First Look: Library Cafe is new and improved

The newly remodeled Library Cafe includes an antique library filing cabinet transformed into a beer tap housing 20 draft beers.

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The first thing we got at the newly relaunched Library Cafe in the Drake neighborhood was a suggestion. When I asked the bartender if the bar carried Stella Artois, which I was attempting to order, his response was, “Yes, but we serve a lot of other things.”

So I left my drink in the bartender’s hands. He delivered a Paulaner Munich Lager, a German beer, not all that surprising from a drink-slinger who also spends time working at the Hessen Haus. Such is the influence of the neighborhood staple’s new owners, Full Court Press, the collective of guys also responsible for some of Des Moines’ most interesting bars: Royal Mile, Hessen Haus, High Life Lounge and more.

While the Library Cafe has not undergone as dramatic of a transformation as the aforementioned bars, the Full Court Press influence is felt, perhaps most notably by the antique library filing cabinet that has been transformed into a beer tap housing 20 different types of draft beer —none of them domestic. In addition to beers like Guinness and Sierra Nevada, the Library also serves up two brews by the Knoxville, Ia., Peace Tree brewery and a couple of New Belgium brews. There’s also a cooler full of additional imported and craft bottles and a few expected domestics. In addition, a separate tap is attached to the bar, serving up draws of the lone domestic beer: Pabst Blue Ribbon.

We visited the smallish bar on the Saturday after relaunch at about 8 p.m. and it was packed, but that’s not saying much in a space that only fits six booths and two tables fashioned out of casks. With about 30 patrons, and barely enough room to fit another, we grabbed seats at the bar. Over the course of an hour and a half, we counted at least seven different people working there in some capacity, whether behind the bar, behind the grill or serving diners at booths and tables. We chalked the excessiveness up to opening weekend wrinkles that will likely be ironed out in the weeks to come.

The bar’s claim to fame, pre-Full Court Press, has always been its nachos, and an exterior sign still boasts that assertion. Nine months ago, an online Foursquare check-in at the Library Cafe said, “Cheeseburger nachos aren’t on the menu but they sure are tasty.” Well now the cheeseburger nachos are on the menu, and we decided to give them a try. The homemade tortilla chips are flaky and crisp, and covered with fresh pico de gallo, banana peppers, pinto beans, sour cream and cheddar cheese. It is, literally, topped with a cheeseburger that’s been grilled, then ground, then slathered on top.

The bar also serves basic, corned beef and roast beef nachos in addition to soups, sandwiches and appetizers.

The Library Cafe is perhaps the most subtle of the Full Court Press Bars, but there’s no one better to carry on the traditions of the already established Drake neighborhood pub and cafe than the same group that helped breathe new life into the downtown drinking scene.

Library Cafe

Find it: 3506 University Ave.

Hours: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturday; 8 a.m.-midnight Sunday

Info: 255-0433