He Ate/She Ate: High Life Lounge

He Ate

I like crap beer. There I said it. I especially like crap beer when it’s in a can. To me, that’s the only way to drink something like Hamms. You need some of that metallic flavor to intensify the taste of unadulterated skunk. Typically, when I’m drinking Hamms in a can, I’ll want something deep fried. Like pickles. Or tater tots. Also, you might as well give me something substantial like chicken to soak up all that Hamms. But none of that fancy chicken dusted with panko and soy sauce, I want that chicken moist and tender on the inside, deep brown and crispy on the outside. In a word – Broasted. The process of pressure cooking and deep frying. If the Hamms hangover doesn’t kill you, the cholesterol of the breast will. But who wants to go negative here? Go ahead and take a seat in your uncle’s basement circa 1972 and pig out. This is the High Life Lounge.

When I first moved to Des Moines years ago I stumbled upon this place as a bachelor, and have been coming here with consistency ever since. Personally I think it’s the shag. It’s just so homey. It helps that the service feels like your teenage son, slightly high, peeled himself off the couch and explained the menu to you succulently and with pride. The service at High Life really is amazing. I believe they have the casual yet knowledgeable service staff down. I always feel like I’m either in someone else’s home or all these people have come into mine. Amazing that the service can be so good in this Full Court Press establishment, and so bad next door at El Bait Shop

The food is nothing spectacular, yet it does take great skill to make basic pub grub work. I always go for the Broasted Chicken, as there are few places in America that do this right, but the burgers are equally scrumptious. The High Life Man, consisting of a quarter pound burger, Italian sausage patty, three strips of bacon, Swiss and American cheese, grilled onions, jalapenos, mayonnaise and BBQ sauce on a sesame bun might be the most disgusting sandwich on a menu, but it is oh so delicious. Though the appetizers and sides shine the best – sending you again to your second cousin’s family reunion with bacon wrapped little smokies, fried chicken gizzards and velvet elvis dip, or the elementary cafeteria with corn niblets, tater tots and deviled eggs.

When friends come to visit, I always take them here. When I’m hungry and can’t decide where to go, I always take myself here. A mark of a great, neighborhood restaurant that knows what it wants to do, and excels at it time and time again.

She Ate

I don’t stop in at The High Life Lounge often enough. Most likely, because El Bait Shop (right next door) has a plethora of ever-changing beers at the ready, and a perfectly palatable plate of over-flowing nachos. Aside from the Champagne of Beers, the High Life does have a few additional beers (PBR, Hamm’s) but it also has two very special menu items that drove HE and me to bypass El BS last weekend: # 1 Broasted Chicken, #2 Bacon Wrapped Tots.

A true testament to the coolness of High Life Lounge – our out of town friends who were visiting for the weekend didn’t realize that the bar was themed. They assumed it was an original piece of Des Moines, left untouched over the years like many a grandparents’ basement. Well done, Full Court Press. Of all their establishments, High Life definitely camouflages the best as a “real” bar/restaurant.

Back to the Broasting…  for the uninitiated, Broasted chicken is deep fried chicken. But the technique doesn’t stop there. This deep frying takes places inside a pressure cooker. So the extra tasty, extra fatty goodness is forced back into the chicken. This creates a perfectly crunchy crust surrounding delightfully juicy meat on the bone. The crust is seasoned lightly with salt & pepper and a few secret spices, but the Colonel’s secret recipe has nothing on High Life. There is nothing mass produced or oddly shaped about the end result. This, my friends, is chicken that has been broasted to perfection.

We paired our chicken wonder with loaded chili cheese fries (spicy, gooey, and crunchy!) and the High Life Lounge must-do side, tots. But these straight-up crunchy childhood faves aren’t the only tater-tot offering on High Life’s menu. The Bacon-Wrapped Tot appetizer is a wonderful throw back to the kind of concoction you may have tossed together in the microwave after a late night college drinking binge…but better. And let’s be honest, they are much more creative than say, Dorito Sandwiches (I’m talking to you, HE). These little goodies, the champions of all tots, are wrapped in bacon along with a slice of jalapeño, then deep fried and covered in cheddar. They are a delicious and naughty little treat. And I can’t believe I didn’t think of it!

I wouldn’t be doing High Life justice if I didn’t mention the service. Friendly, unpretentious, and accommodating. The wait staff there takes a cue from the menu, and the décor…nothing at High Life takes itself too seriously. And despite the lack of beer options, it’s the lack of pretention at High Life that’s most refreshing.