Truman's KC Pizza Tavern — Restaurant in Des Moines

The bartender only helps who they want to help. When you ASK for help they say you’re being rude. I made eye contact with the bartender, and every guy in the kitchen MULTIPLE TIMES. I was ignored. I literally opened the kitchen door to ask for help and it was empty. This is all happening and the bartender puts a finger in my face and says one sec. I walked away to breathe. WHEN I CAME BACK THIS BARTENDER HAD THE AUDACITY TO ASK ME “where’d ya go?” In the most sarcastic tone. I don’t get upset in public but this was straight up mean. Finally a real adult shows up but this man is worse than the bartender. He gets the order I’m there for (it was sitting next to the bartender the whole time. All she had to do was pick it up and hand it to me) this man proceeds to check every piece of pizza, every breadstick, made sure the boxes opened and closed JUST TO MAKE ME MORE MAD. This wasn’t an escalation at first. I was trying to get my order and go. They egged it on. They were MEAN to me and tried to bully me and get a rise out of me. It worked and I’m ashamed. I have never literally EVER encountered customer service this malevolent. I felt excluded and picked on. I will be calling and talking with this restaurant about it. I complained with the delivery service and I filed a claim with better business bureau. I felt like I was being harassed and picked on while all I was trying to do was pick up a pizza and breadsticks for one of their customers.

When I finally left this “man” followed me out of the restaurant and I got him on video threatening to call my employer and get me fired. This leader exited his store, abandoned his employees just to follow me outside and yell at me.

It has been hours and I am still upset. I can’t believe a restaurant like this is allowed to operate. I haven’t been bullie, laughed at and had eyes rolled at me since the 9th grade.

Again, on February 14th 2025 the short female bartender with brown hair and an awful attitude and the bald slenderman guy with glasses bullied me, said hurtful things, and caused my delivery to be very late. Also, to reiterate, the man followed me out of the restaurant and threatened to have me fired.

If this were my restaurant: a delivery man walks in. I say “hi, welcome in. I’ll be with you in a minute”. He says “I have a DoorDash”. Then I say “oh here is that order”. Then he leaves. Less than 30 seconds. I was there for over 10 minutes and was laughed at, eyes rolled at me, ignored, and just plain dehumanized.

Also, their online orders were sitting on top of a dirty shelf, there were so so so many dirty dishes just sitting all over the bar. The bartender claimed to be “busy” but she didn’t seem busy at all. The restaurant was very busy, but this bartender in particular only has time for what she thinks it worth her time. If you're gonna be so “busy” maybe put the deliveries by the door so we can grab and go? I should not have to wait at the bar and get the attention of yet another pretentious bartender.

I could sincerely keep going with how unbelievable my interaction at this restaurant was.

Just to really stick it in your head: on February 14th, 2025 the Short girl bartender was mean. Not rude. She was mean. I don’t mess around with bullies anymore. I would like an apology from these two people due to their complete lack of ANY...

Truman's pizza tavern is fantastic! The atmosphere, service and food are great! We came after driving back from the Hawkeyes football game in Iowa City, so we were hungry!

We were seated and ordered some wings as an appetizer and two large Mahomes (combo) pizzas. The wings came out and were cooked perfectly with slightly crispy skin, hot and fresh! The buffalo sauce had very good flavor.

We waited a bit for the pizzas, then a gentleman came over with a smile and said " do you want me to tell you a good story or the truth?". I said just tell me the truth. So he explained the pizzas were left in the oven too long and were on the well done side. He didn't want to serve them to us, but wanted to let us know it was going to be another 20 minutes or so. We said go ahead and make new pizzas, we weren't on a time crunch. He proceeded to talk with us for another 15 minutes or so. Really nice guy, found out he is one of the owners. He proceeded to tell us about plans for Truman's including a small expansion so they can add more pizza ovens to increase capacity.

The pizzas came out and were simply superb. The crust was between thin and medium, and was light and crispy yet a little soft. Excellent flavor. The sauce was also excellent, and the toppings / cheese were the right amount. Overall flavor was excellent, one of the better pizzas I've ever eaten.

Truman's is a really cool place with a nice bar area, good seating, and enough TVs to watch sports, but not too many so its distracting. Our server ( I can't remember her name) was excellent. She checked on us consistently and made sure we had a great experience there. She's been there since Truman's opened. Even though there is a lot of KC Chiefs and Royals references there, Truman's is open to fans of any team. If you want great pizza in a fun environment, go to Truman's, you won't be disappointed!

The owner ended up comping us 5 slice of homemade pie because of the 1st set of pizzas being overcooked. I will keep coming back when I am in the Des...

Truman’s Pizza Review (Delivery Experience)

We ordered from Truman’s through a delivery service — which always adds a bit of mystery to how the food will arrive. Fortunately, this time everything showed up hot and fresh!

This review focuses on Truman’s food quality, based solely on our delivery experience.

My wife Kim is a total pizza fanatic, so we’re always trying new places! She ordered the garlic cheese bread, which was fantastic — perfectly cheesy and delivered with a great dipping sauce. Honestly, it could stand alone as a meal!

The star of the show was the Mahomes pizza. It arrived a bit messy — some toppings were haphazardly placed and unevenly distributed. This wasn’t a delivery issue, but likely how it was assembled at the restaurant. That said, it’s a minor complaint because the pizza itself was delicious. I loved all the toppings except the hamburger — it was just plain, unseasoned ground beef. It felt out of place on such a flavorful pizza.

Thankfully, the pizza sauce was the hero — bold, flavorful, and full of character. And the crust? Thin but not too thin, with those awesome little bubbles and a perfect balance of chewy and crispy. (Sounds impossible, but it really was!)

While I’d definitely prefer to dine in at Truman’s next time, the delivery experience was surprisingly solid given the distance. I hope Kim tipped well!

Looking forward to...