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Address and Contact Information
Address: 9250 University Ave Suite 117, West Des Moines, IA 50266
Phone: (515) 414-8986
Website: https://www.shirleysbarandgrill.com/
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A new West Des Moines Bar & Grill! 9250 University Ave Suite 117 West Des Moines, IA 50266 Happy Hour: Monday – Thursday 3pm – 6pm
Reviews
Jessica Menz
Last minute family dinner at Shirley’s Bar & Grill in Waukee, to watch Velvet Trio sing, a smaller band off the larger group Suede. Seat yourself meant we kindly gave up our booth to another family, and stood by the bar waiting for the next. Fast bar service while we waited.
THE FOOD WAS AWESOME BAR FOOD! (short review summary)
Wings: tasty sweet chili wings, but I was craving wings all day so it soothed the itch (who am I kidding, I’m always craving wings ). Ranch dressing was good so that hit the mark.
Curds: hot and gooey, nothing crazy unique but it’s melted, fried cheese with a batter shell (which is our preference). Not a huge fan of breaded over battered.
Italian Sammy: thicker slices of ham, capicola, salami, pepperoni, provolone, shredded lettuce, banana pepper, tomato and their awesome creamy parmesan, all on an Italian hoagie. The only thing we wished was we should have gotten a side of giardeniere (which comes in the Italian Sausage sammy). It was delicious and we all loved this sub.
Shirley’s Burger: what can only be described as a fancy Big Mac but wayyyyyyy gooder! This was so good, and…yeah. Just, just try it! I was between this, the French dip, the club sandwich or the tuna melt. I was all over the place!
Tenderloin Fried: my husband has to get a tenderloin just about every time it’s on a menu somewhere. It’s his way of being able to tell if a “bar food restaurant” has good food or not. This is one of those “tell me you’re from central Iowa without telling me you’re from central Iowa” moments, IMO but he says that about my “good ranch” obsession so ♀️ it was very good, and we love a tenderloin bigger than the bun! The batter was peppery and flavorful, which is a thumbs up for us.
Classic Burger: a classic double cheeseburger was still very good! Two kids enjoyed this one.
Love their fries, the sweet potato tots were just so so, but LOVED their coleslaw. Not “too creamy” and not “too vinegary”, this one was the perfect mix of both – so so so tasty. And their gooey brownie with mint ice cream…get outta here, it was excellent!
Server Ella was attentive and kind. This place will be in our family rotation, very very good!
… moreTHE FOOD WAS AWESOME BAR FOOD! (short review summary)
Wings: tasty sweet chili wings, but I was craving wings all day so it soothed the itch (who am I kidding, I’m always craving wings ). Ranch dressing was good so that hit the mark.
Curds: hot and gooey, nothing crazy unique but it’s melted, fried cheese with a batter shell (which is our preference). Not a huge fan of breaded over battered.
Italian Sammy: thicker slices of ham, capicola, salami, pepperoni, provolone, shredded lettuce, banana pepper, tomato and their awesome creamy parmesan, all on an Italian hoagie. The only thing we wished was we should have gotten a side of giardeniere (which comes in the Italian Sausage sammy). It was delicious and we all loved this sub.
Shirley’s Burger: what can only be described as a fancy Big Mac but wayyyyyyy gooder! This was so good, and…yeah. Just, just try it! I was between this, the French dip, the club sandwich or the tuna melt. I was all over the place!
Tenderloin Fried: my husband has to get a tenderloin just about every time it’s on a menu somewhere. It’s his way of being able to tell if a “bar food restaurant” has good food or not. This is one of those “tell me you’re from central Iowa without telling me you’re from central Iowa” moments, IMO but he says that about my “good ranch” obsession so ♀️ it was very good, and we love a tenderloin bigger than the bun! The batter was peppery and flavorful, which is a thumbs up for us.
Classic Burger: a classic double cheeseburger was still very good! Two kids enjoyed this one.
Love their fries, the sweet potato tots were just so so, but LOVED their coleslaw. Not “too creamy” and not “too vinegary”, this one was the perfect mix of both – so so so tasty. And their gooey brownie with mint ice cream…get outta here, it was excellent!
Server Ella was attentive and kind. This place will be in our family rotation, very very good!
Kim Vaughan
We were seated right away. I were not aware they had a brunch menu, so I asked for the lunch menu also. The menu is limited, so it makes it easier to choose. Staff was friendly and service fast and served hot. French fries were delicious!! I only wish I could have 2 pieces of toast . FYI… “Not a Sports Bar.” Per their t-shirts lol
… moreHarold Howe
We have grown to really like this place over the past year. Reasonably priced and the food has been good. We love going here on cold days for the chicken noodle soup. Best place on the west side for a Mai Tai. We like to pretend we are in Hawaii.
Service has been good, but I do wonder if they should add one more server during peak business. We have had some delays the last two visits. The place was packed and it seemed like they only had 2 servers taking care of everyone. The servers they do have are great, just overwhelmed at times.
… moreService has been good, but I do wonder if they should add one more server during peak business. We have had some delays the last two visits. The place was packed and it seemed like they only had 2 servers taking care of everyone. The servers they do have are great, just overwhelmed at times.
A C
We had two bad experiences one right after the other, each time bringing in potential new customers who had never been there however I don’t think any of them will come back. Terrible service and food was less than wonderful. Watched the bartender mix herself a drink and a shot. Thought that was odd. Our waitress made what seemed to be a random reference that hopefully it won’t take longer than 20 minutes they’re kind of messed up in the kitchen because it was busier than they had planned on..Not sure who was in the kitchen but they definitely didn’t know how to cook. The tenderloin was like a dry piece of leather. I called the next day to speak to somebody as we didn’t want to address it with our guests at the table and put a downer on the evening. I asked for a manager the person talking said ‘let me see if I can find one I think they left’. When I told her what I was calling for and I asked if they could take my name to call me back and then she said ‘Oh I’m a manager I can help you’ but all she did was say they were pretty busy that night and she would let the kitchen know. No offer what so ever for any type of apology or compensation. We stopped going for a long time. Decided to give it another try, so the next time we came in was in a larger group and we all ordered food and drinks but when we sat at the table for longer than 15 minutes after it look we’re done, even though we hadn’t paid yet, we were asked by a man to leave because other people were waiting for our seats. I guess we were done then! It’s too bad they can’t get to together consistently and reliably the atmosphere is great!
… moreTodd Braun (The Food and Drink Guy)
4.0* (out of 5)
Food: 3* Atmosphere: 5* Value: 4* Service: 5*
Would I go back / Recommend?: 4* (Probably)
Total check/person: $38
06/14/2025
We stopped here for drinks last weekend with our son who lives nearby, so when it was my turn to choose a place to eat after Mass tonight I thought we’d give it a try. We enjoyed the music from the 70s and 80s last time and in addition to that, they had a live band tonight and the place was pretty full, so we sat at the bar.
They try hard to say they aren’t a sports bar (on the back of the shirts on all the wait staff), so I asked a bartender what they were then if they weren’t a sports bar. After discussing the 70s / 80s theme, we ended up getting a history lesson. We were told that Shirley was the original name of the town of Waukee, but it was changed after lobbying from the Milwaukee Railroad that came through town to name it after them. The Waukee website gives a slightly different take…saying Gen. Reid of the Des Moines Valley Railroad stated that the ‘powers that be’ in the railroad office in Keokuk insisted that it should have an Indian appellation, and hence Waukee it had to be.
For dinner, my wife ordered the French Dip with tots (see picture) and I opted for The Rachel with cottage cheese (see picture). While I really enjoyed the Rachel – great taste with the smoked turkey and nicely toasted bread, my wife and I agreed that the French Dip and tots were average bar food at best. I didn’t like the bread, the size of the tots were smaller than average…leaving mostly breading and she asked for Ranch to dip them in and instead received some type of sweet homemade sauce.
Overall, I liked this place – especially the drinks, service and 70s/80s music and theme.
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… moreFood: 3* Atmosphere: 5* Value: 4* Service: 5*
Would I go back / Recommend?: 4* (Probably)
Total check/person: $38
06/14/2025
We stopped here for drinks last weekend with our son who lives nearby, so when it was my turn to choose a place to eat after Mass tonight I thought we’d give it a try. We enjoyed the music from the 70s and 80s last time and in addition to that, they had a live band tonight and the place was pretty full, so we sat at the bar.
They try hard to say they aren’t a sports bar (on the back of the shirts on all the wait staff), so I asked a bartender what they were then if they weren’t a sports bar. After discussing the 70s / 80s theme, we ended up getting a history lesson. We were told that Shirley was the original name of the town of Waukee, but it was changed after lobbying from the Milwaukee Railroad that came through town to name it after them. The Waukee website gives a slightly different take…saying Gen. Reid of the Des Moines Valley Railroad stated that the ‘powers that be’ in the railroad office in Keokuk insisted that it should have an Indian appellation, and hence Waukee it had to be.
For dinner, my wife ordered the French Dip with tots (see picture) and I opted for The Rachel with cottage cheese (see picture). While I really enjoyed the Rachel – great taste with the smoked turkey and nicely toasted bread, my wife and I agreed that the French Dip and tots were average bar food at best. I didn’t like the bread, the size of the tots were smaller than average…leaving mostly breading and she asked for Ranch to dip them in and instead received some type of sweet homemade sauce.
Overall, I liked this place – especially the drinks, service and 70s/80s music and theme.
If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow.
Ricardo Ramon
If you get Myka as your server at Shirley’s, you’re in the best hands. She’s friendly, attentive, and makes you feel genuinely taken care of from the moment you sit down. She knows the menu well, checks in at all the right times, and keeps everything running smoothly without ever being overbearing. You can tell she truly cares about giving great service, and it makes the whole experience that much better. Shirley’s is lucky to have her! 10/10 would go back again. Ask for Myka! She’s an angel 🙂
… moreCharon Thompson
We absolutely love Shirleys! We go weekly and sometimes more often. Love the atmosphere and that is isn’t a sports bar! The service is wonderful! We love Myka! She is the best! Very attentive, super friendly and she always makes sure we are well taken care of. Shirleys is our favorite place to hang out. The food is great and the drinks are all good. Love watching MTV videos and not football!
… moreTracy Bales
Visited on a Sunday during brunch hours. Place was packed, we seated ourselves toward the rear of the dining area. Our server was great, just seemed spread a little thin. Two of us ordered brunch items and one ordered a cheeseburger, it was all very good. We’ll be back for happy hour sometime and at sit at the bar which had a ton of comfortable chairs.
… moreBritni Kawa
Live 2 mins away from here. Use to be our favorite place to come for a quick dinner and drink or to bring the family but since some of the regular staff is not here it’s gotten bad with service. Dark hair young bartender is clueless. Drinks are either screwed up or majorly burnt to where it’s not enjoyable to drink. Even when you address she makes an excuse like her nails got in the way. She likes to go around the corner and sit in a bar stool behind the bar instead of being involved with her customers so if you need another drink you’ll wait 10 mins or pay your tab you better grab someone else. Really hope some of the regular staff would come back who acknowledges customers and actually works.
… moreJeff Hummel (Gadget)
Food was good. Had breaded tenderloin and house salad. Rob Roy drink was very good if you like a scotch old fashion. Sausage Graziano queso dip was thick but tasty. Wife had dill chicken salad.
… more