Vista Pub
7/6/2022
Vista Pub is located at 7205 Vista Drive, West Des Moines.
The corporate world is full of meetings, Zoom calls and an inbox of endless emails. A break in the daily grind seems hours away, until 4:30 p.m. finally arrives. The question is, where to go — and how fast can I get there?
In the midst of the corporate world in West Des Moines lies a getaway just minutes from the drab office scene: The Vista Pub.
The Vista Pub is aptly named as it’s located on 7205 Vista Drive. The place, tucked in a strip mall, opened in 2014. A half block down the street is Jordan Creek Parkway, home to chain restaurants, hotels, retail — and of course, office buildings.
One former Wells Fargo employee used to call the Vista Pub “Conference Room North,” as employees joked about attending “required” meetings.
Inside, it’s a smallish bar with high top tables and bar seating. In the back of the bar is a patio that’s surprisingly quiet among the sea of concrete office buildings.
Bartender Angie displays the pub’s frozen shot vault.
Happy hour is a hopping spot. Stop by between 3-6 p.m. on weekdays or any time on Sundays, and you’ll get $3.50 domestic beers and well drinks. A bonus? Their house vodka, Gotcha, is a local Iowa spirit and a great pour for a refreshing vodka cranberry at a happy hour price.
With a varied selection of local IPAs and other brews, the drink prices are ideal for the ’burbs. It’s not a dive bar, yet it’s not a bar with fancy (translation: expensive) craft cocktails — which is OK. I like just-right bars that fall in the middle, offering a pleasing ambiance and stiff drinks that won’t break the bank.
A new frozen shot vault includes frozen bottles of liquor, such as Fireball, Jägermeister, Patron and more. On a hot day, a cold shot is refreshing, without being watered down with ice.
Food consists of favorite bar foods, such as wings and pizza. The pizza crust is thin, with a just-right sauce and fresh toppings. A popular weekday lunch special includes a $5.99 personal pizza with one topping and a soda. Or, add a pint of beer for $2 or a Captain Morgan for $3 to wash it down.
Megan, who is the bar manager, has been in the bar business a “long time.” She says the patrons, pizza and drinks — coupled with longevity of the bar staff and the location — are a few reasons the bar is so popular.
Vista Pub serves bar food favorites, including wings.
On a Thursday evening, a mix of all-age patrons frequented the joint. Young men in khaki pants and polo shirts, along with a 60-something man with a gray ponytail, all sipped cold drinks. A group of retired women who love pizza and happy hour opted to sit outside so they didn’t need to shout above the music. The piped-in pop/rock/country music was a bit noisy at times, and requests to turn the volume up or down happened frequently throughout the evening.
When one patron plopped his bottom on a bar stool, bartender Angie smiled and poured his drink without asking what he wanted.
If you’re looking for a causal hangout among the sea of corporate buildings, then try the Vista Pub. ♦
