Love this place, and I love hanging out here...many a project has been completed over their delicious beer, although the work tends to fall off the more beers are consumed, weird.

I'm also quite fond of their food, especially the greek salad. I've tried quite a few things on their menu though, and have yet to be disappointed.

So if you are downtown, and looking for some good beer and food, or just want to shoot some pool and chill, check out this great local find. You won't be disappointed!

It's a close call between this and Granite City... but given that Raccoon River is local, this definitely gets my vote for best brewery in town.

The food at Raccoon is always delicious, changes fairly often, and has some good options for vegetarians like my wife.

Most of Raccoon's brews are excellent and their brewmaster even stays active in the homebrew community, which is awesome. His seasonal beers are great, but Bandit IPA and Stonecutter stouts are my standbys. Get the beer sampler pack and try em all to see for yourself.

I have to say that this place is really not all its cracked up to be. The food is expensive, and nothing very special. I feel like I could get a better meal at star bar, rock bottom, or even wellmans has a better menu selection. I suppose some of what you get is location, but I had a salmon salad and th greens were somewhat bitter, and we had generally slow service on a night when they were relatively quiet. I had to get up and ask for a refill once, and even after that they did not come by for a second.

Not a bad meal, but I have had better food and better service.

This is a good brewery in the downtown area. It's got a good selection of brewed beers and the food is good, although the selection is lacking compared to Court Avenue Brewing. I really like the Vanilla Ale. The stand out thing in this bar is the rent by the hour pool tables upstairs. Not the best brewery/restaurant in town but it's still pretty satisfying.

I have visited the brewery several times and always had a wonderful time. From drinks on the patio, to dinner in the dining room while watching a band, to appetizers and a game of pool upstairs the experience is great every time. I especially like the vanilla beer (the pumpkin is even better if you visit the right time of year) and the barbeque chicken pizza is very tasty!

Went here last week with my s.o. (M) and we had a great time! The service was good, the beer was excellent, and we really enjoyed our spicy chicken pizza as well.

Biggest surprises: the smoothness of the rye beer and the completeness of the menu (is completeness a word...?). M is kind of a beer snob, so its fun to finally find a place where the quality of the food and the beer will keep us both going back.

As an added bonus, they have wireless internet, which makes it a great place to get some work done over the noon hour.

We will certainly be back and bring our friends!

Good food and the best brews in metro Des Moines. Fantastic ambiance!

Great food, great brews, and good atmosphere. Raccoon River Brew is the best brew pub in Des Moines with solid food and solid locally brewed beer. Each one of the beers has a distinct and great flavor. The food is the same high caliber.

Favorite dishes - Smoke Chicken with Wild Forest Mushrooms and Niman Ranch Twin Pork Chops. Favorite Brews - Java Joe Porter (Seasonal) and Stonecutter Stout.

Very interesting atmoshpere. The converted warehouse look, and well done. Large building with plenty of seating. I've never partied here, only ate lunch or dinner. I had lunch here last week and spent about $10. The food is above average but you pay for what you get. Right next to Hotel Fort Des Moines.

It is a great place for casual dining and drinks. The food is good and they make thier own drinks which are very good. There are five pool tables, golden tee, 2 bars (1 upstairs and 1 downstairs). Also on various nights there is live music, free pool and other specials. The bathrooms are very clean meaning the food preparation and overall wait staff is also. There are some peculiars in the place, such as, A Barber's Chair...which doesn't work and no one gets hair cuts. It is just random 21st Century Artifact. (See Picture). Also you will notice recessed lighting in the bathrooms, which may be why I thought it was a clean place, that and it smelled good... right up until I sat down anyways. And most odd, you walk in the front doors, and then go upstairs on look out the back window, your first thought is "Oh I bet it's a long ways down." Sorry it's only 8 feet to the back parking lot. Holy Slope.

Since they brew thier own beer, you won't find beer exactly like thiers. This is good and bad, good that they have great beer, bad that you have to go downtown to drink it. Worth it but a pain in the ass on a Friday afternoon. Of course you have to be either a State worker or a slacker like me to start drinking at 3 in the afternoon. I highly recommend the Chicken Wings there, they are one of the best in town without question. If you like wings, pay the extra dollar here and order them, nothing at all like what you would get somewhere else for cheap.

Very fun, mostly business crowd which is awesome because you lose the obnoxious 'I just turned 21 but still don't know how to drink' crowd.