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    Putts & Pins

    3.1 (41 reviews)

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    Duck pin bowling private room
    Erin L.

    We went to Putts & Pins last night for date night and got to experience the private party room. Great space to look into if you want a corporate event with lots of people, or a smaller gathering! You have a private bar, tables, two lanes of duck pin bowling, and six holes of their unique minigolf. We were able to try an abundance of food. I loved the bagel bites. Trust me, pass them up if you see them in the freezer section at the store and run to get an order of these. Perfect taste and brought me back to my childhood. The flatbreads were awesome and full of flavor. Can't go wrong with nachos. I loved the crispiness of the shrimp in the bao buns. The lobster hot pockets are good and very filling. Holy smokes, did you see the size of those chicken wings? I loved the Korean sweet chili over the dry rub personally. They also came out piping hot. This chef knows his stuff! Dessert was fun too. They made their own in-house freezer pops, delicious. But the homemade wildberry toaster strudel, wow. Perfect pastry, amazing wildberry flavor, and you can apply your own frosting. That was fun. The adult capris sun drinks are genius and delicious. Bartender was amazing too. Back to the venue, what a fun time. You can walk around with a plate of food and drink in hand while you play minigolf as each hole has a small table. For duck pin bowling, there's comfy seating and plenty of room and end tables. Definitely recommend giving this place a try. Lots to do and endless options of food to eat!

    Yelpies!
    Emily B.

    Had a great time at this establishment for a free event through Yelp! Had never been & the vibe is great! We tried some menu items & they all tasted so good. They were different which I love! Very 80s/90s theme going on! Pleanty of room to play games mini golf or pin bowling. Service was great, everyone was super friendly! I would definitely go back & play some games with a group of friends.

    Kirk M.

    We had a great time hosted at the Putts and Pins in West Des Moines. It was yelpies night and the venue was a perfect place for a gathering. The bowling and mini golf were a fun treat while the star of the show was the perfect appetizer sized food and the fantastic drink samples. We had a really fun time and need to come back for a regular dinner and play time.

    Nachos Nirvana
    Todd B.

    4.0* (out of 5) Food: 4* Atmosphere: 4* Value: 4* Service: 4* 03/09/2024 Saw a few articles about this place and added it to my Want to Go list, finally getting the opportunity to check it out when friends were in town visiting. We were looking for something to do and also hungry for something to eat. My biggest complaint about the place was finding the entrance...we literally walked all the way around the building before finding a door that would open! It is a long strip-mall conversion with a bunch of glass doors...most of which say No Access on them - but no signs to a door that opens. Once we finally got inside, we were impressed with the clean, modern feel and buzz of activities - with multiple game choices including duckpin bowling and 2 different 9-hole mini-golf courses. Before playing mini-golf, we started with adult beverages (reasonable selection available), then ordered the Nachos Nirvana (see picture) to share. The nachos were very good, well above the average pub food and the price given the portion size seemed to be a reasonable value. A solid stop to entertain children and adults, with good food and beverages for both to enjoy. If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow. Photos copyright: happyhourdesmoines.com & thefoodanddrinkguy.com

    The putting games were fun. One of the games was not working, bit if you scanned your putter and putted it gave you a score. Tje staff was friendly and helpful. However, I would opt not to eat. The food looked great. Until we took a bite of our French fries which had so much salt that none of us could eat them. When the waitress came to ask if we wanted anything else we said no, and mentuined that fries were inedible and she apologized and stepped away and laid our bill on tje tables in less than 1 minute. No offer of a discount, free drinks dessert or anything. We never saw her again lol Another gentleman cleared our table. We still left a tip for the work she did.It wasn't her fault the kitchen was over zealous with a salt shaker! But tje food wasn't that great qe would eat here again. Play putt putt, sure. Next time we will try the duck bowling (official name of pun bowling)

    An aptly named old fashioned
    Lizzie C.

    The atmosphere was pleasant, though a little loud. Because bowling. But the food was good, try the bao buns. You'll thank me. The staff were very nice, especially the young man tending bar. He was happy to whip up a mock tail for a nonalcoholic guest, which I always appreciate.

    Figuring out how to play!
    Lee D.

    Our experience was 3.5 stars but I'm feeling generous! We were excited to see this place open so close to where we live (easy walking distance) and finally had the chance to try it on a Friday evening. We arrived at 5:30 and were immediately seated. Food is ok but not standout. Had read when they first opened that Buffalo Cauliflower was on the menu and was disappointed to find it no longer on the menu. Hubby had a burger, I had the black bean patty and daughter had the nachos. We then did 18 holes of mini golf (you can choose between 9 and 18 holes). You select a team name and each player picks an avatar. Took us a minute to figure out how it worked but we got the hang of it. Don't forget to scan your putter! Hubby got a hole in one but it didn't count because he forgot to scan his putter! We never did figure out how the score was calculated! There was a DJ when we were there but the music was way too loud - don't count on having a conversation! This was not an inexpensive outing: dinner for three, three (alcoholic) beverages and 18 holes of golf came to over $150. For us it was a novelty but we wouldn't be in a hurry to return.

    Party room
    Kayla Z.

    Staff worked to accommodate our missing reservation. We enjoyed the party room and drinks although the one bowl lane kept having errors so the men's game ended early. Busy place and we did not try the food, would make a great place for an office outing or birthday party. Hannah was friendly and went above and beyond to make sure we had a good time!

    Nacho tray and mules are a must!!! So good!
    Caroline R.

    This place is awesome. The mini golf was way more fun than regular mini golf, the food and drinks were delicious, and the staff was incredibly kind. James especially was so helpful and made our experience fantastic. I can't recommend this place enough. Already making plans to go back!

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    6 months ago

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    4 months ago

    Poor service. Food and beer is overpriced. Will not be back. Putting course not worth it.

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    1 year ago

    Slow service; we kept having to ask for things we should have gotten with our food; silverware, napkins, etc.

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    2 years ago

    Amazing, Friendly Staff! Great atmosphere and can be adult and kid friendly. Can't wait to take my family back.

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    2 years ago

    Fun place to meet a group of friends to play mini golf. Want to try the mini pin bowling - just need to reserve a lane next time.

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Putts & Pins

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    I really had a good experience at this bowling alley. It's in the basement of the mall. Seems like…read morean older bowling alley but they have updated the lanes so it was nice and didn't feel dirty. Bowling shoes seemed newer which was nice. Very busy on a Saturday night. My group of 4 had to wait for about 30 minutes for a lane during the "cosmic bowling" time. They were playing great rap music and the lights were dimmed and neon lights were going in the bowling alley area. They did have a full bar with an awesome bartender. She was so sweet and attentive- she made our drinks strong and fast. They have two pool tables that takes quarters only (they do have a change machine by the register). Tables in the bar area for hanging out before bowling. They do have food but we didn't try any. Overall, a great experience. We paid maybe $50 for 4 people to bowl during the cosmic bowling on a Saturday night. We will be back!

    The Merl Hay lanes have been here as long as I remember…read more One of the entrances used to be inside the mall, down the escalator to the right of McD's. With that long gone, you get in just to the left of the main entrance on the east side of the mall or inside the mall near the information booth. Here you will still have your traditional bowling. The staff were attentive and we were accommodated right away. We had a big group and needed two lanes. One of the lanes needed the bumpers and they pulled that up for us right away. We later ordered pizza from the bar/pub. I had asked previous how they make their pizza. The dough is frozen, however the ingredients are added and baked fresh. The pizza came out hot and it was really good. We chowed down on the pizza as we continued to roll our balls. I think you can either be in a league or just go bowling just a few games on your own. We had a really good time and I dont remember ever going and not enjoying the establishment.

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    A group of six of us met for happy hour on a fairly busy Wednesday evening. They have great food…read moreand drink specials during happy hour so we tried a number of different items. We had a few plates of the loaded nachos with chicken and with beef... They were heaped high and delicious. Plenty on each plate for two or three people. The meat additions are not discounted during happy hour, but even at full price with the half-price nachos it's a bargain. Others in our group got the quesadillas and we shared some deviled eggs. All of them are very tasty. We also got some cheese balls. They were pretty much the standard fair but also very good. Drinks are another great bargain during the happy hour with discounted beer and mixed drinks. All the drinks were very tasty. Our server was Bailey. She was very pleasant, fun, and enthusiastic. The food came out very quickly, and the drinks came off the bar in a very reasonable time as well. There is a large U-shaped bar and plenty of booth and table seating along with that outdoor patio. There is a 4% non-cash adjustment for using your credit card. Definitely a very discounted happy hour, but the food was delicious and I would try it again for happy hour or just for dinner

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    With a wall of pinball machines, a special room full of even more spectacular pinball games and so…read moremany retro games (with a few newer ones in the mix) how can you go wrong? We could have played here for many more hours! One price gets you all the games you can stand until closing time. There's something for about all ages and skill levels. We loved the selection. They have a party room which would be great for a celebration or event. The menu has a variety of fun ice cream treats. There is a slightly higher fee if you're going to use the special room of pinball machines. It would be very worth it if you were intending to play yourself and not there with a small child. The only bad thing is the "all for one price" deal gives rise to many ADHD players who seem to hop from one game to another without having played for more than a minute or two. Many machines are sitting mid-game from players walking away. Plus there's no thrill of winning the extra ball at pinball or extra player in a game because there's no weight to the loss. The space also fills up so much there's little to no walking room so you have to squeeze between players once there's more than a dozen or two in there. As a tip: a couple of the pinball games were stuck at a selection screen or unable to provide any balls. The power switch tends to be on the bottom, front right side. If you reach under and power off for 10 seconds and back on they all reset and appeared to work perfectly. Our six year old loved it and we plan to be back again soon.

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    Putts & Pins - mini_golf - Updated June 2026

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