Viking-inspired pub opening in East Village Des Moines on July 31

[k123]

Womp womp! I would've expected much better interior, given that it is the Full Court Press people who own Royal Mile and Hessen Haus along with many of the other "cool theme bars" like El Bait Shop and Iowa Taproom etc.

So much potential but...that just looks like standard bar furniture with TVs and some mediocre wall hangings on the drywall. Underwhelming, almost...lame! Would've expected at least more of a Hessen Haus or Red Monk bar look with some long "old wood" tables, tapestries, etc a la Beowulf, Lord of the Rings Rohan scenes, etc. Yes "it's easy to spend other people's money" but hope it will get better over time! (I'll still go )

Something like this:


...I have a soft-spot of curiosity for medieval anglo-saxon history mainly, and therefore the Danish/Scandinavian viking stuff that comes with it, imagining "viking mead/beer halls" always makes me think of this english history story from 'the venerable Bede', which is quoted here:
https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2012/05/venerable-bede-and-blink-of-eye.html

...from a blog (oxford professor, British Museum, Oxford Bodleian Library, etc) which is full of fascinating random historical details (I especially like the old truly-seasonal-calendar stuff). Anyway, in the off chance anyone else in CyFan land is let down by this potential Skol place b/c they find these things interesting, her twitter is here and book which I haven't read but got good reviews is here:
https://twitter.com/ClerkofOxford
https://www.bloomsbury.com/in/dragon-lords-9781838608415/
Amazon product

 

[capitalcityguy]

Womp womp! I would've expected much better interior, given that it is the Full Court Press people who own Royal Mile and Hessen Haus along with many of the other "cool theme bars" like El Bait Shop and Iowa Taproom etc.

Kinda agree...I'm just hoping the pictures in the Reggie are not doing it justice....or they are still adding to the decor at this point.

 

[Bubbahotep]

FIFY.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

For the love of Odin, I hope they don't have helmets with horns. Vikings didn't have horns on their helmets.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

Am I the only one that thinks that logo looks more Germanic than Nordic?

Scandinavian cultures and languages can accurately be termed "Germanic." And English is a Germanic language (from the Saxons). But they're not "German" as that would refer to the modern nation-state.

 

[Knownothing]

The manager from "The Chicken" in Orilla is going to be the manager down at Skol from the sounds of it. Maybe it's an assistant manager. Hope the wait times on food are way less than the Chicken. Place takes forever,

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Vikings ate tacos?

 

[tim_redd]

Vikings ate tacos?

They would have.

 

[KennyPratt42]

Scandinavian cultures and languages can accurately be termed "Germanic." And English is a Germanic language (from the Saxons). But they're not "German" as that would refer to the modern nation-state.

Right, I think the logo looks Germanic not German. Which obviously isn't far off from and highly influenced Viking/Nordic. But it just doesn't quite hit the mark for me.

 

[Halincandenza]

I don't get this place at all. Viking themed but featuring whiskey and their menu is a mish mash of stuff. The design inside is pretty meh as well.

 

[jbindm]

I don't get this place at all. Viking themed but featuring whiskey and their menu is a mish mash of stuff. The design inside is pretty meh as well.

Have you been there or are you just looking at the OP's linked Register article? I've only read the article. It's a Nordic themed whiskey bar that offers tacos?

 

[Halincandenza]

Have you been there or are you just looking at the OP's linked Register article? I've only read the article. It's a Nordic themed whiskey bar that offers tacos?

I haven't been there, just went to their website and looked at pictures online after I heard Bruno talking about it on the radio.

 

[jbindm]

I haven't been there, just went to their website and looked at pictures online after I heard Bruno talking about it on the radio.

Yeah, I'll still give it a shot. Those guys know what they're doing. If the food is good then I don't really care about the theme anyway. Just strikes me as kind of an odd concept.

 

[Halincandenza]

Yeah, I'll still give it a shot. Those guys know what they're doing. If the food is good then I don't really care about the theme anyway. Just strikes me as kind of an odd concept.

Yeah, I will probably go there to check out the Whiskey but agree that it is an odd concept. Might try some meade as well because i like that and not many places have it.

 

[capitalcityguy]

Vikings ate tacos?

They are using lefse for the "shell".

 

[capitalcityguy]

Anyone been there yet? Be nice to get a firsthand opinion of first impressions.

 

[capitalcityguy]

FYI from UrbanDSM form, Mr318 just commented on the forum last night:

Went to Skol tonight for food and drink. The place was packed. The lefse tacos may not be completely authentic Viking fare, but they were delicious! Will definitely be back. They have some interesting canned beers from Sweden too.

 

[capitalcityguy]

Hit this on Sunday afternoon with the wife, her sis, and mom-in-law (so not the right opportunity to explore the whiskey selection or sample a Swedish beer). We just had a late lunch.

Food was really good (they all had different versions of "Viking" tacos) and I had smoked wings (was hoping for smoked meat....but they are still working on rolling that out). Everyone was really pleased. The MIL and SIL have both made lefsa (and we've all consumed plenty of it over the yrs) , so they were skeptical of this as a taco "shell", but both were very pleased.

Decor - I have to think they are still working on that. It is bright in there given the southern exposure and I believe the idea was for this to be darker/cozier. I'm guessing they are still working on getting their window treatments which will address that in the near future.

The place isn't very big (I was never in there when it was Mad Meatball) but my wife said it was similar footprint.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Do they have lutefisk tacos?

 

[cyclonesurveyor]

Couldn't varme polse be considered a taco? Best food at the Nordic Mess.