Des Moines Athletic Club is nearly ready, poised to open not as just another bar but a “timeless place” shaped by memories and thoughtful design. Owner Nick Tillinghast has spent nearly the past decade opening groundbreaking cocktail lounges in Des Moines that brought composed drinks, novelty ingredients and complicated flavors.
His original bar — Hello, Marjorie at the base of the former Register & Tribune building on Locust Street in Des Moines — showcases elevated cocktails in a comfortable setting meant to evoke memories of yesteryear. The bar was named one of the best in the country by USA TODAY in 2024. His speakeasy — Good News, Darling behind the bar — lets Josh McAlexander flex his cocktail prowess. Secret Admirer, while lighter with its coveted patio looking out at downtown Des Moines, offers a summer breezy atmosphere with drinks to match.
Now Tillinghast has Des Moines Athletic Club, a neighborhood sports bar with a fine collection of drinks and beer for all the games.
“Essentially what I’m trying to do is make timeless places that I seek out when I go to a bigger market,” said Tillinghast, who has called the Equitable Building his home for the past decade. “And if I could have that at my doorstep, that just makes life all the better.”
The space Des Moines Athletic Club occupies in the Equitable Building sat vacant for at least as long as Tillinghast lived in the building.
“It’s going to be more neighborhood than anything I’ve ever done,” he said. “The price points are lower. Cocktails are $1 lower than anything I’ve ever done.”
The bar opens on Nov. 17 with a different take on what a sports bar can be. Tillinghast called it more like a diner vibe, or a New York pizza shop — long and narrow with a bar on one side, booths up front, a banquette opposite the bar and two high-top tables for six at the back. While 108 can fit inside, he thinks it will be comfortable with 80 customers.
A feast for the eyes: oak, wallpaper, and art
An oak bar brings warmth and a sense of history to the space. Mirrors and brass fixtures on the back bar play off the mustard booths and original flooring from 1923. Tillinghast, a Des Moines Lincoln and Iowa State University grad, let his school colors inspire the color scheme at the athletic club.
“It has a classic athletic club, almost a diner vibe, but a little bit of art deco, a little bit of modern going on in there,” said Brad Hartman of Hartman Spiller architectural firm, which designed the space. “Nick Tillinghast gets so much credit for that. He’s a very visionary person as well.”
The custom wallpaper is a work of art itself, with original hand sketches depicting surfers, his dad’s golf bags, an ice skater and more treasures to discover.
At the front, Tillinghast installed one of his signature pieces of art, found in all of his bars, from artist Beth Bojarski. She hid nods to his other bars in characters from her other paintings and banners hanging overhead, noting the year his bars opened. Bojarski even included a picture of Tillinghast himself in the art. A second painting by Bojarski called “Trophy Wife” hangs at the back of the bar.
Art fills the space, from vintage Oxford pennants — “They hold no truth, but I want people to Google them anyway” — to eBay finds and personal icons. The pennants note the Tetherball Fall Classic, a staring contest and the butter cow.
At the back of the bar, Tillinghast hung nostalgic photos, including an ode to golfer Arnold Palmer (“My dad’s a big golfer and huge Arnold Palmer fan.”) and a mugshot of Andre the Giant (“He got arrested on my first birthday in Linn County in 1989.”). Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, a nod to the 1996 Olympics (“It’s the first Olympics I can remember watching.”), tennis great Billie Jean King and Major League Baseball’s Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs pursuing the league’s single-season home run record in 1998 — all have moments captured.
The bar also features a photo booth where customers can grab some four-up strips of memories.
What to order at Des Moines Athletic Club
Unlike Tillinghast’s other bars, beer and seltzers take up a significant space behind the bar. Everything from Busch Light and Modelo to West O Ames Lager and Big Grove Easy Eddy on tap is found. Four nonalcoholic beers are on the menu along with Coca-Cola products.
For cocktails, Tillinghast predicts the Starter Jacket with amaretto, lemon, Campari, pistachio milk wash and optional mezcal will become a popular drink. The Golf Buddy features vodka, grape, lime and ginger ale, while the 40 Love combines mezcal, blackberry, vanilla, lemon and raspberry Topo Chico. All house cocktails go for $12, which includes tax.
Thoughtfully laid out, for the neighborhood
Tillinghast’s guiding principle is neighborliness — every seat, table and TV is situated to foster comfort and connection: “It will probably feel more like my cocktail bars than a traditional sports bar, but it will have plenty of televisions… every seat has been chosen carefully for views of televisions, so that anywhere you sit, you have a good eyesight to a TV,” he said.
The bar includes a built-in window for a future food vendor who could take over the space next door. “That window over there… was intentional, that we do want somebody locally to do food out of there,” Tillinghast said.
In the meantime, bring in your own food or order pretzels from the bar. He also envisions pop-up events with food vendors down the line.
A place for all, but especially for Iowa State fans
While keeping the Des Moines vibe, Tillinghast admits that he is an Iowa State fan first, and that inspires the sports found on the six televisions.
“It’s going to be a place for all, but I am an Iowa State graduate. I grew up as an Iowa State fan. …There’s not a true home base in our city for Iowa State, and I want to be that,” he said. He will have Iowa and Drake games on TV as well.
Where to find Des Moines Athletic Club
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Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. You can reach out to her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Inside Des Moines Athletic Club, a bold new take on the neighborhood sports bar
Reporting by Susan Stapleton, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
