The look: The Sideshow Lounge is the bar section of the Des Moines Social Club, which also houses Instinct Art Gallery and the Blackbox Theater. The bar looks out to the emerging sculpture garden in downtown's Western Gateway area, and artwork from the gallery extends along the walls. Small bar tables are decorated and glazed by volunteers, giving the space the vibe of a creative community home base.
The bar is made of corrugated metal and overlapping tin work, and you can hang out there or on a big, overstuffed couch (also donated) closer to the Ping-Pong room. We stopped in after work the Monday following the Social Club's Subjective Circus event, so there were a few remnants of the weekend's party left over (Olde Main was still on tap), and a few things put away for the event still weren't back in place (like the special wine glasses).
The crowd: The eclectic mix of patrons the Social Club founders had hoped to gather were actually mixing it up at the bar when we stopped by. A middle-aged man hung out on the couch with his Mac, a student highlighted at one of the tables while some other younger guys held fort at the bar: DJing from a computer, randomly grabbing an orange-colored liquid from the fridge behind the bar, and playing hackey with a large ball and some sort of field hockey stick. Everyone was just kind of doing their own thing.
The two drinks: My drinking buddy ordered a Grain Belt ($2), which, as founder Zachary Mannheimer's favorite beer, has a place on tap. I ordered one of the nine wines they have on their rotating monthly list. Bartender Sierra Gallardo, 21, poured me a glass of Carmenere, $6. A Chilean wine, it tasted like a Merlot without the smoky finish that normally turns me off to that variety. Learn more about the grapes of the month at tasting events at the bar, which becomes full-service this month.
The grub: There's not regularly food at the Sideshow Lounge, so grab something before you go. This is the kind of place where you could probably get away with eating a Jimmy John's sandwich you brought, too.
The verdict: Support the arts by mellowing out with a cheap beer or interesting variety of wine. Since tickets to theater performances are free, you can afford to buy a round for all your friends before going to see "The Twelfth Labor," playing through June 13.
