We only ate there once after our granddaughters ball game and the service and time it took to get your food was very poor. Hard to make a final decision on a one time stop, but at least the night we were there it was unacceptable. The food was fine, but you should not have to wait 45 to an hour from the time you walk into the door to order and then get your food.
In Memoriam: Ames Business/Restaurants
- Thread starter Farnsworth
- Start date
Everts on Main Street in Ames is a great shop. They also offer lots of Cyclone decorations in addition to great fresh flowers and an amazing amount of great-looking fake flowers.
Always that way. For a while, we wouldn't bother going there for even ice cream if there were more than 5 or 6 cars in the parking lot. We'd just continue on to Ames. We basically completely stopped going once the ice cream place in Bondurant opened as it is almost as close and that place is a well oiled machine of efficiency, the ice cream machine actually discharges product below freezing and you don't feel like the place would flash over in a grease-fueled inferno if someone happened to walk in smoking a cigarette.
I am surprised that it stayed open as long as it did given Nevada's proximity to Ames. I get the "drive in" nostalgia as I grew up with that, too, but if my hometown was 10 minutes from 100 dining options, I don't think "feelings" would have kept the doors open.
TBF, it was only open in the summer, I believe, and with their lack of building insurance shows that it probably wasn't long for the world anyway. They did have insurance on the equipment inside IIRC.
Not saying that anything nefarious was going on, but if it was me as a business owner, I would be happy enough to let the city pay for the demo, get insurance money for the equipment, and wash my hands of it. It seems to be more meaningful than that to the real owners, even if it was a failing business.
They did not have insurance on the building because the insurance company would not cover them if they didn't make certain upgrades to the building and they could not make the upgrades due to it being in probate from the previous owner passing away within the past year. They had the insurance to cover the employees, but that was it. So they were essentially in a lose/lose situation when the fire broke out.
Starbucks season usually runs from mid March to late October.
Late nights, some interesting deliveries. Fun after bar closing interactions, the lobby was open till like 2am. Was a fun gig back in the day.
Everts has great reviews but I got royally f***ed by them on my wedding flowers. Ordered 6 weeks in advance. Called and confirmed a week in advance and confirmed pick up time and everything. Show up at the designated time and the flowers aren't done. Not like, "we're finishing up the last thing", like they were half done. We waited there for over an hour while they "finished" them up. Flowers looked like sh** and they didn't offer discount or anything. I was pissed. This was close to 15 years ago and may have been a one off but the way they handled it really pissed me off and soured me on ever recommending them to anyone.
If you like an old time ice cream place that serves a great tenderloin drive down to Goldies in Prairie City, great service, very fast and very good food. Takes about an hour from Ames if you drive east of Nevada and then down towards Colfax. Well worth the road trip.
I spoke to my daughter about the new steak house, in the Brick City Grill, she is friends with the large Realtor here in Ames daughter and for some reason the deal fell through. So the building is still vacant.
I keep wondering about the old US Bank by the mall that was supposed to a KFC if the same thing happened with that.
Pretty sure there was some major issues with the building and KFC backed out.
Agreed. Goldie's is very good. Don't get there that often, but on the way back from softball tournaments in Osky it's a usual stop. Most make a point to stop at Jaarsma, but I've never understood the love for Dutch letters
Regarding KFC, there were issues approving the redevelopment due to the parcel size of the land there. City approved an adaptive reuse plan for KFC eventually. They started some work on putting new pipe and a grease trap in. I do think it fell through with the person franchising it now as all of their stuff has been thrown out and just sitting alongside the building. Guessing the mall will pursue another restaurant to go in there as tget already have the adaptive reuse approved now.
Agreed. Goldie's is very good. Don't get there that often, but on the way back from softball tournaments in Osky it's a usual stop. Most make a point to stop at Jaarsma, but I've never understood the love for Dutch letters
I love dutch letters! Didn’t realize until just now that they originated in the netherlands but were first introduced in the states and named dutch letters right here in pella.
I hate that they call them letters. It is literally one letter.
Agreed. Goldie's is very good. Don't get there that often, but on the way back from softball tournaments in Osky it's a usual stop. Most make a point to stop at Jaarsma, but I've never understood the love for Dutch letters
We like their cherry nuggets which are just donut holes, they also have a store in Osky, but things sell out fast in the morning. I believe a dozen nuggets are like $3.50 or so, not bad at all.
