Shorte's Bbq

Wow oh wow The Brisket was amazing so tender and tasty. The burnt ends were also highly recommended and I would agree. The seasoned fries and the Spicy Cheesy Corn so good. The hidden little gem was the corn bread, if I drizzled some honey on it oh wow!! I would highly recommend you stop by when your in town. My buddy had the brisket and smoked turkey. Wow nothing is wrong here!

Tbh I could've made it better at home. Had the special, mac and cheese bowl with cold corn bread... cold. corn. bread. Really? So disappointed. Best thing I ordered was the water and it was free so. 😭👍 ate a couple bites of the mac and that's it. This is what I would suggest. Serve the mac and cheese separately from the meat: customer choice. And warm the cornbread please! Also if you serve cornbread make sure to put sides like butter and honey with it. Thanks for taking my money....😖

ShortE's deserves more praise as it could easily rank among the top BBQ joints in the country. Their brisket definitely is tied for 1st as the best I've had, it has a rich savory peppery smokey bark that I loved. Their selection of sauces was great but Texas was best on brisket! Their colossal sandwiches are massive, come hungry or be prepared to not finish it. I've tried other local BBQ joints in Des Moines but ShortE's definitely takes the top spot!

We decided to try ShortE’s on a whim and it was wonderful from start to finish! Our waitress was thoughtful and attentive. She asked if she could put the kid’s orders in right away - ummm yes! Parents you know how much this means! Our food came out super fast and was followed by little talking and lots of “yumm this is good!” The meat was so tender and flavorful - it’s obvious it’s cooked fresh everyday. Best BBQ and dining experience I’ve had in a long time! Support local and get to ShortE’s! You won’t be disappointed!!

Summary: Friendly, fun (had an outstanding, live musician there) place with an extensive, appetizing menu ... just too bad the food wasn't better. I ordered brisket tacos w/mac'n'cheese; wife ordered the beefmaster sandwich with tots; ShortE's fries for appetizer. If you like a juicy, moist brisket (I confess, I like mine smoked longer and a bit drier), then I would recommend the sliced brisket. That was the highlight. Good stuff. Worth trying if that's your taste. But the fries were limp and underdone; the sauces were thin and lacking flavor; the mac'n'cheese was a major disappointment. The flavors were a bit bland and uniform. The chopped brisket in the tacos was meh. It just felt like they put a lot of creativity into making tantalizing dishes (kudos there), but with inferior ingredients. I might return to try the Bacon Bomb, but there are a lot of other, tasty restaurants in the Des Moines metro that would surpass ShortE's on my next dinner night.

My new FAVORITE for BBQ! Had the Texas Club which had smoked brisket, pork, ham and bacon... Best BBQ sandwich I've had in A LONG time from any of the local joints. Had the Loaded Potato Bake for my side..... very flavourful and creamy, was definitely a good choice. Each of the meats individually would have been great on their own, but together was a great combo. My wife ordered the smoked turkey with the broccoli salad for her side. I tried both and they were very good. I was tempted to order one of the sandwiches with smoked sausage on it but have found many times sausage is hit or miss....I asked our server how it was and she brought me a sample to try..... will definitely be getting something with sausage on our next trip here.