Ron & Pat’s Brew Haus — ‘nice people’
7/13/2016
The sign above the white gravel parking lot shows two frothy beer steins poised to clink together. The old school, lounge-looking watering hole sits low on the corner of McKinley Avenue and Southwest Ninth Street.
From the outside looking in, the place looks quaint. Inside, the floor is carpeted, which is unusual in a bar, but it gives off the feeling that you’re in a friend’s living room. The same can be said for the window air conditioning unit keeping the place comfortable in the corner and making “quaint” become cozy.
The bartender, Terri, describes herself as shy, but if you’re looking for conversation, you’ll easily find it amongst the row of regulars bellied up for one of the bar’s two happy hours every Monday through Friday.
“Talk to this guy here,” Terri said while pointing to one of the bar’s regulars, Chuck Baker.
Baker lives on the south side and owns and operates a swimming pool company.
“I try and stop in (to the Brew Haus) and have a margarita,” Baker said. “I try and stop in every day. It relaxes you.”
Baker sometimes drinks Coors Light instead of the margaritas, and he also enjoys the Thursday night steak special consisting of a steak, a potato, a salad and a piece of Texas toast for $11.
The Brew Haus doesn’t have a kitchen, though. Instead, they fire up the grill outside in order to cook the Thursday night special.
All the regulars agree they are “everyday people.” Baker likes to fish, and he gladly volunteers a picture of a recent 50-pound catch. And he’ll talk your ear off about his grandkids and their grades, their sports accomplishments and their characteristics as people.
“It’s nice to have family you can brag about,” said Baker. “They are all good people.”
The Brew Haus crew says the smallish bar — it’s only about 30 feet wide by 30 feet long — is a friendly place.
“This used to be kind of known as a rough bar,” said Baker. “But now it’s just… nice. These are just nice people. It’s just a friendly hangout. It’s nice people.”
That sentiment goes along with the lounge’s policy of celebrating the birthdays of its regulars and other niceties, like the thumbtack holding an obituary to the wall. His name was Gaylord Lloyd. He was a friend of the Brew Haus and a Vietnam veteran.
“They’ll do that for anyone,” one man says about the clipping on wall with emotion in his voice.
Six bar stools line the bar. Six square tables with four chairs apiece fill the seating area. There’s a pool table, too. And Marlboro Lights are available on the shelf above the liquor.
But this bar is more than just margaritas, $11 steaks, $1 Friday night Jello shots and carpeted flooring.
“It’s a nice little hole in the wall,” Baker said. “You just come in here, and everybody’s your friend.”
And now Terri even adds a little.
“We have regulars that come in at 6 a.m. in the morning,” she said. “We’re open at 6 a.m. every day.” CV
Ron & Pat’s Brew Haus
830 McKinley Ave., Des Moines 515-256-9834 Hours: 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., daily The Brew Haus has “happy hour” twice each weekday, with 50 cents off everything. The first is from 6-9 a.m., and the second is from 4-6 p.m. Two for Tuesday is from 6 p.m. to close. It’s two for the price of one on wells, tall boys and bottles of beer. On Friday nights, Jello shots are $1 each or six for $5. |