Black Sheep — Restaurant in Des Moines

I had an extremely disappointing and frustrating experience with this business. They lost my debit card, and instead of taking accountability or even expressing concern, they responded with denial, rudeness, and absolutely no sympathy.

What made the situation even worse was how poorly the manager handled it. Rather than listening, investigating, or offering any kind of resolution, the manager was defensive, dismissive, and unprofessional. It felt like they were more interested in avoiding blame than actually helping a customer who was put in a vulnerable and stressful position because of their mistake.

This is not how you treat customers—especially when their financial security is at risk. The lack of empathy and the refusal to accept even basic responsibility was shocking.

If this is the level of care and leadership coming from management, I have no confidence in the rest of the operation. I will never return, and I strongly recommend others think twice before trusting this business with anything important.

Edit: After reading the response from this business, I feel obligated to clarify the situation and correct the misleading narrative they’ve shared.

The bartender who took the card outright lied and claimed he never had it, even though we saw him handle the transaction. There was no real investigation, no accountability—just denial.

When we brought this up and asked for some kind of rectification, the manager literally told us to “shut up” and laughed. That’s how they chose to respond to a serious situation involving someone’s financial security.

Eventually, they offered 15% off the bill—not as a goodwill gesture, but only after we pushed back on the disrespect. Their response here now suggests we were just “looking for a handout.” That kind of passive-aggressive, defensive tone only confirms how poorly this was handled from start to finish.

Gaslighting the customer, and turning blame onto us is not how any reputable business should behave. Their passive-aggressive response here, full of backhanded apologies and minimizing language, only reinforces what we experienced firsthand: a complete lack of empathy, professionalism, and...

DJ was playing some absolute bangers and overall vibe was good, but the bartenders absolutely ruined the experience of this bar for me.

First, I was up sold on a more expensive shot than I originally asked for, which took me a little off guard but I was fine with since it wasn't too much more expensive and legitimately did taste better. Then I went back and asked for a mixed drink and requested it be made on the cheaper side since I'm not a huge alcohol expert and I had a firm budget I wanted to stick to for the night. This bartender ROLLED HIS EYES and noticeably sighed at me when I asked for this. I'm sorry, I didn't realize this bar was only people with money to throw around. After feeling shamed for not wanting to spend a lot of money both these times, I closed my tab and ordered no further drinks. Needless to say, I probably won't be coming back. I really didn't appreciate the way I was made to feel for not wanting to get top...

Great vibes, good tequilas, but felt like a tourist trap in the end.

Great selection of tequilas, only a few standard mezcals (Iowa is a control state). Bartender immediately pushed us to top shelf "shots" which kind of fits some of the other up-sell-related reviews. We sipped them instead, and both were great, so we hung around.

Ordered two rounds of cocktails next that were a bit disappointing. Bartender told us the menu wasn't great and to order whatever we wanted, so we picked some standard tequila-based cocktails. 3 of 4 leaned too sweet and the tequila was totally masked – they just felt unbalanced. Not sure if the menu cocktails would have landed better.

Overall, staff were attentive and the vibes were great, but I'd expect more thoughtful cocktails and quality control at this...