The look: Wind through the lobby at the Holiday Inn just north of I-235 downtown and at first you'll smell the pool (which was actually nowhere to be seen), then you'll come to the hotel restaurant and Maroney's, the bar. With wood trim and wall sconces, it feels a bit like a worn clubhouse.
The crowd: We were hoping to meet some lonely world travelers who would want to regale us with stories of business trips to Omaha and Kansas City, but the crowd for a Thursday happy hour was actually just a few friendly local regulars who were more than happy to point us in the direction of the free food.
The two drinks: Apparently there's no such thing as a Maroney-tini, so our bartender, Stephanie Villasenor, 24, scrambled a bit to find something worthy of a "Two Drinks" story. She used her skills from back when she worked at Tonic in Ankeny to come up with a "Scooby Snack" and a "Nerds" shot. The bar was missing a few things, but we were able to taste the coconut flavor of Malibu rum and the cream that went into this tropical-meets-Midwestern drink. I tried to visualize Scooby Doo drinking this, but I couldn't really picture it.
The "Nerds" shot was made with three kinds of puckers and sour. I took a sip before my drinking buddy slammed the shot. To me, it tasted like Gatorade Frost. I think we would have preferred it if Villasenor had made us a Manhattan - one of the bar's more popular drinks.
The grub: This is where I got really excited. The first thing you see when you walk in is the popcorn machine. We had a little basket full of that, but then the regular sitting next to us let us know about the toasted cheese ravioli and marinara sauce near the video games. Score! The raviolis were only lukewarm, but they were free.
The verdict: Not bad for happy hour, but it's a good thing Villasenor points her patrons downtown when they're looking for a true example of Des Moines' scene.
