Star Bar: User Reviews
Star Bar
2811 Ingersoll Ave. - Des Moines515-244-0790
Unimpressed by the reviews that I saw on here prior, my wife and I tried Star Bar on Sunday. We enjoyed a very nice brunch menu that saw us order a blackened chicken sandwich(roasted peppers and onions) and a cheeseburger. They were for lack of better words fantastic. The atmosphere was very casual and the openness of the place was extremely inviting. We decided to go back tonight(Tuesday), to see if it was just a fluke that we enjoyed ourselves so much. I got the catfish tacos, and the wife got the cajun pasta. Let me say that the food was the best the we have had since moving to Des Moines a year ago. This is by far the most impressed I have been with any restaurant or bar since moving to the area. I wish I could give Star Bar more stars! They deserve it!
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As I am reading these reviews I am instantly realizing that many of the “critics” seem to want to complain just for the sake of complaining? Yes the service can be slow sometimes when they are really busy (like most other places) but otherwise they are usually very good. We eat there all the time and I can count on one hand the meals that have not been very good, I have taken clients there from out of town all the time and each time they have all left saying that this is one of the better bar / restaurant food that they have had. It seems like there are many “reviewers” that have an axe to grind about it being upscale or “Jordan Creek-ish” and for some reason they feel out of place? Or the clientele is higher scale? So some people feel intimidated or awkward because if you wear flip flops and a torn shirt you feel out of place? Good! If I want to eat in that atmosphere I will go to Taco Johns, Casey’s or MCD’s. I guess people think that is they can tear something down or cry and complain about it this somehow relates to them having a higher knowledge of restaurants or they are a real critic?
Hey… the place is very nice and the food (for me and the many friends / family / clients that I have brought there) is almost always great. So if you go there during the busiest times yes the service can be slow? REALLY?? Shocker?? Yes during those busy times you might not have your food piping hot and just hot but put things into perspective. This is a bar that serves high quality restaurant food and like any other bar/restaurant combo they get very busy during the happy hours and when they get packed things tend to be slower. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out. We go to Noah’s and even when they are not packed we end up waiting 30 minutes plus for a pizza? So you have to put things into perspective.
When I see that Star Bar gets only a star and a half it is pretty funny because reading the reviews I see service being the issue at busy times?
So if you want to have a great meal to go with a nice drink selection this is a fine place to go. The outdoor patio is great. We bring our young daughter there and it is one of her favorite places to go. But we don’t bring her there during happy hour because we use a bit of common sense knowing that there is going to be the after work crowd and it will not be as fast of service or as easy to find a seat and it is going to be very busy.
Kind of funny because when you see the low rating you wouldn’t think that it would consistently be so packed with people? I guess that market place has a way of determining if a place is good or not and it seems like the people have spoken and continue to speak …. Try finding a parking spot there after 5pm on a weekday or a weekend?
I would recommend Starbar to anyone who wants great food and drinks.
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I have been to Star Bar twice and had completely different experiences. I first went and had drinks with a friend on Christmas Eve. We sat at the bartop since the bartender was the only one working and wanted to make it easier on him. He was great and after awhile even though we were the only ones still in the place, he kept pouring us drinks! I was having so much fun just sitting and chatting with my friend that I ended up being late for my family dinner!
The second time I went (4/03) was not a wonderful experience. It was a nice day outside and my friend and I decided to have brunch somewhere with a patio. I arrived and it was seat yourself and I was lucky enough to have snagged a leaving table outside. There were glasses on the table which I stacked together and put on the end so that the waitress could grab them easily. She came over about 5 minutes after I had sat down and I ordered a bloody mary and said we'd need 2 menus. My friend showed up and it was another 5-10 minutes more before she came back around again. He ordered a bloody mary and I went ahead and ordered another since it was becoming apparant that our waitress wasn't that quick. We finally received our drinks and could tell by the melted ice that they had been sitting waiting to be delivered for awhile. We ordered, I a spinach and goat cheese omelette, he a monte cristo. We did not see her again until she came to deliver our food. She went to drop a cuban sandwich and my friend said that that was not his, she stopped said oh, looked at the ticket and walked away confused. She came back without food and said, you ordered the cuban right? He told her no, the monte cristo and she walked away. We waited another 10 minutes while tables around us received their food before ours finally came. We ordered another round of drinks. His sandwich was delicious and very hot, but to be expected when food is made on the fly. My omelette was warm but not hot and in a few bites was cold, and I was starving so I wasn't eating slow. My omelette was supposed to come with potatoes and toast and she said it would be a minute with the toast. I was completely finished with my plate when she stopped back and I had to ask for my toast. She brought it a few minutes later on top of a side of bacon. Lucky for her I'm not a vegetarian anymore, but the bacon still went uneaten. She cleared our plates and asked if we wanted it together or separate, I told her that we were just gonna hang out and have a few drinks and to check back soon. We did not see her again until I flagged her down and asked for the bill.
I completely blame my bad experience on our server. Had she been as attentive as she should have been and gotten our order correct I think our experience would have been great. We saw the two other servers on the patio check on their tables much more than we did ours. As someone who is a server I can understand when someone is busy, but this was ridiculous. My friend and I left and went to Wellmans!
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I was a surprised when I was checking the overall review for this place, it's like a star and a half, which is way too low in my view. But looking through the reviews, I especially don't get it, because most comments put this place between three and five stars...just about right if you ask me.
The food here is great, as are the martinis. It's worth noting though, that I only order two things off the menu: the steak salad and the star bar burger. The salad is one of those great, "God Bless America" salads that has a nice mix of lettuce and is covered in delicious calories-- steak, ranch, and fried shoe string potato fries. It's wonderfully clean and fresh decadence. The Starbar burger, which, in my mind is the best burger in the city, was listed in Juice's "100 best burgers" a while back, so I know I'm not the only one that's a fan.
I will note that I once had a very heavy but underwhelming pasta dish (forgettable too, all I remember is that it had a cream sauce and I think there was chicken in it,) but I don't hold this against them too much, because I really just go there for burgers, and sometimes an appetizer and beer after class.
For those of you that are parents out there, one of the best things Starbar has is the kids' menu. It's healthy and fresh, and kids will like it. For example, the kids' chicken tenders are obviously fresh made, not frozen from some box. Unlike a lot of places that cater to adults but have a kids' menu 'just in case,' the servers are never snotty or suspicious that we've brought in a little hellion to ruin the sophistication of their fine dining establishment, and they are appropriately accommodating to a table with a young child, like not putting a hot plate too close to him, setting drinks far away from his reach, and asking if we'd like his dinner to come first. These touches are really the mark of a good server that knows their table and can accommodate anyone.
I've been here quite a few times, and what I've noticed about service is that it's touch and go in the afternoon, but always stellar at night.
All around, Starbar is a great place to enjoy a relaxed time with friends, a date, or your kid. Assuming you're without the little one, it's the best place to have a burger for dinner and a couple of martini's to make a great night.
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Warm spring day. Lunch on the sidewalk. Cuban Panini or Niman Jambo sandwich.
Hot August night. Wine outside. Love this place even in the winter inside.
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I think Star Bar was exactly was the Ingersoll bar scene needed-something modern and classy. Ingersoll has some fabulous dive bars and funky hangouts, dont get me wrong-but Star Bar moved in and mixed it up a bit. My fiance an I dined there with our parents and Star Bar was a perfect atmosphere for a low key, yet special dinner. I am always excited by the innovative menu but have admittedly come to Star Bar for drinks later at night more often than meals. I was reminded Saturday night, that I need to come back more often for food. I opted for the Sesame Crusted Tuna Salad with spinach, cashews, oranges and carrots. I was very pleased with the peanut and citrus dressing combination that came out.
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Brunch is the greatest meal of them all, and if you're going to get up to eat it, the food better be good.
I had the red pepper and goat cheese omelete and it came with some yummy potatoes and bread. One of my friends got the Belgian waffle, which looked kind of sad next to our loaded plates. No whipped cream or fruit or anything. All-in-all, I wish La Mie was still serving breakfast on Sundays. The atmosphere was a little lacking, the service was grumpy and the selection wasn't that great. I prefer Star Bar for dinner.
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I can't disagree with what the previous reviewer said, other than that trying too hard isn't necessarily a bad thing for Star Bar. The food is solid, and the crowd is admittedly dominated by the upper echelon, soon to be upper echelon, or pretenders of the same. The service is the one drawback to this place that keeps me from frequenting Star Bar as often as I would otherwise. Things to try - the fries (or the star fries - tater tots are a blast from the past that always bring back good memories), the bbq chicken spring roll (more of an egg roll), the burgers, or the steak salad. Vodka tonics are made well here, as are pretty much any other drink I've had here, although it may take a while to get the bartenders attention, as they tend to focus on the regulars, of which there are many.
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This place tries too hard for it's upscale moniker. It's a slightly snobby hangout for the urban professional. If you like West Glen, but would like an urban adventure, this is the place for you. If you are an OG Ingersoll Scruff, go to the Alpine or GTs instead.
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Review Summary
The following scores represent the average rating submitted by 78 users:
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