There are few things I enjoy more than eating large hunks of animal flesh cooked over fire. One of those things is eating large hunks of animal flesh cooked over fire, then using the company credit card when the bill comes.
So my wife and I took the long, long, LONG road out west to an area of the suburbs I’ve only heard about in myths and legends (Where are we? Is this even Iowa anymore?) to see if the new Jethro’s BBQ ‘n’ Jambalaya stacks up to the other locations with regards to its animal flesh cooking.
Thumbs up on the lay of the land. The large corner sports bar and restaurant is a sea of wood and neon, as if someone found a large barn and tried to see how many beer signs and high-def TVs could fit inside. The answer: 70 million beer signs and high-def TVs, unofficially.
We arrived early, right around 5 on a Friday, so tables were open in a smaller (and somewhat drafty) back room, which I’m pretty sure was also the site of a dads-in-Iowa- Hawkeye-sweatshirts convention this December evening. I felt a bit overdressed in, you know, a shirt with buttons on it.
The menu here is basically the same Jethro’s offerings, with a few new Creole and Cajun sections added in: jambalaya, red beans and rice, mahi mahi and the like. We skipped the appetizer. This wasn’t our first Jethro’s rodeo and we knew the main courses are built for Bunyan-sized appetites.
Jethro’s offers prime rib on Friday and Saturday nights, so I ordered the 12-ounce, medium rare, with candied smashed sweet potatoes and red beans and rice as my sides. The fatty cut of prime rib was well-cooked and jumped with a faint hint of smoky flavor. No complaints there. The sweet potatoes offered a bit more sweetness than expected, a good thing, while the meaty red beans and rice offered just that: lots of meat, but lacking on actual Cajun flavor. A caddy of hot sauces on the table punched it up, a bit.
My wife’s jambalaya was another matter, lacking any real Cajun seasoning or spice. A few bites in, she was picking out bits of sausage and second- guessing her selection. Not even the hot sauce helped. We were looking for big, bold flavors. This was, in her words, “nothing.”
Service was attentive at first, but trailed off. We waited a good 20 minutes to have our plates cleared away, then another 15 for the bill. Disappointing, since it wasn’t wall-to-wall packed in there.
Jethro’s knows what it’s doing, as evidenced by the big crowds at all three locations, but next time I’ll skip the Cajun and stick with the barbecue.
OUR RECEIPT
Jambalaya … $14.95
12-ounce prime rib … $19.95
Two Diet Pepsis … $5
Total with tax and tip: $50.79
Jethro’s BBQ ‘n’ Jambalaya
Jethro’s BBQ ‘n’ Jambalaya
Find it: 9350 University Ave., West Des Moines
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday; 9:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday; 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday
More info: jethrosdesmoines.com, 987-8686
