Bix & Co. revives old restaurant recipes for its sports bar menu in Valley Junction
A new building in Valley Junction houses nods to menus from Des Moines restaurants of yesteryear, and the railroad tracks that helped the community grow.
Bix & Co. just opened in Valley Junction from its perch almost at the base of Railroad Avenue at Fifth Street. Its 1,400-square-foot patio, with a garage door that opens to a walkup bar, offers a perfect view of Railroad Park and its impending concerts this spring and summer.
The 3,400-square-foot sports bar is the first outlet to open in the 4,900-square-foot space. Developer Tim Rypma razed the 1960s concrete masonry structure that once housed a CPR Cell Phone Repair store to build the new structure from the ground up. The north side of the building becomes a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, selling gourmet caramel apples, toffee, truffles, caramels, and dark chocolate.
Despite all that’s new inside the structure of this building in an historic neighborhood, partners Darren Helm, Bambi Helm, and Matt McCormick included odes to Des Moines’ trolley system, the local streets and dishes from some bygone local restaurants.
“Back in 2021, (Darren) said, ‘I would really like to do another business and I wouldn’t mind doing a business with you,’” Bambi recalled of a conversation with her son.
Inside, diners can find buttery soft leather seats reminiscent of a baseball glove, walnut tables and a 72-inch round table made from maple, elm, locust and walnut, representing the streets in the Valley Junction neighborhood. The teams said they used local companies as much as possible to build the furnishings and make the signs, among other details.
The 34-foot bar with 21 chairs has purse hangers made from railroad spikes under the bar and rails from the trolley line that ran along Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines as the footrest, propped up by railroad spikes in a clever bit of refurbishment.
The space has around 30 TVs lining the walls, behind the bar and in a video wall with four televisions. A separate room with pool table features a jumbotron with odes to Iowa, Iowa State, UNI and Drake decorating each of the four sides near the bathrooms.
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How Bix & Co. got its name
Darren Helm is co-owner of 300 Craft & Rooftop, and his mother Bambi Helm, a real estate agent, opened the sports bar with McCormick, who owns and manages properties throughout the metro. The Helms named the bar for their patriarch, Robert “Bix” Bixenman, an entrepreneur who suffered scratched corneas after an accident when he was 12.
“The day after he graduated from high school, he jumped into a car and drove to Davenport to start selling vacuums,” Bambi said, even though he was legally blind. He memorized the answers to the eye test so he could get his driver’s license.
It’s a device he used his entire life, asking clients to read an insurance policy out loud, for example, when he sold life insurance. He later opened a pest control service in Fort Madison. “His whole life, he has always said to us, ‘The best job is when you work for yourself. You don’t want to work for anybody else.’”
Darren picked a photo of Bambi dancing with her father that hangs at the end of the bar.
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What's on the Bix & Co. menu?
The crew brought on Tony Formaro as the chef. “We’ve invested in a great chef,” Bambi said. “We’re putting together a really great menu with great products.”
“One of the things that we never wanted to do is step on G Mig’s style, because they are known for having great sports bar food,” Darren said of the neighboring pub. “They set the bar down here and we’re just trying to live up to it.”
So pizza became one of the dominant things on the menu.
Formaro is playing with the Blodgett oven from Sambetti’s, which closed in 2019, to create a tavern crust for his pizzas. Over on the pizza side of the menu are 14-inch pies that use Grande Italian blended mozzarella cheese. Specialty versions feature Italian beef and the Southsider, with pepperoni, Graziano’s sausage, banana peppers and jalapenos. A clam pizza arrives for Lent.
Darren said that 90 percent of Grande Italian cheese ends up in New York City. “So we’re using some of the best ingredients for our pizza,” he said.
That last pizza at $20 is the most expensive item on the menu.
Formaro played with recipes from beloved Des Moines restaurants for the menu. He makes green pepper rings with a battered crust similar to those found at Noah’s Ark. The 41-year-old Orlondo's on Park Bar & Grill, which closed in 2019, inspired the Italian nachos with a flour tortilla base and Graziano’s sausage, roasted red and banana peppers and mozzarella. The Italian beef is modeled after the sandwich found at the now-defunct 4th Street Chicago Italian Beef.
The Helms’ family recipe for Grandpa Bix’s chili has a home on the menu as well. The cheese curds come cut into cubes with a lighter bite that traditional squeaky curds.
Other menu options include a smoked Gouda grilled cheese, chicken tenders, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and steak burgers topped with bacon and bleu cheese, barbecue sauce or cheese. Even the Italian sliders use South Union bread from George Formaro, Tony’s father.
As an added bonus, Joe Formaro plans to team up with Tony on making Bronuts, a riff on brothers and doughnuts, during the farmers market. “Our plan is to start with a signature flavor.”
And after a long slow open with friends and family offering their opinions on dishes, Bix & Co. is ready to roll with the NCAA Tournament and St. Patrick's Day on the way.
“I’d always wanted to be a Realtor, so I went and got my real estate license in 2018. Darren opened his bar in 2016. Matt runs his family law firm McCormick & Associates,” Bambi said. “We’re all self-employed people. That’s just what my dad instilled in us and so that’s why we knew the name had to be named for my dad.”
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Where to find Bix & Co.
Bix & Co.
Location: 111 Fifth St., West Des Moines
Contact: 515-661-1595 or bixandco-wdm.com
Hours: Open Sunday through Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Kitchen open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight. Happy hour all day Sunday, Monday through Thursday from 2 to 6 p.m. and Friday from 2 to 7 p.m.
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bix & Co. sports bar opens in Valley Junction with pizzas and sandwiches
