Jethro's BBQ — Restaurant in Des Moines

One of the worst dining experiences I have ever had in my adult life. I am in town with my wrestling team and just like others looking for a place to eat post-weigh in. We get in and seated, waiter takes our drink order, we order food and everything is fine until food starts to come.

Waiter brings everyone's food except athlete who ordered same as guy next to him. Not a big deal except there was no explanation or communication as to why everybody's food came out except 1 person. You forgot, no big deal. Move on. The real issue is when I give the waiter my card for the check. I paid my bill not problem and went to pay for my athletes $16 meal because she needed some help. I get the check back and there is no receipt so I check my bank account. Somehow someway my card was charged $42 for a meal that costs $16. When I asked the waiter what was going on, he told me that he accidentally charged my card for someone else's meal and I would be issued a refund. My problem again is no communication. When you mess something up, you take responsibility and let the paying customer know what happened. It seems like those morals don't exist here because when I asked to speak to the manager, she confirmed that it is normal practice to do this when a card is mishandled. What scares me is that normally when you get a refund, especially from a restaurant, you get a refund receipt so you have proof of refund. The manager on duty couldn't provide a receipt because their systems were old. Hmmmmm... As I sit and look at my account to see if the refund would go through to ight when promised I can't help but to think the manager on duty told me what I needed to hear in order to scoot me out the door for the night. I travel often for athletics and it's unfortunate that I had to have the worst dining experience of my adult life here at Jethro's. If you are looking for somewhere where customer service comes second to keeping the seats full then this is probably the place for you. 0/10 would not recommend.

Still waiting on...

Very simple food was fine and place was convenient. We actually went twice but second visit was an experience that makes me never want to deal with them again.

Menu is a bit confusing. In the sandwiches it has brisket and burnt ends (+2) so it looks like add on for $2. but that is for replacement meat so if you order that thinking add on expect a $6 charge.

The real problem came when we went to pay. One of our party was paying for a $16 meal and received a notification for a $42 charge. when the check returned he checked the cost just to be sure. The server when asked said that it was a mistake and he accidentally charged another tables check to the card (had we not received the alert we would not have known because he had no intention of letting us know). At this point they refused to take responsibility and said its the bank now and because the charge had been reversed. At this point we were not happy and the person with charge was furious. He asked for a receipt showing the reversal but they said they could not supply one.

They should have paid him the cash owed for the mistake comped the $16 meal and apologized for the mistake instead they took no responsibility and demanded he leave. They were lucky it was not my card as I would have not left till I was fully refunded. Management and employees need training in costumer service. I wish I could take back the tip i did leave. Don't go there Des Moines has plenty of good spots not...

I had the wing combo with half mustard sauce and half BBQ rub, and the food was genuinely delicious. I also enjoyed a golden lager beer topped with an orange. Fortunately, it wasn’t too busy when we arrived, and about 15 minutes later, we received our food.

While the food was amazing, the service was disappointing. We were served by the bartender, despite sitting at a table with servers actively working. We didn’t receive any drink refills and were promised to-go boxes that never arrived.

The most unfortunate part of our experience involved the bartender. I was with a friend and stepped outside briefly to smoke, out of respect for the children present downstairs. When I returned, our table had been cleared, and the check was presented. The bartender claimed he had tossed our food because he was told to, but neither my friend nor I gave such instructions. In fact, we were waiting for the to-go boxes. My friend assumed the plates were being taken to be packed up. Additionally, my half-finished golden lager was discarded without my consent.

My complaint mainly concerns the poor service. There’s a saying in bar culture: “Don’t take a bottle from a baby,” implying that a half-finished drink is still in use. Unfortunately, the bartender today didn’t seem to understand this. I usually tip generously—20% or more—but due to the lack of service, I left only a 5% tip on...