Half-Price Tuesdays Make Des Moines Drink Better
Ingersoll / Grand · Des Moines · Contemporary American · Visit Website ↗
Updated August 2026
Reviewed June 20, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Louie's Wine Dive’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walk into Louie's and the list hits you before the food menu does — that's the point. A 100-plus bottle program in a casual neighborhood spot on University Ave is not what Des Moines typically delivers, and the energy in here matches the ambition. It's a wine bar wearing a dive bar's hoodie, and we mean that as a compliment.
The list casts a wide net — domestic producers anchor things with solid U.S. representation across multiple regions, while Italy and Spain show up with enough specificity to keep things interesting. The Azimut Cava 'Brut Nature' from Penedès and Argyle's 'Vintage Brut' from Willamette Valley sitting side-by-side on a sparkling section is the kind of comparison shopping we appreciate. The chain-wide backbone means some selections feel committee-approved rather than passionately curated, but there's enough range here that you won't feel trapped by the usual suspects. Gaps exist in old-world depth — don't come hunting for grower Champagne or obscure Burgundy — but for a neighborhood spot in Iowa, this punches well above its weight class.
Thirty to fifty pours by the glass is genuinely impressive and the main reason Louie's earns its reputation locally. The breadth means you can work through a sparkling, a white, and a red across a single dinner without doubling up on variety. Rotation appears tied to the broader chain program rather than local sourcing, but the sheer volume of options keeps things fresh enough.
Azimut Cava 'Brut Nature', Penedès, Spain — null
Zero dosage Cava at a casual wine bar is already a rare find — this is the kind of bottle that overdelivers on complexity relative to what you'd expect to pay at a place with truffle fries on the menu. Drink it before your table debates what to order.
Argyle 'Vintage Brut', Willamette Valley, Oregon
Most people at Louie's are reaching for a red or a rosé — Argyle's sparkling program is genuinely serious and this bottle gets overlooked as a result. Willamette Valley bubbles at a casual wine bar is an underrated move, and Argyle knows what they're doing with Pinot Noir-based fizz.
Benvolio Prosecco, Veneto, Italy
Nothing technically wrong here, but Benvolio is a high-volume supermarket-tier Prosecco that shows up everywhere. When you have Azimut Cava a few lines over on the same menu, there's no reason to default to this one.
Azimut Cava 'Brut Nature', Penedès, Spain + Truffle Fries
The zero dosage dryness and tight carbonation cut straight through the richness of the truffle oil and salt. It's a snack-and-bubbles combo that sounds casual but actually makes both things taste better.
Tuesday — Half-price on glasses and bottles every Tuesday, with select exclusions not publicly specified.
The Bottom Line
Louie's Wine Dive is the kind of place Des Moines needs more of — a real wine program in a no-pretense room, with Tuesday half-price deals that make experimenting genuinely low-stakes. It's not a destination list, but it's absolutely a destination night.
Downtown Des Moines · Des Moines · American, Regional
Proudfoot & Bird is the kind of place where the room earns a star the wine list can't quite match — solid enough for a business dinner or a date night in a stunning space, but don't come expecting to find something you've never heard of. If you're in Des Moines and want a dependable glass in a beautiful room, it works.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Johnston · Des Moines · Wine bar / American
Louie's Johnston is exactly what a suburban wine bar should be — a big by-the-glass list, fair prices, and zero pretension. Send your friends here when they want to drink well without a side of attitude.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Clive · Des Moines · Steakhouse & American
Club Car is a reliable steakhouse wine list doing exactly what it was built to do: keep Cab drinkers happy and nobody walking out complaining. Don't come here for discovery, but don't leave without ordering the Jordan.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waukee · Des Moines · Japanese / Asian Fusion / Sushi
Wasabi Waukee is a genuinely good sushi restaurant that treats its wine list like an afterthought — familiar names, steep markups, and zero curiosity about what wines might actually sing alongside the food. Order the cocktails or sake instead, and save the wine discussion for somewhere that cares.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
Clive · Des Moines · American, Brewpub
Granite City is a brewery that tolerates wine, and the list reflects that perfectly. Drink the beer — it's the whole point of being here.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
West Des Moines / Jordan Creek · Des Moines · Italian
Bravo! is a fine dinner out if the pasta is what you're after, but the wine list is purely functional — corporate-designed, safely marked up, and entirely forgettable. Order a glass of bubbles or the Chianti, make peace with your choices, and let the food do the heavy lifting.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Vinings · Atlanta · Contemporary American
So has a wine list built to please a suburban dinner crowd without ruffling any feathers, and it largely succeeds at that narrow goal. The markup is real — most bottles sit at 3–4x retail — but the by-the-glass breadth gives you options to keep the tab reasonable. If you're a wine-first diner, this isn't your destination; if you're here for the scene and the food, you'll find something perfectly fine to drink.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Toledo · Contemporary American
Sabira has built something genuinely worth noticing for Toledo: a compact, mostly European list that takes real swings with appellations like Grasparossa di Castelvetro and Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Pricing data isn't available to us, and the BTG program is unclear — so call ahead or ask on arrival. If the staff knows this list as well as whoever curated it seems to, this is an easy recommendation for anyone tired of the same regional Chardonnay-and-Cab circuit.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Sarasota · Sarasota · Contemporary American
A one-page list that mixes Greek, Italian and French bottles with Cristal, Taittinger and Laurent-Perrier Champagnes, and posts many prices as two unlabeled numbers. Start with the Gai'a Assyrtiko (70 / 17) alongside the wood-fired octopus, or take the Les Girelles Picpoul (48 / 12) on a Tuesday, when the list says bottles at $99 and less are half off (bubbles and Champagne excluded). This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups, and the list carries no printed date, so confirm current availability and ask which number is the glass.
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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Staff
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