Popular Des Moines BBQ chain Jethro’s will expand to a 7th location in central Iowa.

Popular Des Moines BBQ chain Jethro’s will expand to a 7th location in central Iowa.Jethro’s owner Bruce Gerleman told KCCI the new restaurant will open in Ames in the former Aldi building near South Duff Avenue and South 16th Street.The popular BBQ restaurant now has six locations in the Des Moines metro with the original Drake location, Altoona, Ankeny, Johnston, West Des Moines and Waukee.Gerleman says the new restaurant will be the largest sports bar in the Midwest, featuring steaks and Iowa pork chops, along with the BBQ offerings that have made the chain famous. The 15,500-square-foot former grocery store would seat 350, and include a 300-seat banquet hall next to the restaurant.The new location is about 1000 feet from the legendary Hickory Park, a storied BBQ restaurant that has been in Ames since 1970.Jethro’s has been featured on Man Vs Food and more than a dozen national television shows on the Travel Channel, Food Network and Discovery Channel.

Popular Des Moines BBQ chain Jethro’s will expand to a 7th location in central Iowa.

Jethro’s owner Bruce Gerleman told KCCI the new restaurant will open in Ames in the former Aldi building near South Duff Avenue and South 16th Street.


The popular BBQ restaurant now has six locations in the Des Moines metro with the original Drake location, Altoona, Ankeny, Johnston, West Des Moines and Waukee.

Gerleman says the new restaurant will be the largest sports bar in the Midwest, featuring steaks and Iowa pork chops, along with the BBQ offerings that have made the chain famous.



The 15,500-square-foot former grocery store would seat 350, and include a 300-seat banquet hall next to the restaurant.

The new location is about 1000 feet from the legendary Hickory Park, a storied BBQ restaurant that has been in Ames since 1970.

Jethro’s has been featured on Man Vs Food and more than a dozen national television shows on the Travel Channel, Food Network and Discovery Channel.