Howdy, Ags!
Welcome to Des Moines! For anyone interested about the city, places to eat/drink, etc., where to stay, parking, transportation, please continue reading.
The Des Moines area will offer many places to stay during your visit. There are many hotels in downtown Des Moines that are within walking distance of Wells Fargo Arena. However, you don't absolutely need to stay in Des Moines. From West Des Moines, it's only a 15-minute drive from hotels to Wells Fargo Arena. The same can be said for hotels in Ankeny. Urbandale is even closer but limited for options. Waukee and Grimes are a bit further away but still shouldn't take longer than 20 minutes.
If you are staying in one of the surrounding areas, definitely take an Uber or Lyft instead of taxi. If driving, Wells Fargo Arena parking lot is a bit messy and with the Ags playing the night session, I am not sure how much parking will be available since Kansas plays during the early session. There is parking in different lots and garages downtown.
Ticket options: I would look for 100 Level or 200 Level tickets. Nothing against the 300 Level, but it's just not ideal (IMO). On the 100 level, the rows go from A Z (A the closest) and if I remember correctly, the "longest" a row goes is to 24 (if you're looking for aisle seating). 200 level sides only have five rows while the corners and behind the basket will get higher.
Back to downtown…most of the action happens on Court Ave, which is in walking distance (half mile) from the arena. Let's start with Thursday: Luckily, the Iowa game starts a little before Colgate/tu tip-off, so most of the downtown bars will have a variety of games on during the day instead of TV's all on the same channel (more on that for Friday).
Downtown Bar/Restaurant Recommendations:
Johnny's Hall of Fame. This will be the Kansas alumni headquarters but is still the best sports bar downtown. Downtown Tap & Patio, Copper Cup (especially if you like Moscow Mules), Ricochet (it's a bar with a ton of games inside foosball, ping pong, skee-ball, darts + more), Annie's Irish Pub (if the weather is nice), Tonic, Beer Can Alley (Nashville Style food and plenty of TV's), Royal Mile (for craft beer drinkers), High Life Lounge (attached to Royal Mile) and Hessen Haus (German style food + European beer options).
(I'm still waiting to hear which establishment will be the A&M alumni host)
Do not visit: Tipsy Crow. You can find the owner information and his transgressions on Google.
As for Friday…
St. Patrick's Day is on Friday and the downtown Des Moines bars that I mentioned will be absolutely packed from morning to night. Court Ave will have a block party with live music, people in the streets and all the bars will be open and accessible. If you want to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, this is the place to be. Iowa State is scheduled to play at 2:00 PM and Drake is scheduled for 6:25. During those two time periods, 95% of the TV's in bars/restaurants will be on those games.
The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade will also go through downtown starting at noon.
There is a second area of downtown called East Village (East side of the river). There will be less traffic on Friday and also has some great bars/restaurants: Iowa Taproom, Truman's Pizza Tavern, Coa Cantina, Zombie Burger, Bellhop, Up-Down (arcade bar), and Locust Tap.
The third option is Ingersoll. Wellmans Pub is the staple of Ingersoll Ave and is a sports bar. The Station on Ingersoll, Star Bar, Ingersoll Tap are also good options. For food options, Sakari Sushi Lounge, DZO Korean BBQ, Eatery A, and others exist.
Do not visit: Zora. Again, you can find the owner information (different than earlier) and his transgressions on Google.
If you're into craft beer, there are many options downtown as well: Big Grove, Lua, Exile, Confluence, Peace Tree. Big Grove, Lua, and Exile also offer food options.
BBQ: Nothing compares to Texas BBQ. You will be disappointed if you go in expecting anything that resembles great BBQ (even though locals will say Jethros)...it does NOT compare!
On Saturday, there is a St. Patrick's Day 5K/half-marathon/marathon that will also be through downtown starting at 7:45 AM. Court Ave will be busy again, but not as crazy as Friday will be.
If anyone has any specific questions about the Des Moines area, feel free to post and I will answer as best as I can!
Hope to see everyone in Des Moines this weekend and celebrate a couple Aggie wins!
Gig Em!
Welcome to Des Moines! For anyone interested about the city, places to eat/drink, etc., where to stay, parking, transportation, please continue reading.
The Des Moines area will offer many places to stay during your visit. There are many hotels in downtown Des Moines that are within walking distance of Wells Fargo Arena. However, you don't absolutely need to stay in Des Moines. From West Des Moines, it's only a 15-minute drive from hotels to Wells Fargo Arena. The same can be said for hotels in Ankeny. Urbandale is even closer but limited for options. Waukee and Grimes are a bit further away but still shouldn't take longer than 20 minutes.
If you are staying in one of the surrounding areas, definitely take an Uber or Lyft instead of taxi. If driving, Wells Fargo Arena parking lot is a bit messy and with the Ags playing the night session, I am not sure how much parking will be available since Kansas plays during the early session. There is parking in different lots and garages downtown.
Ticket options: I would look for 100 Level or 200 Level tickets. Nothing against the 300 Level, but it's just not ideal (IMO). On the 100 level, the rows go from A Z (A the closest) and if I remember correctly, the "longest" a row goes is to 24 (if you're looking for aisle seating). 200 level sides only have five rows while the corners and behind the basket will get higher.
Back to downtown…most of the action happens on Court Ave, which is in walking distance (half mile) from the arena. Let's start with Thursday: Luckily, the Iowa game starts a little before Colgate/tu tip-off, so most of the downtown bars will have a variety of games on during the day instead of TV's all on the same channel (more on that for Friday).
Downtown Bar/Restaurant Recommendations:
Johnny's Hall of Fame. This will be the Kansas alumni headquarters but is still the best sports bar downtown. Downtown Tap & Patio, Copper Cup (especially if you like Moscow Mules), Ricochet (it's a bar with a ton of games inside foosball, ping pong, skee-ball, darts + more), Annie's Irish Pub (if the weather is nice), Tonic, Beer Can Alley (Nashville Style food and plenty of TV's), Royal Mile (for craft beer drinkers), High Life Lounge (attached to Royal Mile) and Hessen Haus (German style food + European beer options).
(I'm still waiting to hear which establishment will be the A&M alumni host)
Do not visit: Tipsy Crow. You can find the owner information and his transgressions on Google.
As for Friday…
St. Patrick's Day is on Friday and the downtown Des Moines bars that I mentioned will be absolutely packed from morning to night. Court Ave will have a block party with live music, people in the streets and all the bars will be open and accessible. If you want to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, this is the place to be. Iowa State is scheduled to play at 2:00 PM and Drake is scheduled for 6:25. During those two time periods, 95% of the TV's in bars/restaurants will be on those games.
The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade will also go through downtown starting at noon.
There is a second area of downtown called East Village (East side of the river). There will be less traffic on Friday and also has some great bars/restaurants: Iowa Taproom, Truman's Pizza Tavern, Coa Cantina, Zombie Burger, Bellhop, Up-Down (arcade bar), and Locust Tap.
The third option is Ingersoll. Wellmans Pub is the staple of Ingersoll Ave and is a sports bar. The Station on Ingersoll, Star Bar, Ingersoll Tap are also good options. For food options, Sakari Sushi Lounge, DZO Korean BBQ, Eatery A, and others exist.
Do not visit: Zora. Again, you can find the owner information (different than earlier) and his transgressions on Google.
If you're into craft beer, there are many options downtown as well: Big Grove, Lua, Exile, Confluence, Peace Tree. Big Grove, Lua, and Exile also offer food options.
BBQ: Nothing compares to Texas BBQ. You will be disappointed if you go in expecting anything that resembles great BBQ (even though locals will say Jethros)...it does NOT compare!
On Saturday, there is a St. Patrick's Day 5K/half-marathon/marathon that will also be through downtown starting at 7:45 AM. Court Ave will be busy again, but not as crazy as Friday will be.
If anyone has any specific questions about the Des Moines area, feel free to post and I will answer as best as I can!
Hope to see everyone in Des Moines this weekend and celebrate a couple Aggie wins!
Gig Em!
I thought we were special 