Claxon's Smokehouse & Grill — Restaurant in Altoona

Blog: Restaurant Review Claxon’s Smokehouse & Grill – Altoona Iowa 12/3/14 My Score: 1 out of 10 (highest) I called as we were driving to restaurant and asked about call ahead seating. The phone rang more than 20 times and the nice lady said with 3 people I would be fine. We arrived and waited to be seated. We then asked if we could sit by the fireplace, the hostess seated us next to the fireplace. The environment was good so far. There were only about 4 other tables occupied. Server came over to the table and asked us for our drinks. He did not have any recommendations. I asked what kind of soda you have. He only stated Pepsi products. We ordered 3 Mt Dew’s. After a few minutes he came over to the table to deliver our drinks and stated he would be back to get our order. Not sure why he was coming back to the table when we were ready to order. After a few more minutes he came back to take our order. I ordered 2 meats with 2 sides. I requested one of my sides to be a salad. I asked what the house fries were like. The server stated they were like steak fries. My husband and daughter ordered a 12oz steak with 2 sides and an extra plate to share. The server did not ask how they wanted their steak prepared not make any side suggestions. My husband ordered the steak and had to mention how he wanted the Cajun spice on it. The server was less than adequate. Then we waited over 20 minutes for food. I didn’t receive my salad. My husband told the server and he stated he didn’t remember and what kind of dressing I want. I told the server I didn’t want it at this point and I would have preferred it before my meal. He just stated sorry and walked away. The value of the food is less than acceptable. The fries were not steak fries, they were potato wedges. The fries were not as I expected. The temperature of the meats were less then hot. My husband’s steak was cooked medium rare as expected. The steak did not seem like a normal 12oz steak. The steak was smaller than expected. Compared to other steak restaurants it was less than adequate. For the value the steak dinner should have included a salad and bread. The server did not return to the table during our dinner. Didn’t even check on the food quality. After time pasted he brought the check over and said he could take that when we were ready. My husband noticed that we were still charged for the salad that I never received. He walked up to the counter and told the server to remove the additional charge. After a few minutes the server brought the check over with the $2.00 removed. After time pasted he still hadn’t picked up the check to charge our credit card. I put my coat on and used the restroom. After a few minutes I came out and my husband had paid and didn’t leave a tip. We felt the server was not deserving of a tip. My husband said when the server brought over the check with the credit card charged he didn’t bring a pen to sign. My husband had to send my daughter up to the counter to get a pen. The restaurant was nice and very clean. The service and the value of the food ruined the experience. We will not return to this restaurant and I would not recommend...

Posting this review again since it disappeared. Over the last ten years I’ve always wanted to eat here. So for the first time last night my wife and I had a date night here. We love to share ribs when we go out to eat. The full rack we ordered was extremely horrible! My wife and I are not ones to come down on a waitress because it’s not here fault so we left it alone. The ribs were so dry and hard! you couldn’t even cut through them with a knife. I can almost bet they were reheated as other guests mentioned in reviews as well. To be honest I wouldn’t even let my dog eat them. This sounds pretty harsh, but it has to be known. I told my wife I bet there’s bad reviews online about the ribs and I was right. Could we have asked for the manager to take them off our bill? Yeah we could have, but we just left it alone. Worse ribs we’ve ever had in our lives. Any other place would have been better to get ribs than Claxons. I don’t see how the cook could actually feel it was right to serve these ribs. The cheese and macaroni was the best part of the meal for my wife. My best part was my side salad. The cheese curds were extremely greasy! Couldn’t even eat those. Most people prolly would never go back because of this. I told my wife just because the ribs were bad and the cheese curds that if we ever did go back we should try a burger? She said it wouldn’t be for a long time. I agree with her. So after spending 63.00 dollars and a 12.00 dollar tip to the kind waitress because it wasn’t her fault we went home hungry and felt jipped. I can only imagine what the waiters or waitresses have to deal with because of unhappy customers. The waitress asked us if we needed a box to go because she seen the rack of ribs barely touched. Lol My wife said no politely and that we were full. Um no! I wasn’t going to write this review, but I was thinking about it today on how much it bothered us...

Approximately 6:15pm February 5, 2023

I took my boyfriend for the first time to eat at Claxon's this evening. He loves BBQ and is trying to find as good a BBQ in the Des Moines area as what they have at Warehouse BBQ in Ottumwa who has great food and outstanding baked beans. The ham sanwiches we had were very good with a large portion of ham and good taste. The baked beans still don't compare to Warehouse BBQ.

However the entire dining experience was overshadowed by a rude obnoxious bar tender. My boyfriend was facing the bar and watched the bartender take 2 shots of something within 5 minutes. Then started very loudly relaying or telling some other customers something with the F word flying. His words were slurred and he was not walking steady. Then there were loud voices coming from the kitchen area presumably other employees trying to calm the bartender down.

Since we live in Des Moines and not Altoona, it is questionable that will ever return nor do I see us recommending Claxon's to anybody.

I would have given Claxon's a much higher rating had it not been for the...