Reviews for Jethro’s ‘n Jakes Smokehouse Steaks in Altoona, IA

The food was TERRIBLE!! Cheese quasadilla just torilla + cheese. No lettuce, no salsa, no sourcream. I asked waitress, she said... the ones with MEAT come with those things. So they punished me for ordering without meat. Who eats just cheese?! Cheese frieswere soggy and hardly any cheese and nothing else. They gave me less than what I paid for and charged me full price. I'll go toa mexican restaurant next time. They know how to feed people. I just left this sorry excuse for "food" on the table. Places likethis deserve to go out of business. Read more

Passing through Iowa and decided to stay in a hotel near here. I asked the front desk where to get good food, not just food and... without a breath she said, "Jethros is great BBQ". Man....I am so glad I listened to her!! I was greeted with a bunch offriendly faces and then sat at a table. My server (male, didn't catch his name) was top tier. He went through his personalrecommendations and I ended up getting the BBQ French Fries. Wooooooooooow. A meal in itself! I wish this place would pack upand move to my city and bring their workers. Every employees face was bright and they looked like they actually wanted to workthere! PS...not sure why my photo is appearing upside down. Lol. Read more

Always the best food! Forgot my leftovers. Called and they still had my food, they wrote time and table on it and set it aside.... I went back for it, wasn't too far away anyways. Lol. Manager told me I was the first to come back for food left behind. Mywords, well, that's because the food here is worth turning around for! ?? Read more

Yeahhhhhh Jethro and Jake can definitely throw down. Me and my teammate enjoyed every bite of the food we both enjoyed the ribs... and will be coming back to sample the other meats and side they have. Mac and Cheese was creamy, fried pickles crispy and wellseasoned please try them with whatever that white sauce is that comes with them. My co-driver had the beans and let's just sayhe never looked up from them once he started. The cornbread is next level we had about 4 a piece we kept just orderingmore????. Food server was on point quick with refilling our adult beverages and waters. Major shout out to Evelyn our hostessshe was all over that restaurant helping where she could when she didn't have customers coming in. Read more

Jethro?s?the staple BBQ joint of Des Moines. Visited the Altoona location since we were on this side of town. Jethro?s has never... disappointed at any location. This one is just like the others. Although this building seems to be a little smaller thanothers. Ordered the Southwestern Taco Bowl with grilled salmon. My kids love the chicken tenders and waffle fries. There?susually a rack of ribs or boneless wings in our order too. Food came out hot and tasty, as expected. Service was nice andefficient. We enjoy Jethro?s as our family favorite BBQ. Take out and catering sizes are also available and perfect for familygatherings at home. Jethro?s has always fed us and treated us well. Highly recommend!!! Read more

Nice place. On an excursion to Des Moines stopped here afterwards. I had the bourbon bacon on Texas toast. For variety I got the... jalapeno creamed corn. That was good. Thick bacon strips. I could taste the bourbon flavor. Jethro has a smattering of sauces. Itried three to see what went best with the bacon. The hot sauce wasn't too hot actually but tasted fine. There was a Jethrossauce that was ok too. I liked the Carolina sauce best. The jalapeno creamed corn was a winner. Little bit of heat in corn.There seemed to be some cheesiness in the cream. Waitress was very attentive. While I didn't have any looked like a goodselection of beers too. Another interesting item that I didn't try was the Happie drink. First restaurant in Iowa to offer a CBDdrink... Fun atmosphere. Music from the 80s. Read more

Ordered 1/2 rack of ribs with sweet potato fries and coleslaw. The fries and toast were soggy from the containers. I would... suggest you get the containers that have vent holes to keep your fries crisper. The coleslaw was wonderful. Should have orderedmore. The ribs were very good. I liked the smoke flavor. Would like to know what wood they use. Perfectly cooked. Moist, tender,and came right off the bone. The BBQ sauce is very tasty too. Not sweet. Read more

We are from Minnesota staying at a nearby hotel and wanted to try a local establishment. We are so happy we did. The food was... excellent. Our service from Andrew was phenomenal! He was very friendly and attentive and seemed to really enjoy where heworked. He helped up decide what to eat and raved about the menu, he was not wrong. We got the family plate, which was a sampleassortment of their menu items. Our favorites were the ribs, brisket and corn muffins. Apple sauce was even good. Read more