Country music venue Beer Can Alley moves into smaller space and now serves food
Beer Can Alley got its start on the ground floor of the Court Center in Des Moines and moved on up into 7,000-square-foot space with room for 400 to 600 people on the third floor of the building in 2015. For more than a decade, the country music bar at 216 Court Ave. kept fans boot scootin’ and line dancing to Nashville beats — until last November, when Beer Can Alley closed.
The move came as the city considered the building's conditional use permit after the Des Moines Register found that over the past five years, people made 60 calls to police reporting assaults in the building.
Now Beer Can Alley returns after a move, this time as a sports bar and restaurant with more of a honky-tonk vibe, taking over the 1908 Draught House space at 417 Court Ave.
“For the first time in 13 years, we can participate in the farmers market,” said Ted Hawley, one of the owners of the country bar. Hawley opened the bar with his cousin Rodney “Pete” Bell and the two named it for a little dirt road where everyone went to drink beer outside Vail, Iowa, their hometown.
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Instead of full bands playing the big stage, the new location offers a smaller version that accommodates one or two people, much like the honky-tonks of Nashville. Customers walk past the music at the front, giving the space a more intimate feel.
“There is a huge country music base in Des Moines,” Hawley said. “There’s a reason all those big names sell out Wells Fargo. We’re right in the thick of it for country music fans.”
Even when live music isn’t playing, the sounds of Alabama and Alan Jackson wash over the crowd.
Brick walls line the space with its wood floors. Overhead, TVs tuned to sports and metal signs for Bulleit or Pendleton whiskeys hang. Tall windows look out on Court Avenue, with neon beer signs beckoning in the crowds. One wall near the small stage features giant photos of a farm in Vail and that dirt road.
A separate room offers additional seating with access to the back side of the bar and a wall-sized, black-and-white mural of the dirt road Beer Can Alley.
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What’s on the menu at Beer Can Alley?
The move into smaller space gave Hawley and Bell a chance to serve food. Customers might recognize some of the dishes found at 1908 Draught House, dishes that Hawley calls “homegrown feel-good foods.”
“I think we can hit the best of all worlds,” Hawley said. “We have good pizza, good wings.”
Starters include a 10-piece of wings with sauces such as garlic Parmesan or tropical habanero; fried pickles; southwest egg rolls stuffed with chicken, corn and peppers; cowboy bites that meld jalapenos, sweet corn and bacon; and totchos, a nacho dish that uses tater tots in place of chips.
Diners can order sandwiches such as a fried bologna topped with potato chips, Nashville hot chicken, walking taco, a French dip, and a breaded pork tenderloin. Customers can find pizzas with 14-inch crusts that come topped with Nashville chicken, chipotle barbecue, or a Heaters Heaven with spicy Graziano’s sausage, pepperoni, sweet peppers and jalapenos.
Three burgers include the Ranch Hand with sauteed mushrooms and onions as well as bacon and chipotle ranch, while a Cowboy burger brings the heat with bacon, jalapenos, spicy mayo and barbecue sauce.
The menu also includes salads with Buffalo chicken and a southwestern version dubbed the chicken fiesta. Customer can end their meals with desserts such as funnel cake fries and chocolate lava cake.
Coming soon, a brunch on Saturday and Sunday that includes the Beer Can breakfast burrito, something Hawley hopes becomes a staple during the farmers market.
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What kind of drinks does Beer Can Alley serve?
On the drinks menu, customers can find five different kinds of mules that feature variations using Ketel One peach and orange blossom or a Caribbean version with Bacardi pineapple rum.
Cocktails come with country music star names such as the Willie Nelson (coconut rum, white rum, blue Curacao, melon liqueur and pineapple), Tracy Byrd (silver tequila, Red Bull and watermelon Pucker), Reba McEntire (coconut rum, pineapple juice and a grenadine float) and Morgan Wallen (Crown Royal Regal Apple and lemonade). All can come in either a 16-ounce glass or a 32-ounce boot.
The bar also offers draft beers as well as bottles and tallboys, along with hard seltzers.
Beer Can Alley also has locations in Omaha and Sioux City, but Omaha doesn’t have food and Sioux City has a small menu.
In the meantime, 1908 Draught House has locations in Norwalk, West Des Moines and Johnston.
Where is Beer Can Alley located?
Location: 409 Court Ave., Des Moines
Contact: 515-243-0684 or facebook.com/beercanalleydsm
Hours: Opens at 11 a.m. daily until 2 a.m. with the kitchen closing at 10 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: Country bar Beer Can Alley moves into new space and now serves food
