Carl's Place

"Very fun dive bar. Friendly people, attentive staff. Good music, good vibe!! I'd recommend another pool table though."

"Carl's place makes all the lists for being this legendary and "must try dive bar" in the historic Sherman Hill neighborhood, but there's nothing really special about it. The atmosphere is very...divey (aka kind of dumpy and dirty looking), and it definitely lives up to the name 'dive bar.' They pour a strong drink. The music is loud and eclectic, and so is the crowd. However, don't expect to pay sketchy dive bar prices, they definitely charge city prices and drinking there is fairly costly for liquor. No drink specials. It's a good place to get drunk once in a while, but it's too costly to be a regular."

"One of the best dive bars in Des Moines! Tuesday nights are open mic blues jam--one of the best jams around! Great place to stop before a show at Hout Sherman. No food, other than chips."

"Awesome local dive bar in Sherman Hill. Perfect place to end the night when in the area. It is a dive bar but they do have a few decent beers on tap available typically as well!"

"Local dive bars have a special place in my heart. This one was decent. We came in to watch a basketball game and sat at the bar. Their beer selection is extensive and also listed on Untappd. Kind of cool to see your name on the screen when you check a beer in. You don't see that at many places. It's an interesting form of customer appreciation. The bartenders working Friday night were really welcoming and quick to get our orders. They didn't hover and still got us new beers when they noticed us getting close to the bottom of the glass. Music is loud, TV is loud, but that's what we were going for. You can tell that this is a neighborhood favorite. Didn't get to play any of the games but everyone looked like they were having a good time. I did not go to the bathroom so I can't comment on cleanliness."