Earlier this year, I was e-mailing back and forth with Road Tips reader Chris B. who found the blog awhile back and was interested in the places I've been to in his hometown of Des Moines. He had mentioned that his parents used to own a root beer stand on the south side of the city and that he really missed a number of the old pizza places and steak houses from his youth. One place that he asked me about was Skip's, a sort of supper club that is out by the Des Moines International Airport. Now, I told him that I had been to Skip's before, but it was probably more than 30 years ago when I was last there. I decided that I would get to Skip's on my next visit to Des Moines and try the place out again. I was able to do just that on a visit to the Des Moines area earlier this summer.
Alvin "Skip" Bachman grew up in Knoxville, IA before serving a stint in United States Marine Corp in the 60's. After getting out of the marines, Skip started to work in restaurants before opening his eponymous named lounge in a house along Fleur Drive in 1981. Over the years, Skip Bachman expanded the lounge into a full fledged restaurant that featured a full kitchen and menu. He eventually teamed with business partner Dave Thompson to develop and run restaurants such as the nearby Francie's (click here to see the Road Tips post on Francie's), Nick's Bar and Grill, and the Urban Grill. Tragically, Skip Bachman was diagnosed with cancer in May of 2013 and died in December of that year. He had basically turned over full ownership of the Urban Grill to Thompson before his passing and sold off the other restaurants, as well. Today, his children - John Bachman and Alyssa Clark - run Skip's.
Although it faces Fleur Drive, the entrance to Skip's is on Wakonda Drive. (see map) I got into Des Moines around 4 p.m. and checked into the hotel down the street from the restaurant and got there about a quarter to five in the late afternoon. Predictably, there weren't a lot of people in the place and I was able to get a table near the bar in the original lounge area. A young lady by the name of Katelynn was my server and she dropped off a menu. I saw that they had Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue on one of the bar taps and I ordered one of those up.
Since it started out as a house, Skip's has the intimate feeling of a cozy home. Off to both sides of the lounge were dining rooms - the newest one was one I didn't remember from my previous visit back in the 80's. It was a walk down into a long narrow room with tables with banquette seating and booths. A fireplace was at one end of the room. It looked like it could get sort of cramped in the room if it were full of diners.
The menu at Skip's features a myriad of Midwestern favorites - steaks, pork chops, seafood, sandwiches, soups and salads. And being that it's on the south side of Des Moines, they also feature a number of Italian dishes, as well. Surprisingly, they also had jambalaya on the menu - something that immediately caught my eye.
Now, in our e-mails back and forth earlier this year, Chris had wholeheartedly recommended the chicken and black bean nachos. He mentioned that there was no better food for a poor college student out on a date with his girlfriend than the chicken and black bean nachos at Skip's. I thought about the nachos for a moment, but not only was the jambalaya looking interesting, but the chicken piccata they had on the menu was also rather tempting. I thought about the seared ahi tuna, and even the basic cheeseburger that they had on the menu sounded pretty good to me.
But on this trip to Skip's, I ended up getting a good ol' south Des Moines favorite - cavatelli. It featured Graziano's Italian sausage mixed with cavatelli pasta in a marinara sauce and topped with melted mozzarella. The cavatelli is baked in the oven, then finished off under the broiler to caramelize the cheese on the top. Slices of toasted garlic bread came on the side. It was a wonderful, gooey mess of cheese, tangy marinara, and chunks of somewhat spicy ground sausage that really gave the dish a kick in taste. There's a lot of places around Des Moines that do cavatelli and the one at Skip's was one of the better ones that I've had. And it was very filling. I left a large amount of pasta in the bowl going primarily for the sausage and cheese in the cavatelli.
I'm glad I was able to make it back to Skip's after a nearly 30-year hiatus. It's easy to pass by Skip's and not know it's there as I have many times over the years on my trips to Des Moines. The former house is set back from Fleur Drive a bit and actually still looks like a residence if you really didn't know if was a restaurant/lounge. I thought the cavatelli was very good, I liked the cozy and laid back ambience of the place, and I thought the service was efficient and friendly. Skip Bachman may have passed a few years ago, but his children are keeping his legacy alive. Skip's is one of those places where you go, "Oh, yeah! Skip's!" when you're trying to think of a place to eat on Des Moines' south side.
Comments