It is usually my go-to spot before a concert at Wells Fargo Arena. The service is always great. The food is good, but not "light". A lot of fried things. Great drinks and an awesome patio. I had the boneless wings with the spicy Thai peanut sauce. They were good, but I did have heartburn later. Two of my friends ordered nachos and liked them. Another friend got the spinach & artichoke dip with chips. That was very good, but also very rich! read more

After three and a half years Buzzard Billy's has made it's triumphant return from the murky waters of the Des Moines River. Now located about five blocks north of Court Avenue in the All-Play building, much higher above the river this time. I had a chance to venture out there a few days ago after work for dinner and the food hasn't changed! First off, the place is a little bigger than the old building, and it's definitely adopted more of a sports bar attitude based on the multitude of TVs situated around the room. The bar is larger and has plenty of beers on tap. Since Buzzard Billy's is owned by the same people that bring you Hessen House, El Bait Shop, and Royal Mile, the beer selection here is an amalgamation of the three, with beers from Germany and England sitting alongside microbrews from across the US. The second story deck on the south side of the building is pretty cool looking and will certainly be packed when late spring/summer arrive. So I went in and ordered the shrimp po' boy, and it was exactly how I remembered it (yes, I know it was available at Hessen House). Even with the place so packed the food came out in good time and was hot. The hush puppies that I got along side were delicious. My wife ordered the Rasta Pasta, which is a chicken alfredo dish spiced up with Caribbean Jerk season. It was different but very tasty as well. I look to get back some time to try the Jambalaya again as I remember that was another very good dish. Just an FYI, it was busy and I expect it to stay that way for the next few weeks as everybody will be trying to get into the place. I'm glad to have BB's back, it was an institution down on Court Ave and I wasn't sure Des Moines would ever see it again! read more

Good beer selection. Good wings, sweet potato fries and jambalaya on a recent visit. Blackened chicken was too salty. Kitchen can be slow but service is relatively good. read more

I had crawfish etoufee and it was great! Also, it has a nice selection of beer. Highly recommend.

I was pleasantly surprised by this place. Coming from Portland, OR it was nice to find a mellow place that had good food and an opportunity to sample some local craft beers. They were speedy with take out and pretty easy to get to from downtown hotels, which was perfect for me on business travel. read more

I am visiting from Florida and found this place as one of the few close options to the Event Center and was pleasantly surprised how good the food, service and atmosphere is. I had the fried gator and it was amazing and served in record time at a moderately busy time. read more

Not bad. The gumbo was pretty good. Waitress messed up my order the first time. Everything else was okay.

Great food! Excellent choices and variety, glad to see a different restaurant here in Des Moines. Amazing Cajun food. BUT HORRIBLE service. Waitress left a check while we were still eating and had full drinks sitting next to us. Would come back if the service would have been better. read more

Bananas Foster for dessert!!! It's made tableside and if Andrew is available, request him as your waiter :) excellent service!!

Had dinner here before a Wild game, and was a little let down. Our waitress was nice, but she was a little out of it. It took about 15 minutes for us to get our water, and another 10 for her to come back and take our order. I tried the burnt end gumbo, which was just okay. The chicken tenders I ordered tasted like they came out of a grocery store freezer. The hush puppies were very dry and overcooked. My girlfriend thought her muffuletta was okay, but it ended up making her sick later. Also, while we were only half done with our dinner, our waitress came up and asked us if we were ready for our check? (My girlfriend literally had not finished half of her sandwich at this point) We thought about doing dessert, but this instantly turned us off, and we got our check. Overall the combo of subpar service and poor food quality makes this one a fail. Too many good restaurants in Des Moines to settle for this place. read more

I challenge anyone to beat the Bacon wrapped shrimp with jalapeños & pepper jack cheese its like crack!!!! We ordered more for desert!!! Jen G was one of the best waitresses we have ever had!!! read more

Buzzard Billy's - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Service was good and lunch far exceeded expectations. Lots of tvs to watch sports and a very serviceable beer selection. This is going to be a Des Moines 'go to' joint for me. read more

First visit to Buzzard Billy's. I had chicken alfredo and husband had tenderloin and the gumbo. The alfredo with Cajun spices was not overpowering and I would order again. Husband said gumbo had a little burnt taste to it but overall good. He loved the tenderloin. read more

Absolutely love their food and selection of drinks also if you go have to get bananas foster

The waitstaff was friendly and helpful..We started with The Gator fingers appetizer. It was the best gator we've ever had! Followed by my Rasta pasta which was flavorful and creamy. The chicken breast was really thin but cooked juicy and tender. My husband had the peacemaker po'boy and said it was was one of the best one's he's ever had.. so if the rest of the food is as good as what we tried I highly suggest Billy Buzzards! read more

Buzzard Billy's - The peacemaker Po'boy - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

See all

Finally had the chance to try Buzzard Billy's at the new location, always had great meals at their previous location. I had the Cajun combo which included a blackened catfish filet, cup of seafood gumbo, half portion of jambalaya and two hushpuppies. The catfish and the hushpuppies were very good, I would go back for those. I thought the seafood gumbo was a bit bland and seemed to be mostly rice, not much sauce or seafood. The jambalaya was just OK, I seem to have bad luck with jambalaya, this tasted like it had been made ahead of time and reheated as the rice mixture was hot, but the chicken, ham and sausage in it were only lukewarm. My hubby had the Rasta burger and said it was almost too spicy to eat (and he likes spicy food). But he did say the burger itself was pretty good. I would go back and try something else next time, maybe the shrimp po'boy, but it didn't get me as excited as I had hoped it would. read more

Love the food. Customer service staff sucks. I'm currently at the bar as I'm writing this and have had an empty beer for 20 minutes. I tried asking for one 15 minutes ago but the bartender just blew by me and talked to a waitress. I would say it's just this guy but he took over 10 minutes ago and when I first walked in that bartender stood right in front of me typed into the computer and walked away. Needless to I'm leaving right now after paying my tab and never getting another beer. I should mention it was Monday evening at 4pm with 2 people in the entire place. read more

The food here is awesome. I had my first taste of alligator here. I also ordered the fried catfish platter and it was huge! The atmosphere and especially the service were great. The food was awesome I highly recommend the armadillo eggs. You're missing out if you don't go. read more

We decided to eat here on a family adventure day and we're really happy we did! We sat outside, had amazing service and great food.

Service was very good. Fried oyster po boy sandwich was good. Rib eye steak and shrimp were good but a little on the light side for the price. read more

The food was non descript and kind of pricey. But it's a cute spot with patio seating. Good service too.

Enjoy the food and the fun at Buzzard Billy's. My only complaint is sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get a seat on busy days. Otherwise I really enjoy the place. Lots of options on the menu to try out. Great place to go sit and watch ballgames. Near the big arena. The parking lot does fill up quickly, so you may have to resort to street parking. read more

After a wait of almost forever, Buzzard Billy's is back. Actually it's been open for a while, but the popularity of the place has prevented us from finding a place to park, let alone eat here. New to the menu is the muffuletta, a favorite of mine from years ago in New Orleans. There are a few versions of these around the country, but Billy's is pretty close to the original. I ordered this with the side of fries and an additional side of red beans and rice. The sandwich was huge and I could only eat half. The beans and rice were a tad on the spicy/seasoned side, still very good, but not like I'm used to eating. Billy's has always seasoned up the dish so i was prepared for it. The fries were soggy and much cooler than the rest of the meal, better luck next time. The significant other had the blackened catfish and it was delicious as usual. We finished the meal with a Banana Foster. Some restaurants have problems preparing it correctly, but our server was very competent. The service was very good, and with the exception of the fries everything was great. While I still have a warm spot in my heart for the old, rustic Buzzard Billy's, this reincarnation is worthy of the legacy. read more

See all

Although it's marketed as Cajun, it has a lot of regular, American fare. A wide selection of local and microbrewery beer. Good for just about anyone! read more

Good bar food. It's fun here just to get a bunch of appetizers and sharing. Nice outside deck.

Stopped at Buzzard Billy's after the Iowa Wild game - great place to get an appetizer, a drink, and enjoy the company of friends. We shared "the big fat chicken quesadilla"; "jerk nachos"; and regular wings with "sweet chili sauce" (the favorite with our group), "sriracha honey" and "buffalo ranch". The nachos were quite unique - although I did not expect to like the pineapple on them, I was pleasantly surprised. The food was good, the service friendly and attentive, the ambiance fun. We would visit Buzzard Billy's again. Just a note ... If you plan to stop at Buzzard Billy's before the hockey game, go early. There was a 75 minute wait at 5:15 (game started at 7:00 pm). read more

Had the Alligator Gran Cheneir for lunch. Pretty good overall. Wish they still had alligator ettoufee that they had in the original location, but this wasn't bad at all. Will be back!! read more

I had the Cajun Catfish dinner with the Maquechoux Corn. Both were quite amazing. Highly encourage you to try it. The place is a little off the path, but worth the walk from any downtown hotel. I will come here any time I am in town. Shalee was an awesome bartender. Very friendly and funny. read more

In town for business stopped in and had pretty decent cajun food. Fried shrimp, crawfish and alligator. The crawfish were so tiny they had no flavor and we just left em on the plate. The fried alligator was surprising the best part of the dish. Nice bite size chunks, good seasoning very tasty with cold beer. Will come back in the future. read more

Second lunch at Buzzard Billy's --- Great crawdad etoufee! Rich mahogany roux with just the right amount of heat for me. And absotively, posilutely loaded with crawdads -- two or three of the little darlin's in every spoonful. Takes me back to that steamy weekend in NOLA. Excellent service, friendly and attentive, and our orders arrived quickly. My buddy forgot what he had ordered at our last visit, so he ordered jambalaya. Reading my previous review I see that he had jambalaya then also. And once again, the portion was beyond his capacity. He'll have it again for supper. read more

I had the pleasure of eating at Buzzard Billy's this morning and had a wonderful experience. My server Reagan was very attentive and friendly - she made me feel like I was her only table! I have eaten at Buzzard Billy's several times in the past and have never been disappointed with anything that I have ordered. If you're looking for an epic nice dining experience, look no further! read more

The alligator fingers app is worth the visit alone! Service was great and the menu has enough options to please even the pickiest eater in your group. I had the bacon wrapped Cajan shrimp which were amazing! Highly recommend a visit! read more

All around TERRIBLE service. We were told there would be a 30 minute wait, ended up being over 45 minutes. When we went to check what was taking so long, the employees had a very sassy tone and almost seemed mad at me for asking. NOT TO MENTION there were at least 7 tables open the whole time we were waiting. We ordered as soon as we sat down since we had about an hour to decide what we wanted, it took another 30 minutes to get our food, then we had to go up and REMIND the waiter that we were there. Not to mention we were receiving dirty looks from the staff the whole meal. read more

Looking for something new for our sunday lunches decided to head down town for an adventure and landed here. Parking is limited so suggest going on a weekday as it may be impossible to find parking during peak hours. We were seated right away as the restaurant was not very busy. We were greeted instantly by our waitress where we ordered our drinks and of course the legendary alligator appetizer. Appetizer came quickly and was amazing we then ordered our meals. Our meal came to the table fairly cold almost 30 minutes later. ( kids grilled cheese, Cajun sampler and burger) we never saw our waitress again. No one came to ask us how our meal was or if we needed refills on our drinks nor did my son receive his ice cream with the kids meal. After about 20 minutes of sitting there after our food was gone aggravated we found the first person and we could flag down which happened to be the manager he didn't seem to think there was an issue with our waitress disappearing just indicated he had had her doing extra work in the back. I'd suggest this restaurant based on food alone as even cold it was tasty but beware of horrible service. read more

Buzzard Billy's - Gumbo, jambalaya and blackened cat fish - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Buzzard's has been on my top 5 favorite restaurant list for years! Love everything from the alligator fingers to the classic chicken alfredo (best ANYWHERE). I was sad when the original location closed so I'm happy to see they decided to relocate to avoid any more future closings. They have great food, a great atmosphere, and great service. Lots of unique appetizers & adult beverages. Highly recommend this place! read more

i first visted Buzzard Billy's in 2003 maybe 2004 and it was really cool - however, i was under the age and was not able to drink with the coaches... I haven't been back since so the first thing i did was look for the Buzzard Billy's where I visited it.. turned out that they moved locations. This one now is, much bigger than the previous one - at least from what i remember. drink options are abundant and pretty good. food, cant complain. I will be going back every time i am in Des Moines read more

Had the crawfish etouffee, and the gator fingers. Food was good, service was a little slow but the waitress was friendly once she got to me. Portions were nice and healthy, so the walk back to my hotel after dinner probably didn't hurt me any. A good selection of beers on tap including some local brews. I would eat here again. read more

We had no expectations for our visit other than a beautiful night on the patio with the family, I was nervous when the hostess was less than friendly and was quick to say the stroller wasn't going to fit outside but it turned into one of the most pleasant evenings we had out in a long time because of the server we we're blessed with! Debbie made everything more enjoyable, she took my 7 year old to see the "alligators" and my (grumpy) 3 year old to get ice cream and color, she just went above and beyond on absolutely everything! They better hold on to her or the stars would fall!? Food has room for improvement but still totally worth your time if you can get Debbie!!! read more

Buzzard Billy's is back! They are in their new location across from Hy-Vee Hall. Went this past Sunday for lunch. The place was packed, but we only had about a 15 minute wait. Our server was friendly and quick. The beer selection was better than ever. The Armadillo Eggs tasted exactly the same as they did in the old place (delicious)! My wife tried a new chicken dish (can't remember the name, it's long) and thought it was great. My crawfish platter was excellent and the etoufee was just as good as before. Overall a fantastic experience. We're so glad Buzzard Billy's is back!!! read more

Visiting from Michigan and found this place on yelp, thought we would try it out. Food was great and the waitress was really nice although she confused a few things in our order. I had the Shrimp Po boy and my husband had the Blackened catfish, both were really good. I would recommend this place to any out-of-towner looking for a tasty filling meal! read more