Welcome!
Some people collect autographs, some collect antiques, others collect stamps. My hobby is a little different, I collect bars. This site represents my collection, documenting each bar I visit.
This is not a review site, there's plenty of those already. Most posts in this bar diary are slice-of-life recaps of the half hour or so I spent having a beer. I hope you enjoy browsing through my collection!
--ScooterJA Few Random Favorites
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Iowa Archive
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#1884: Calico Skies Vineyard and Winery
Posted on July 2026 | No CommentsInwood, IA Scooter’s 1884th bar, first visited in 2026. This is a Harvest Host and we were originally going to stay here the first night of our Yellowstone vacation, but... -
#1355: Cumming Tap
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Cumming, IA) Scooter’s 1355th bar, first visited in 2019. Because it’s adjacent to a trailhead for a major bike path (in fact there’s a path blazed from the trailhead directly... -
#1354: Fox Brewing
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Valley Junction, West Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1354th bar, first visited in 2019. Not technically in Valley Junction, but close enough that it’s the best way to describe it. Located... -
#1353: 1717 Brewing Co
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1353rd bar, first visited in 2019. This is a brand new brewery, only open for a few weeks at the time of our visit, directly... -
#1352: Peace Tree Brewing Co. – Des Moines Branch
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1352nd bar, first visited in 2019. There were a crap-ton of cyclists here. And, despite the rainbow banners outside, in one corner was a small... -
#1351: AJ’s on East Court
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1351st bar, first visited in 2019. This is primarily a karaoke bar but we were here way too early for karaoke. So our entertainment was... -
#1350: Up-Down DSM
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1350th bar, first visited in 2019. The original location! Though it had recently expanded and taken over a second level, it was originally just the... -
#1349: Buddy’s Corral
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1349th bar, first visited in 2019. This is a gay bar, but we got here too early in the day. We kind of felt like... -
#1348: Ernie’s Boondock
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1348th bar, first visited in 2019. This is an odd duck in that it is a new-build dive bar. That’s really hard to do, you... -
#1347: Exile Brewing Company
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1347th bar, first visited in 2019. We walked down here from Carl’s, and despite having had breakfast just 2 hours earlier, we were hungry again and... -
#1345: Royal Mile
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1345th bar, first visited in 2019. This is a fantastic-looking English pub right in the heart of downtown. Along with the great interior, there is... -
#1346: Carl’s Place
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Sherman Hill, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1346th bar, first visited in 2019. After breakfast we had an uber take us to what Yelp calls the best dive bar in all... -
#1344: El Bait Shop
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1344th bar, first visited in 2019. We returned after nearly an hour and found the place still way too crowded. Absolutely no way of getting... -
#1342: The High Life Lounge
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1342nd bar, first visited in 2019. When we stepped in the door there were only a couple of seats at the bar but there was... -
#1343: Shorty’s Somewhat Fancy Bar
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1343rd bar, first visited in 2019. We tried to go to El Bait Shop next but it was wasn’t happening — far too crowded. So... -
#1341: Hessen Haus
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1341st bar, first visited in 2019. Since we foudn foot at Mullets we decided to save Iowa Taproom for tomorrow as originally planned. We checked... -
#1340: Mullets
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(McKinley School/ Columbus Park, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1340th bar, first visited in 2019. Since Exile Brewing was closed we contoinued our attempt to go to Iowa Taproom a day... -
#1339: L D’s Corner Bar
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(McKinley School/ Columbus Park, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1339th bar, first visited in 2019. Originally we had made the difficult decision of cutting this place from our itinerary. But after... -
#1338: Confluence Brewing
Posted on July 2019 | No Comments(Greater South Side, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1338th bar, first visited in 2019. Though I’ve had some of their beer before, this is my first visit to an Iowa brewery.... -
#1314: Fong’s Pizza
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1314th bar, first visited in 2019. An odd fusion of Chinese, Italian, and Polynesian in a borderline dive-bar setiing that somehow comes together and works.... -
#1313: Iowa Taproom
Posted on April 2019 | No Comments(Downtown, Des Moines, IA) Scooter’s 1313th bar, first visited in 2019. I tried to visit this place a couple of years ago, but some sort of bike event/street party (not...
