Jethro's BBQ Iowa City

"Service was great! That's about the only thing that was good. Meat was super dry. Mac and cheese had no cheese. Potato salad was ok. Jalapeño corn was all cream. side salad was wilted. Ordered a vodka lemonade, which had maybe a splash of vodka. Brisket was not edible. Had the iowa city platter so we could try a little of everything. The bacon was 95% fat. Won't be back. Went at 7pm on a Friday night. My stomach hurt really bad about 3 hours after dinner and into the next morning."

"Can't beat their ½ price appetizers during happy hour (3-6 M-F & 4-close on Sunday, must be sitting at the bar) Boneless wings with raspberry habanero is my favorite along with fantastic onion rings. People with me have had the slider trio & the waffle fry nachos & said both were great. 32oz domestics $5 too. Have a small patio for outdoor seating during nice weather."

"We have been here a few times. I have no complaints about their food or their service. We ordered wings, sweet potato fries, and a Jethro during our last visit. Obviously, we shared everything, which is how you should eat at a BBQ place. Really good food. Service was quick and delightful."

"Visited on 9/2/23 between 8:50-9:15pm. Had their 1 meat platter: pulled pork, beans, mac and cheese & corn muffin. Tried most of their sauces, liked their hot one and the flagship wasn't bad but too tame for my pallet. The mac and cheese was creamy but flavorless.. I don't think the big seashell noodles help either. The cornbread muffin was moist & sweet but small in comparison to other establishments."

"We visited on a Tuesday evening around 630. When we arrived, we were seated promptly and our waitress was very bubbly and always helpful. She made sure we were taken care of without being overly present during our dining experience. We started out with their smoked wing special which was buy 10 and get 10 free for $18. I thought this was an excellent deal with the wings being less than a dollar each. I ordered a 32 ounce summer shandy for $11 and my friend got the strawberry lemonade. For our main meal, we split the family platter, $33ish, which came with half a rack of ribs, 2 other meats, which we chose the brisket and the burnt ends. Both the brisket and the burnt ends were a $2 upcharge each. It came with 4 sides and either corn muffins or Texas toast, which we chose the Texas toast. For sides, we got Mac and cheese(2), coleslaw, and waffle fries. The Texas toast was good though a bit cool rather than hot. The mac and cheese was pretty good and I really enjoyed the coleslaw with its vinegar and onions. The waffle fries were good though not very hot either. The brisket was decent, cooked very well but lacked much smoke flavor or seasoning. The burnt ends were hit or miss with one of mine being good and the other being very over cooked and hard to chew. The ribs were some of the worst ribs I have had, being luke warm, over cooked and super dry. I could barely even chew the top layer of meat as it was so over cooked and dry. It seemed like they had sat under a heat lamp for hours. Most of the meat lacked any real smoke flavor so I think they are smoking their meats high and hot for speed rather than low and slow for the smoke as that flavor is not getting infused into the meat very well. The sauces had decent flavor but so watered down that ran all over my plate and into all my other food. The sauces are nothing to write home about. I really like the other Jethro locations in the Des moines area so very disappointed in this one so far. Based on this one experience, I would be very hesitant to go back and order anything bbq related but will do since I try to give the benefit of the doubt and they possibly had a bad day. I would go back for the wings if they had their special again and may try other things on the menu. The waitress was super nice and definitely recommend her service, a highlight of the evening. The cost of our trip was pretty pricey, especially since most of the meats were mid to poor to very poor."