The Operating Room West Des Moines — Restaurant in West Des Moines

So I've been looking for a barcade on my side of town for a while. I love Up-Down, but parking can be a nightmare, and my fiancee gets freaked out by downtown traffic, plus the crowding can be bad for her (she has a topical allergy to alcohol). So, I decided to check out The Operating Room on a slow night, to see what it's about

I love the place. The aesthetic is both somewhat nostalgic and grown up, leaving a lot of room for different kinds of people. They've got 19 or so pinball machines, all in great condition. There are a limited number of classic stand up arcade machines (and the ones they have are remarkably dated; think Defender and Donky Kong) but are more than compensated for with sit down and stand up shooters like Tomb Raider Arcade and Halo Raven. They also have prize and token pusher games, with rewards as well, bring to mind Chuck E. Cheese or a much smaller D&B offering.

Table games and classic carnival machines are there as well. They've got basketball, skeeball, air hockey, electronic beer pong(!), and a really unique Connect 4 basketball game that's apparently a regular favorite. They also have a set of NES and SNES multi in one game consoles attached to the left and right TVs at the bar, so you can get your classic on.

The bar is well maintained and have a number of uncommon domestic labels and local draws, plus seasonals. They've also got a line of alcoholic slush machines that reminds me of a lot of bars in NOLA. The flavors are all excellent, and at least when I was there offered slush flights so you can find a favorite, mine are Purple People Eater and Shark Bite. They have a full menu with appetizers and entrees, but I did not try them, although I will next time I'm in.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, and will be going back often in...

I had a very bad experience. Over the weekend (Saturday night) we hosted our team outing here. We had it reserved for a party of 30 people. Food all ordered, a 2 drink tickets per person at 8$ each ticket, told they can get any drink. Our outing was scheduled weeks in advance. This was to prepare because people do not live close. Then at 3:30 day of get a phone call saying all of our food has been cancelled, because the place they get their food the night before everybody walked out and quit. You can imagine my surprise and panic. So at this point I'm on the hunt with only 2 hours to find food to be catered for 30 people. They agreed to let me bring the food in. Then we get their and guest start to arrive and we're told we only have seats for 15 people. At that point I was very irritated. So half our group had to stand. We made it work. Very unorganized. Then at the end of visit we get the bill, and low an behold we get no sort of discount for all this mess, we get charged 25$ for some drinks saying they can't honor the drink tickets we purchased. Never did they specify what could be purchased for the drink tickets. Never received any apology for all of this. The 2 person staff was rude and made us feel like we were the inconvenience even though we booked this even weeks in advance. I will definitely not be hosting any more team outings at this place. Nor...

First off, I never take the time to review things but I felt compelled to after several awesome experiences here. My wife and I absolutely love, The Operating Room. I've been to many pinball/arcade establishments that serve alcohol in the past... but this place is exceptional! You can tell that the owner is a true lover of the arcade experience. The space itself is absolutely immaculate! It is intimate but not undersized by any means. I'll admit that I didn't quite understand the name until I started glancing around at the subtle details and theme throughout the bar. When you stop in look toward the ceiling and you'll see all sorts of cool medical quotes and anatomical drawings. One of the bartenders filled me in that the owner is a surgeon and he invited his friends in the medical field to draw each of them. As far as the drinks go my wife is a huge fan of their frozen cocktails. They aren't over-sugared or syrupy like most bars. The flavors are interesting and extremely well thought out. You can buy a flight and sample several of them at once. We liked the Key Lime Pie best but they were all excellent. I could go on all day about it but in short, IT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING DES MOINES HAS BEEN MISSING... SO...