section you can smoke outside which people were doing!
Ashley got a big old Caesar salad and really enjoyed it. I on the other hand, got stuck with chips and salsa cause there is nothing on the menu that is vegan! One thing I got cranky about is it said a «Barrel of chips and salsa for 6.95, 1 dollar refills on the chips» when my tiny basket half full of chips came out I was pretty bummed.
I also ordered a water and beer, but even after asking twice my water never made it to the table. Our server was nice just maybe a bit over extended and I didn’t feel like we were getting much attention!
I was hoping to dig this place more but sadly I will have to try again sometime!

This is my go to bar in West Des Moines. Great selection of beers, some of the best wings around, and a great crowd. Free pool on Sundays, 2 for 1 shots on Mondays/​Wednesdays, Live Karaōke band, Party Party!, on Wednesdays too, and Trivia on Thursdays! Large crowds for Soccer games and HUGE crowds on Iowa State Game Days.
Stop in, grab a beer, and say hello!

The Keg Stand is an interesting place — and I mean that in a mostly good way. It’s kinda kooky but pretty cool. It’s always kind of been known as the el Bait Shop of the west side. It’s in sorta weird location — an old hotel restaurant that’s no longer attached to a hotel. It’s a pretty big places with several large rooms. They have a decent patio too. It’s known as a place to watch soccer matches and is great during the World Cup. (Much bigger than the Royal Mile.) So the beer selection is great. Not like el Bait Shop but close to it. Food is usually a mixed bag. 1) The food can be a tad pricey for what it is. 2) It’s mostly just bar food. 3) They don’t always have much of a menu. I don’t think they have a big kitchen so this is understandable. It’s kind of a dark, dirty place but that doesn’t bug me one bit. It’s a good place to hang out and watch a game. They have music and trivia too. Service can be a tad slow so sometimes it’s better to just go to the bar. Place is also home to Iowa State watch parties in addition to being the home for the Des Moines chapter of the American Outlaws (not a biker gang). Check it out sometime when you’re looking for a good beer!

Other than a great selection of beer, this place seriously lacks what it takes to be a destination for me. The food was terrible even by bar food standards although the server was very nice. Music needs some serious attention and the entire place needs a good cleaning. Potential for sure.

Cool patio! They have an area for bags, tv’s outside and wide range of beers. Inside, dark and dirty. Maybe because there where not a lot of people there it was more noticiable. I’d give it another try.

I really really dig this place. Myself and 2 lady friends arrived kinda early — 3pm! And our lady server was super nice, and picked out beers for me since I do not always like to read a menu — she deftly fulfilled requests like, «Surprise me with your best stout-​type brew», and «Can you bring me another dark beer, but with less alcohol content?» and my Gyro Salad with lamb was shockingly the best salad I have had in a LONG time. We had a great time, and the music was cranked, so if you don’t like loud music, I wouldn’t recommend it. Some elderly folks came in and there was a bumpin’ song on the stereo saying something about a (spell-​it-​out) «bee eye tee see aych» and so I can’t speak to how their evening went, but maybe they liked it? My friend’s french fries looked really good too. This is a surprising little hole in the wall with great food. If you’re in a light mood, check it out.

Initially we had a good time, then our friend ordered 9 shots for a table of 10. At the time, 6 of them were outside and 2 of us were in the restroom… this apparently gave the waitress some moronic impression that 9 shots (Rumchata to be exact) were for 2 people. So, they cut us all off!!! First of all, Rumcahta could not get my cat drunk, secondly we were being half as obnoxious as the lower 20 some somes in the bar and lastly… we all took a cab!!! This place was better when it was AKs and I doubt I’ll be back. Sad, sad, sad…

It’s like the service staff here have contempt for customers. If you’re going to have a nice beer selection and market yourself that way then don’t roll your eyes when I ask about certain beers. Second time we’ve been here, second time we apparently annoyed the staff with our presence. Not returning.

**update: Some nice folks from The Keg Stand reached out following my review and offered to make up for it. I still stand by my review that this just isn’t my kind of place — but I’m also just some dude on the internet. You might want to find out for yourself.
—–
Meh.
Pros:
— Cheap-​ish
— Solid beer selection (as other reviewers have mentioned)
— Has patio
— Serves food
Cons:
— Food is generic, and on the lower side of «meh»
— Anti-​dog (Just moved here, and me and my pup were told we had to «leave the property» — possibly a city law, but wasn’t explained and I couldn’t find anything after some googling) **update: they explained this is a department of health issue, which sucks! C’mon Iowa. It’s a patio.
— Service is just how other reviewers describe it
Overall, the right idea — a patio, a good beer selection, a standard-​but-​solid menu — but just poor execution. Location is lame (strip mall meets gas station meets freeway), service is average (on a good night), and you can make better food in your microwave.
An OK spot if you find yourself in the area, but if you have a choice (and you do), why choose this place?

This place desperately wants to be El Bait Shop but they fall short in every possible way, even going so far as creating a mascot named Al Bait to put on their T-​Shirts. Beer selection is quite average considering they have 50+ taps. I’ve been here twice in the last couple of months and each time I am just left unimpressed with the overall beer selection. Ambiance is blah at best. Some TV’s here and there but the main room is pretty boring. They have a side room with some pool tables and a shuffleboard table so at least that is something.
Also this place is an ISU bar and caters toward their fans a lot. A lot of watch parties for ISU games and they also host a couple of ISU coach events. Not very friendly to Iowa fans.

Decided to give this place another chance since a few friends were going for trivia. Not much was different. Slow service due to lack of help. Think we spent 15 minutes before being helped. Got my first drink and no one ever returned to ask about additional beverages. Credit card problem didn’t occur this time though server said she wasn’t allowed to keep tab open. I’m throughly convinced management/​ownership is the issue here. I’m through with this establishment and will look to other places where service is not an issue.

I was looking for a place to watch an Iowa State BB game. They do get a good Cyclone following. Good crowd and the bar service was good. I moved to an open table because my girlfriend was going to join me. The table service was terrible. It was an afternoon game and was planning on only having a couple beers during the game. I can honestly say that we never had anybody wait on us. There was a table of 4 guys right next to us that the server would take care of. Once she delivered their beers, picked up my empty glass and turned around and left. Didn’t even ask us if we needed anything!
This of course was in the winter and the smokers go out on the patio and smoke. I think it’s enclosed but not heated. We were about 25′ from the patio door and I was having flashbacks to the days that they allowed smoking in bars, yuck.
I’m still looking for a good Cyclone bar in the DSM area.

This is my favorite bar in the Des Moines area by far. My wife and I try to come out at least once a week. There is a great draft beer selection (70+) and the taps change regularly. The vibe is much more inviting and relaxed than El Bait shop. The staff is generally very knowledgeable about the beers and are willing to make a recommendation if you’re overwhelmed. And if you still can’t make up your mind, they’ll give you a sample.
The food is a little pricey, but it’s much better than your average bar fare. I’ve had fries, wings, nachos, and soup and it was all really good.
I’ve been there when it was dead and when it’s packed to the walls and I’ve never had an issue with service. When it’s slow you will have to go to the bar to grab your drink, but there’s runners when it’s busier.
There’s a separate game room with Buck Hunter, basketball, pool, etc. that’s generally not too busy and is a fun addition.

Great beer selection. Great specials!

This place may have a ton of beers on tap, but it really doesn’t help you any if you can’t get any service. I have been here twice and both times the service was just God awful… or rather, non-​existent. The second try, we ended up waiting… and waiting… and then just leaving. A place this size and this busy (somehow?) really needs servers. It would have been one thing if I saw a server and they were just super busy or had to take care of something or you know, whatever the case might have been. But there was NO ONE! We live rather close to this establishment, and while it is not personally my taste for atmosphere (and is REALLY smokey), I would have come here when the BF wanted to. I think we are both at our wit’s end with it though. I know I am! Save your frustration and find a different hangout.

Holy cow the food was great today! I had three different soups that were all of panera or better quality, I had wings that were better than bww, and $ 4 pints of beer good enough to comment on…