Excellent choice if your near Ottumwa. Friendly staff with great food. Prices are very reasonable. My sandwich was so good I was depressed when it was gone. I can't remember what it was called but it was a ham and Swiss and it had a delicious cheese sauce surrounding the bottom of the plate. Oh my it was good. read more

Appanoose Rapids - Mmmmmm - American Near Me - Ottumwa, Iowa

Tenderloin sliders and the Shrimp Bique were a perfect dinner combo for me! I wished I had room for dessert because the PB&J Sundae sounded fantastic. Very pleasant and attentive waitstaff. The food was prompt and exactly to order. Downtown Ottumwa is in sad shape, but ARBC is worth it. I admire the owners for investing in Downtown Ottumwa. Hopefully others will follow and the area can get a bit of a revival. read more

I stopped in for dinner while on a business trip. The bartender was kind and seated me right away. My waitress, Jennifer, was really kind and attentive. I ordered the Surf and Turf with wild rice and a side salad. The side salad was better than most places with fresh greens and tasty Ranch dressing. Even the croutons melted in your mouth. I ordered the steak medium and received exactly that! I also got the grilled shrimp and it was perfectly seasoned and grilled. Excellent place to have dinner. Highly recommend! I will definitely be back when I travel through town. read more

The only upscale dining in Ottumwa...but it lives up to its name. Under the previous owners and current owners it has maintained an impeccable reputation in great food and very good service. A shout out to the terrific manager, Jennifer Hall Findley and owners Dale and Natalie Dommer. If it weren't for their commitment to excellance and customer satisfaction the place could not shine so brightly. I recommend trying....EVERYTHING! read more

Appanoose Rapids - Carrie Newman and friend David C. Becker enjoy a night out at Appanoose Rapids. - American Near Me - Ottumwa, Iowa

We are from out of town looking for a really nice place to eat and read reviews stating how good this place was. Jeff, the manger came by and explained how Appanoose Rapids got started. Beautiful ambiance and Jody, Jeff's wife served us. A very classy place. Our food was so delicious! We got the special, chili rubbed steak and Boursin chicken along with both our favorite beers, Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Michelob Amberbock both on tap. Can't wait to visit again! Try this place, you'll come back time and time again! read more

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Came in on a Thursday. Not very busy. Service was decent. Knowledgeable about the food, but not the beer. This place, by the way, it's not a brewery our a brewpub in the normal sense of the word. More like a typical americana restaurant. The decorating is nice. It is in an old storefront. They've exposed the brick walls, painted the old fashioned tin ceiling, and added dark, four-foot tall wainscoting. Dark wood bar near the front of the building but pretty much a long, open room type setup. I had a NY strip and fried shrimp entree. Do not get the strip. It is about 1/4 inch thick. My buddy had the filet and it approximated a steak. The strip did not. Shrimp was ok, sauce with it was ok. The highlight was the marsala red potatoes. Very tasty. Potatoes could have been a bit more crisp on the skin, but good nonetheless. Honey hefeweizen was decent. For ottumwa, this isn't bad eating. read more

What a great steak! Met Dan, the owner, and his daughter Samantha, the bartender, and Darrian, the chef! Excellent choice grade beef, cooked to perfection. One of the best sirloins I've ever had! Highly recommend! read more

Very overpriced for the food you get. I had the chicken and waffles and received raw chicken and an overcooked waffle. It took FOREVER to get my food then had to wait forever to be fixed. It wasn't busy at the time either. read more

Appanoose Rapids is by far one of the best restaurants in this part of the state. I always enjoy their lunch specials; I haven't found a better lunch for the price in town yet. The front half of the restaurant is devoted to a massive historic bar, complete with tiled floors and antique glass lamps. They have the best Iowa craft beer selection in town...Exile, Kalona, Peace Tree... And it is expanding. Can't find that selection on tap anywhere else. Their dinner menu is expansive and filled with plenty of Iowa staples and feels natural to the area; great cuts of meat, pastas, and massive burgers. The seafood selection elevates the menu above most other restaurants in the area, while there are plenty of little unique gems sprinkled throughout, giving the menu a creative personality. You can tell by the plating and taste of the food that there is a focus on fresh ingredients and unique, handcrafted recipes. Nothing out of a box or can here. I would be amiss if I didn't mention the atmosphere. The second you walk in the door, you know you're in someplace special; the tiled floors, brick walls, the lights strung across the ceiling... It all plays into this relaxed and comfortable, yet historically elegant ambiance. If you're visiting Ottumwa or even just passing through, make time to visit. You won't regret it! read more

I don't write many if any of these but Appanoose deserves is... this is one of those restaurants that you need to check out. The service is very attentive and the food makes it worth visiting! I had the fillet and the flavor was great. The wait staff completed the whole experience definitely will put this on the list for the future. The owner is a big part of the business and it shows!! read more

I had the Chicken Marsala and it was wonderful! Another time had one of the salads and it was super also! Love the atmosphere, great job on renovation. Worth traveling for read more

Wonderful food and service! The owner was so nice and very happy we came in to his restaurant. Holly was wonderful! Highly recommend this place! read more

Decent food, but over priced. The menu is actually pretty boring...plain-Jane. They haven't quite figured out how to brew their own beer yet. It's kind of sad that they call themselves a brewing company when there's usually only one sub-par beer of theirs on tap. read more

If someone had only paid attention to my companion and I. We got seated and were given menus. We even got to order after 20 minutes. Our salads and wine took another 20 minutes. Only one harried server came by, and she never told us when we could expect our meal. More than an hour invested on our parts and I approached the bar to ask for our bill so that we could pay for our wine and salads. The woman I spoke to relayed my request to the bartender and a man who was furiously looking over what appeared to be orders/receipts on a screen. The man (owner?) came over and asked me what he could do. I repeated my request & without any response he turned back to his prior task. No more waiting, my companion and I did a mental tally of our tab and gave that amount rounded up to a staff member and left. If only someone had paid attention to the fine art of communication. I don't know what the issue with the service was. If someone had paid attention perhaps they would have told us when to expect our meal. Perhaps they would have helped the kitchen staff hustle. If only someone had paid some attention, maybe we would not have left with such a bad taste in our mouths. read more

Stumbled upon this place this past weekend. Really enjoyed the experience, especially since I'm not from here. The wait staff was extremely friendly. We showed up an hour before close with 20 people. They quickly and efficiently took our orders with a smile. The food was very good, too. I woukd definitely recommend this place! read more

Went there for lunch on a Saturday afternoon and the food was great and the service was excellent. I was a little worried about how kid-friendly they would be, but they had a great children's menu and crayons for my kids to play with (homemade even!). The outside of the building is very deceiving because it doesn't look like much from the street (we almost missed it), but it's much larger on the inside and well decorated with lots of beautiful architectural elements. We will definitely return! read more

It's obviously under new ownership/management since my last visit. Some of the most slovenly, unkempt, crude employees I've ever seen in one place! The bartender looked like she slept in her filthy black uniform! I didn't stay for dinner, the place and it's employees totally creeped me out! Sad because this is a totally awesome space. The last time I was here this was a very upscale restaurant with super employees. The owner was sitting at the bar and like the waitress was also very unkempt and unshaven with really dirty fingernails! This place used to be packed, but not tonight. read more

We were visiting from out of town meeting friends for dinner. The service was great, very apologetic because we were seated at 7:15, ordered an appetizer that came promptly, salad a half an hour later and dinner after 8:35....I quit looking at my watch. It was explained that we got behind a large group...of 10? Okay, I get it, I have worked at busy spots, it happens. So we get our dinners, cold veggies and risotto. Not just not very hot, mine was actually cold. My salmon was burned, my husband couldn't cut his pork loin without a great deal of effort. I had been here before and it was great. I said nothing to the server as we were guests of other people and she was having a horrible night. read more

Very cool brewery! Sticks out like a sore thumb on the otherwise rundown Main Street. Charming appearance with plenty of room given to each table and booth. Large bar area as well. We ordered the TCB burger and the garbage burger and both were a perfect medium and very juicy! Our cocktails were on the weak side, which was our only complaint. The wait staff was friendly and prompt. Check this place out if you happen to be in Ottumwa! read more

Stopped in for some lunch on the way through to another destination. Love the ambience. The food was fantastic and the staff was friendly. Beer was decent. Nice little gem in good old Otown. read more

Food is really good! Since closing last year it was a big bummer to Ottumwa! But when we found out it was opening again we were all excited! Great atmosphere, a little too pricy for a poor college student, but delicious just the same! read more

Service was great we just recently moved from California and we love the quality of food and it's so high end for this area. We loved the drinks and the prices are great! The service was awesome our waitress let us taste the beer before we ordered helped us decide what kind we wanted and the beer was really good! I can't wait to go there for date night again!! I recommend to all to try this plave atleast once. read more

Hands down the best place to eat in Ottumwa. They have a nice variety of beer and the food is fantastic. It is a bit pricey but it is well worth it. Service is nice and professional. The decor is cute. It's a nice addition to this small town. read more

I wish we had this place in the Quad Cities. The menu has something for everyone from grilled cheese to mussels to steaks. Pricing is not over the top. Even the kid's menu is sophisticated but not pricy. The staff is friendly. Glad we found this place whilst driving through. read more

Solid spot. Great service. Decent food. Compared to the other restaurants in Ottumwa this place is excellent.

Excellent food and the staff is friendly and helpful. Interior has the feel of a Chicago restaurant.

Excellent food and service, good house beer.

Probably the nicest restaurant in town. Great food and beer options. The decor and inside of the building was very well kept and welcoming. I would come here again! I'd recommend the the chicken mushroom pot pie. The pie part was beyond flakey and absolutely delicious. read more

Fantastic! Great atmosphere and decor. They handled our very large group without missing a beat. The service was perfect and the food is delicious. Great tenderloin! We visited several times during our stay in ottumwa, including the brunch which was also very good. Wish I would have had time for a regular dinner.....next time. A real asset to Ottumwa. read more

Good atmosphere with a good variety of beers. Their home brews are very tasty. I am not a fan of IPA's but I did have their cream ale, irish red, and their stout. All three were not bitter at all which is what I prefer. There are a lot of unique food combinations and everyone I was with enjoyed their dishes. I look forward to going again. read more

Great food, great beer and excellent service. Had the blonde and raspberry beer, both were excellent. Also had a great salad. Highly recommend. read more

Food is decent. I was confused as to why they don't have a list of their beverages. It's a "BREWING COMPANY". The waitress had to go and look at what they have when I asked. Kind of confused me. read more

Good beer and good food. We ate here several times during our visit. The beef (any) was amazing! Good beer--reminds me of Tui in New Zealand. read more

The environment is really nice! The staff is very nice and attentive. I always order the Cajun pasta and it is bomb, but we tried the bacon lollipops and it was literally a little tiny piece of bacon on a stick.. but besides that the places is great and the for the most part the food is good. read more

Really great food and atmosphere. I tried the bruschetta for an appetizer and salmon for my entrée. Both were delicious! Our server was very personable and gave us great service. This seemed like one of the more modern restaurants in town- I hear they just remodeled. The place looks great! Would definitely recommend! read more

I travel to Ottumwa quite often for work and this has been by far the best place around to eat. The staff are friendly, remember my drink order and always greet me with a smile as if I was a local. It can be hard in small towns to find places to eat that are friendly towards out of towners like myself. Appanoose Rapids was always welcoming. They have a great menu compared to other places in the area and I haven't had a bad meal here yet. My favorites are the buffalo wings, garbage burger and Filet! read more

Absolutely love this place! The food is always outstanding. I usually get the filet as it is always is butter-knife tender, and cooked perfectly. Excellent salad and homemade ranch and blue cheese dressing with crumbles. Friends had shrimp scampi and cajun pasta, both fabulous. Wait staff professional. Highly recommend!! read more

Hubby loved the garbage burger and really dug the battered fries. My salad was very good and the catfish poboy was just OK. Love the interior and the fact that it is downtown. 01/09/16 Edited to 5 stars based on tonight's dinner. Chicken Marsala and Bistro Steak Balsalmic Bleu were excellent. Brown ale was pretty good, but it wasn't in the same league as Newcastle. Service was great, as usual. read more

Great atmosphere and casual pub decor. Wait staff is friendly, courteous and attentive. A welcome departure from chain restaurants. I hope this locally owned business can survive the tough economy. I've gone back several times. The menu is varied and the food is good. We had the Garbage Burger, which is way better than the name implies. We opted not to have the fried egg on it (cognitive dissonance). Unless you're a lumberjack, you should share this with a friend - though you won't want to - it's that big and that good. OMG. The beer battered fries were to die for. The Chicken Caesar salad was okay. The chicken appeared to be pan cooked rather than grilled, but it was succulent and delicious and you could cut it with a fork. I would have given this salad two thumbs up except it was swimming in salad dressing. When I mentioned to our waitress there was too much salad dressing she responded, "Next time get the salad dressing on the side." Really? Caesar salads are tossed with the dressing - and salad dressing should never be served as a main course. You can always add more salad dressing but you can't scrape off. Boo for the waitress. Needless to say, this ruined the salad for me. Sunday brunch covered the gamut from fresh fruit and salads to heartier, meatier fare. Freshly made waffles and cooked-to-order omelets cinched it for me. read more

Was in Ottumwa on business. Went to Roe's the first night...without going in to details, not a good experience at all. Went to Appanoose Rapids Brewing Company the next night and had their Cuban sandwich. Great atmosphere, vibe, building, sandwich, service. Friendly and easy-going but also professional. Thank goodness this place is in Ottumwa, because there are not a lot of great alternatives. read more