Had a great experience once again at Court Avenue Brewery(www.courtavebrew.com)  in Des Moines, IA.  This was my second visit to the brewpub and once again I was impressed. The old brick wall decor is something I really love in a pub/restaurant. Although, I did not eat this time, the menu is extensive and they try to keep all of their food local, which is always a plus. I started with their Honest Lawyer IPA which 20 lbs of hops goes into every batch. It was very bitter but smooth at the same time. A great beer if you are into hops. I really enjoyed the IPA but decided to try their Blackhawk Stout next. Smokey, coffee, chocolate, and oats all come out of this great stout. Very smooth and enjoyable.
My next visit to D

Last night my wife and I finally got to go to Red’s Alehouse in North Liberty, IA. We had heard nothing but great things about this place, from the food to the beer selection, so we were excited to finally try it. We started out with a seared tuna appetizer, which was very good. I ordered the Alehouse Burger, which might be one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever eaten. My wife ordered BBQ Chicken flatbread, which was wonderful. To make it better, we got there for happy hour and had 2 for 1 beers. I had a local pale ale from Iowa and wife had Moose Drool Brown Ale. Very cold beer, very good food, the selection of beer rotates and is very deep. I highly recommend this place to anyone in the Eastern Iowa area, it gives you a reason to go to North Liberty and a restaurant that isn’t a chain. Great stuff!!
GRADE: A

Last night my wife and I finally got to go to Red’s Alehouse in North Liberty, IA. We had heard nothing but great things about this place, from the food to the beer selection, so we were excited to finally try it. We started out with a seared tuna appetizer, which was very good. I ordered the Alehouse Burger, which might be one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever eaten. My wife ordered BBQ Chicken flatbread, which was wonderful. To make it better, we got there for happy hour and had 2 for 1 beers. I had a local pale ale from Iowa and wife had Moose Drool Brown Ale. Very cold beer, very good food, the selection of beer rotates and is very deep. I highly recommend this place to anyone in the Eastern Iowa area, it gives you a reason to go to North Liberty and a restaurant that isn’t a chain. Great stuff!!
GRADE: A

Old Chicago (www.oldchicago.com) in Coralville, IA is not your typical chain restaurant. Although there are many different locations for Old Chicago’s they make themselves different by offering 110 different beers; many on draft and quite a few more in the bottle. Their food also is not typical of chains, as it is very good. Our usual outing to Old Chicago would include either their nachos, wings, or artichoke dip. I’m a big fan of their buffalo chicken hoagie, and their pizza is way above average.
My knock on this restaurant is that they didn’t have many (2) Iowa brewed beers available. In this day I was hoping for many more, and was hoping they would market the Iowa and or midwestern brewed selection. Also, the price of the beer is not very cheap. They sometimes run specials but that is usually for the mass produced swill and not any of the craft/micro. Despite that, it is a fun atmosphere, we take our 4 year old there and he enjoys himself. Check it out the next time you are in the Iowa City/Coralville area and join the Beer Tour as well.

Patti’s Woodfire Grill in Solon is your standard barfare, but the Pot of Gold pork tenderloin sandwich was excellent and huge. The tap beer was very disappointing as it had every light beer known to man along with Boulevard Wheat and Blue Moon. I’m still trying to figure out why they wouldn’t try something else on tap because no matter what, if a customer wants Miller, Bud, or Coors, they are going to order it whether it is on tap or in a bottle so get some good stuff on tap. With a woodfire grill I was hoping for a better pizza option but settled for a Buffalo Chicken flatbread which was decent. The bar itself is very nice and staff was friendly. Overall, not bad, but not great either. I do recommend the Pot of Gold tenderloin.

Patti’s Woodfire Grill in Solon is your standard barfare, but the Pot of Gold pork tenderloin sandwich was excellent and huge. The tap beer was very disappointing as it had every light beer known to man along with Boulevard Wheat and Blue Moon. I’m still trying to figure out why they wouldn’t try something else on tap because no matter what, if a customer wants Miller, Bud, or Coors, they are going to order it whether it is on tap or in a bottle so get some good stuff on tap. With a woodfire grill I was hoping for a better pizza option but settled for a Buffalo Chicken flatbread which was decent. The bar itself is very nice and staff was friendly. Overall, not bad, but not great either. I do recommend the Pot of Gold tenderloin.

When my wife and I moved to the area we immediately checked out Chameleon’s. Great food and a surprisingly very good selection of beer was available. A few months ago we found out the bar was put up for sale and tonight was the first night we stopped in to check out what the new owners were offering. The menu was small, which sometimes is a good thing. This was typical bar food with nothing mind-blowing, but we were both satisfied with our meals. A philly cheesesteak and a turkey club with a side a fried jalapenos. What was good for us is that they cater pretty well to kids and that seems to be the big difference between the ownership now and then. More kid friendly than before. I was happy to hear the new owner talking to a customer questioning the beer options. He was wondering what New Belgium Hoptober was and the owner said they get all the seasonal New Belgium products which made me as happy as a pig in shit.
They had New Belgium Hoptober on tap and its only the middle of August which was great. I love Octoberfest beers and this one went down smooth.
Eastern Iowa residents: If you are in the Mount Vernon, IA area and are in need of a cool, refreshing, fresh beer, some decent pub grub and cool, cozy, and comfortable atmosphere; check out Chameleon’s.