Es Tas

Cheap food, cheap drinks, and good staff.

Love the great specials and tacos. Finally a good sports bar in ames.

I love this bar. I make it a point to stop every night I go out

I just moved away and I miss EsTas soooo much! (BTW: anytime you eat 3 fried tacos, chances are you aren‘t going to be doing cartwheels later. piggy.)

Just had the tacos for the first time (friend recommended them) and unlike the previous post I did not get sick. Also had a Sam East West. Good beer selection. Definitely going back.

This place ducking sucks. I went there with a friend because we had coupons for a free taco buffet. The tacos were nasty. I ate only three. Later on in the night I absolutely died on the toilet. I had the steak and the chicken tacos. But nonetheless neither of the us liked the food and both of us were sick later on. I have no idea why there are so many good reviews on the restaurant/bar. DO NOT GO HERE!!! The place is also quite jenky. The bartender was eating while working (massive turnoff to customers) and the business seemed quite unsanitary. I‘d dread to see the health inspector report.

i love this place! awesome bartenders. yummi food - best tacos ever! new favorite drink ~ cucumber pearl lemonade! like the atmosphere. great daily specials...

Not the best bar in Ames by far. I can list tons of other bars much better! Welch Ave Station (great staff), London Underground, Corner Pocket (also has DG‘s Tap house upstairs and tons of pool tables!), and Olde Main (Much better food as well) just to name a few. Sure try Es Tas once and if you like it cool, however it is far from the best bar in town.

I was in there the other day and it took me over 30 min to get a drink because all the bartenders were too drunk to do their jobs. I get that the bartenders want to have fun at work, and they should, but when almost every staff member is too drunk to effectively serve customers, the owner of the bar is loosing money and the patrons get ANNOYED!

Big shots, great tacos, good atmosphere make Es Tas a great place to drink...

WORST BAR I"VE EVER BEEN TOO!! The guy at the door was so rude and mean to me and my group of friends, this is no way to treat girls. The bartenders were awful also.

I love these bartenders and the crowd is always amazing

Them tacos took forever. Not cool. Place is relatively small as well.

Best bar in Ames..you don‘t like it...good don‘t go it will make the line to the bar faster

Es Tas is definitely not the best bar in Ames. The bartenders are rude and the food is horrible. Save your money and go some where else.

Es Tas has some of the rudest bartenders. They are notorious for only serving their friends. Regardless of how polite you are or how much you tip, they will ignore you or act incredibly annoyed by your presence. They also threaten to throw you out if you so much as look at them the "wrong way". The only thing they are good at is mixing drinks, but ultimately you‘re better off going some where else.

Bartenders aren‘t very fast at getting your drink to you and usually favors certain customers. Also the food takes way too long, especially when they only have to deep fry certain things, like tater tots, it does not take 45 minutes to deep fry tater tots. At least it is a cool environment and the drinks are strong!

es tas is the shiznit, if you treat the bartenders right they treat you right. you got to remember that you control how the bartenders treat you i.e. if you are patient and nice/ tip well you will be a priority customer, heck you may be included in a round of shots! so remember the golden rule. you aren‘t gods, you are drunk college kids at a college bar

i like it!!! the food i good and so are the drinks.

bartenders are rude & food was awful, we (around 8 of us) were there on mon/tues night, wasnt even busy, was rudely asked for my ID when i wasnt even drinking and had been sitting there for 20 min, then when i ordered food it took an hour (which was OK only bc we were watching a game) when it came it was cold and tasted awful, they were wings too i dont know how you mess up wings. I do not go here unless my friends drag me here.

i don‘t know what the big deal is on here. i LOVE es tas. i LOVE the bartenders, i love the drinks, i generally love the people and the atmosphere. it‘s very chill here. i‘ll admit, sometimes the people are a little creepy in there, but you‘ll have that anywhere! i haven‘t ever eaten at es tas, but it‘s my regular bar. mickey‘s screwed a couple of my out of state friends over and they were my bar prior to. es tas is my first, last and sometimes only stop! keep it up, guys. because we love you.

Its a great place. They have excellent tacos; I recommend the chicken ones.

Apparently these bartenders just know how to serve beer. Cocktails and mixes are made wrong, when you point it out, you are charged for that drink too. Not only that... they ignore you the rest of the time you are there.

Worst. Bar. Ever.

The buffet is awesome. You get all you can eat tacos. Love the beef ones. Great place to find in small town iowa.

We decided to try this place with my in-laws. Two of my dining party are vegatarian. We placed our orders, tacos w/o meat. Easy enough. Apparently not, the waiter had failed to inform us they were out of refried beans BEFORE the order arrived at the table. Imagine having a taco filled only with lettuce, tomato & cheese. The other orders were correct but one of them had a long, dark colored hair in the taco. (None in my dining party have long dark hair.) After discussing the problems with the meal with the waiter, he said "their is nothing I can do". It is normally customary to offer the offeded customers a discount on the meal, again the waiter could offer nothing. I am surprised the place passes it‘s food safety inspections. I will never return.

I ate the tacos here and got the worse diarrhea on the planet and I have been to Mexico and not experienced diarrhea that bad. If you want food poisoning and a night in the hospital to go with your food and crappy beer, cheers to you. Avoid this rat hole at all costs. Carlos is where its at, real Tex-Mex.

best bar in ames......if you don‘t like it then don‘t go im tired if all the meat heads that roll in there anyway..all Ed Hardy boys please go to Cys Roost or Sips

Good for a Campustown bar. Overpriced mixed drinks, bad beers, but the shots are good.

Great bar food and a very nice selection of draft beer - even some microbrew. Laid-back atmosphere, plenty of TVs.

love it. yeah it‘s a hole in the wall, but on weds. u can get a burger fries and a beer for less then $5, cheap beers during the week. awesome!!! can‘t wait for summer when ames goes into relax mode

just returned home after graduating. Must say that this is in no way a Restaurant it is a bar at best.

always a good food deal, and bartenders know how to POUR a drink, any more than 3 drinks you better call a cab

Love the tacos and cheeseballs had a great time at the es tas to start out veisha.

this place is really boring for a college bar. not much going on for entertainment and drinks are overpriced.

Love the tacos. Thanks for being in Ames. TV‘s are awesome too! Everyone needs to try the tacos.

The place was a hole, the food was crappy, and now it‘s gone.
Amen.

bartenders can make about any drink imaginable and decent food but hang out with frat boys in checkered button ups/backwards hats and ditsy sororstitutes? no thanks. i‘m done with campustown bars

Really fun bar to go to. They have a good selection on different beers and good drink specials. To the review before.... you know this is a college bar and all bars tend to be full of drunks at night. Try getting out more

im glad this bar is no longer on welch. watch out for all the weirdos. dont worry about getting to drunk here everyone drinks like its there first time and they are still in high school. grow up guys this is college not daycare

If you are in Ames for even one night you need to go to this place. I let the bartender know I was just stopping in for a drink and I didn‘t leave for another 5 hours. They treated me good and it was good. The bartenders were buy far the best around and although they came off as bit gay it still wasn‘t that bad

Laid back atmosphere with cheap deals by day and the busiest campustown hotspot by night. Great shot deals all the time served by the best bartenders in Ames. I don‘t know any other bartenders that keep up with the crowds like they do on Friday and Saturday nights. It‘s the only campustown bar I go to. Oh, and I definitely recommend the "Es Tots" with Cheese Sauce.

Their food is getting to be MUCH better. It‘s actually very tasty! I really enjoy the taco salad and their burgers. Keep up the good work! Ps, please try to improve the french fries and everything will be fabulous!

Wouldn‘t go anywhere else! Easily the best bar in Ames!

Awesome place and good food. I go there so much that the bartenders know me by name. It‘s the only bar that I go to in campustown. Their drinks might be a little more expensive than other bars, but they make them "Es Tas Strong" which is the equivalent of about 2 drinks at any other shit bar in campustown. 5 stars.

Oh ya!!! I recently had a fabulous taco salad and chicken tacos delivered to my house and to my surprise I got a bonus rice krispies treat for FREE!!! This place rocks!!! Oh ya, to the person that said this place is a dive. Duh, dives are the best places to go! I think you need to get out of Iowa more and figure out whats going on!!

always a good time, cheap drinks during the week. Always the busiest bar on the weekends

A dive. better than their original location, but still a dive.

This is the only bar I go to on a regular basis. The food is great, the prices are low, and the service is fast. I am not too worried about how the employees look( even though they seem fine by me) But if you are the type of person who doesn‘t like the food or how the employees dress then try Sips i hear they are really pretty there...and don‘t come to Es Tas we will be fine without you!

Their Tacos aren‘t "The Shit," but they do give you the shits. This place has no atmosphere, scuzzy looking food workers and disgusting food. Anyone who thinks that this place has good food needs to stop being drunk when they eat and leave campus town to find out what decent food tastes like.

The best tacos in Ames by a large margin.

I love this bar because:
- Tank Bombs are the best shot ever
- Bartenders are generally nice and pour perfect wells
- People that go there are generally non-judgmental
- Music is always hot, none of that crappy radio pop
- Tacos are ‘the shit‘

If you want to have fun and not care what other people think.....then go here.

Definately the strangest bartenders in Ames... In a good way though

Great place and I Love the Tacos from them, great

I don‘t know how these bartenders are so nice. They have to make a bunch of different shit shots, still take food orders, and put up with the drunkees. Before 8 p.m. this place is awesome for tacos, but after that get you liver ready. I will say the abundance of heavy set bearded fellows aren‘t the best thing to look at(or the quickest), but courteous none the less. I‘ll be back, bitches.

You gotta love a bar when the bartender tells you "say when!" while they pour the liquor in your drink. plus they serve the best food in campus town.

Very nice place, and yes its very good food there. Its more then a Bar

I guess I see this place as both a bar and a restaurant. Yes, it‘s not like your typical restaurant, but you cannot deny that these tacos are the best tacos in at least a 100 mile radius! The bar portion of the restaurant is awesome as well. For me, if a bar can make you any drink you want at a reasonable price, then I am satisfied. They have every type of liquor you could want, and they know their drinks. Those of you who are giving this place bad reviews need to eat their tacos, or go back to the bar that you work at and stop trying to give this place bad reviews.

Yes this is a bar- a bar with good food. May not be the most authentic but you won‘t find tacos like theirs anywhere else. The quesadillas are also delicious.

Poor Ames, if this is the #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This bar is the best Restaurant Ames has to offer ?????

C‘mon people, this is a bar and NOT a restaurant !!!!

Bombs over ames. Play your own music, eat tacos, and check the ladies who frequent this place. Most friendly place i‘ve been to in campustown. All glass, sweet ass, and no fighting for a drink makes es tas worth trying. There is no skimping on the $4 jaegerbombs. Buyer Beware.

This is one of the best bars in Ames. The atmosphere is great, good people, and friendly staff. Good specials on Wednesday 5$ pitchers of Grain Belt and 2 dollar bottles of your choice. Jaeger Bombs here are amazing as well!.

Wow this is becoming Ames Top Restaurant. So I have to assume, that either Ames has lost their tastebuds somewhere or that the staff is very active giving positive ratings without writing comments.

Great place to grab something to eat. Have a pitcher and play some pool while you wait for your food. Their bar staff is probably some of the best in Campustown as well.

I love their tacos. The buffet is great. The previous poster is right the hot sauce is hot be careful. I am from Chicago and this is the type of place you would find in downtown or in the suburbs. I‘ve had their burgers and they are just as good as they tacos. Go there for the buffet lunch, tacos, Goose Island beers, and Cubs!! Thanks for making such a horrible small town like Ames bearable for me.

Absolutely terrible. If you are looking for good, authentic mexican food - look elsewhere. If you‘re happy with chips and salsa, this place will be okay for you. I‘ve had chicken enchiladas, chicken tacos, mahi mahi tacos, and rice. The chicken was not "select" - in fact, I had trouble chewing through tendons/ligaments/cartiilage. The fish was OKAY, but the only garnishes offered are lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. Where is the cilantro? where‘s the avocado? The taco shells are greasy and bland - How about a soft-corn tortilla? The enchiladas were nearly a solid block of cheddar cheese, again the chicken - not good.

Best tacos you‘ll ever have. Period. Try the hot sauce, it‘s hot.

It is a bar, not a restaurant but the tacos alone are worth the trip!

this place is a good bar, but not a restaurant. as bar i would rate 4 stars

You are looking for a bar, maybe. If you are looking for a Restaurant go elsewhere.

The food is amazing here. Ive never had a bad experience here. My friends and I go for the buffet in the morning and get delivery at night. I am so glad we live right by Es Tas. I wish I could eat Es Tas for every meal!!

How the heck? This is a bar and not a Restaurant. No 1 in Ames ? Give me a break.

Es Tas‘ Food is amazing. They make their beans from scratch not some can like most places. It‘s the only place in Ames that I‘ve found that serves Tortas (an absolutely amazing sandwich) It‘s a shame some people think it‘s just a bar they are missing out on really great food.

Es Tas is the only place to go in Ames. The service my friends and I get there is amazing. We‘ve went their for everyone of my friends birthday‘s. The apple pie shots are awesome and so are the free shots on your birthday. Yeah!!!!

I love their tacos!!!! The buffet is great which I just found out about but I usually get taco delivery. Thanks es tas for giving college kids something besides average pizza and horrible Chinese food as cheap delivery.

this is not a Restaurant, only good for some Drinks

for delivery in ames u r not gonna get much better for ameri mexi food than es tas

Not a restaurant. As a bar - okay. Their tacos suck! The rest of their food is okay. Ames has too much good food to go eat at Es Tas. If your drunk and want to eat.. go to the Super Dog Stand, if you want a real meal drive far far away from Es Tas!

Great place to grab a drink and meal between classes. It‘s just to bad it‘s so crowded now, best bar in Ames. And for the guy saying it‘s not authentic...it‘s BAR food...

They do have good drink specials but their cuisine is not even close to being authentic! I do not care for the tacos or their chips and salsa. I do like their drinks...but the food is below average, in my opinion.

Large portions and being in campustown make Es Tas a 1/5. Sounds like the last poster drinks way too much haterade.

Large portions and awful customers make this the best of the best in Ames - how SAD.

I like Es Tas. They have great tacos and cheese balls and beer and shots. Its not high class and but when you wanna drink and eat cheap food its good. I also have them deliver sometimes. Its a nice change from pizza. Never eat Golden Wok, while I‘m on the subject of delivery options.

Yes, I am sure Es Tas is proud to have puking customers. It is sad to see, that large portions and cheap drinks already qualify you in Ames to be in the Top Restaurants rating!

I puked all over the bathroom and was able to get more shots. 5/5!

The girls and me had such a fabulous time on my birthday! If my friend would buy a shot or a drink, mine would be FREE!!!! Heck ya!!!!

We love the tacos especially the mahi mahi. The variety of beers is great. The Dos Equis and Smithwicks goes great with the food.

This is not a good restaurant. Maybe have cheap drinks but the food is horrible!

Food was not very good. There are way better mexican places in Ames. The food is ok if you are drunk and it is 2am, however I would not take my family here.

Es Tas is the best bar in Ames by far!! They have a REALLY good selection of shots, my personal favorite "oatmeal cookie." The drinks are REALLY cheap, but they don‘t taste like cheap drinks you would find at other bars, theirs are actually really tasty and they will mess you up if thats what you‘re looking for. The food is also REALLY great and most of the food actually has a spicy kick to it which is a pleasant surprise because a lot of the food around this area has slim to no spice. Es Tas, keep up the good work and keep up the great drink specials!!!

I love the food here the quesadillas are great I wish they had more parking

The food was not so great and the service was terrible.

Absolutely love the food here. The tacos and burgers are delicious. The new location is awesome!

Nice atmosphere, food is a tad slow but good music

Cheap drinks, excellent food. Where else can you get served cheese balls with your jager bombs at 2am? The staff is friendly, the atmosphere is great, and you don‘t leave smelling like an ashtray.

Es Tas is the best bar in campus town, especially if you like shots. Their selection of shots is huge and very viable. At first the place may seem more expensive, but that is because you get more alcohol for your money. The staff is amazing and incredibly friendly and the tacos are the best in Ames.

The best place in campustown/Ames for sure. You can get a $6 pitcher on a Friday night, not smell like smoke, and get their full menu of food until 2AM. Why go anywhere else?

The food is wonderful, especially the Quesadilla‘s. I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner! The owners are pretty sexy too, which is definitely a bonus!!!

Mmm apple pie shots are the BEST shot in town!!! plus, i love leaving a bar and NOT smelling like an old, clogged, chimmney.

I love the buffet, I don‘t know why the bartender that worked at Indigo Joe‘s and Red Lobster didn‘t like it. I hope they keep it cheap at $5.99 too

Couldn‘t believe how good the buffet was. The best tacos I have ever had!!!! Can‘t wait to come back.

Before you read my full review, know that I have served and bartended in 2 nice restaurants for the last three years. I was invited to eat the taco buffet, the normal lunch-time special. Now I realize that buffets usually dont have much service, and I would never expect a place to be at my every beck and call. However, the tables in this place were sticky, there were a ton of flies everywhere, and the service was frankly awful. There were four of us that day, and it took us 50 mins to get our food. Also know that the food served here is very simple, and shouldve been done within 10-15 mins after order. At first only I recieved my food, and my 3 friends recieved theirs 5 mins later. I‘m sure the bar atmosphere is great on weekend nights. Honestly tho, Es Tas should remove all of it advertising for food, and close that crappy kitchen down. Just be a bar, then you dont have to pay a waitress who does a terrible job. Drunk people dont care about great service, but if you cant get anyone decent during the day, then just open at night.

One of my favorite bars in Ames. They pour the biggest shots of any bar on Welch and they serve food until 2am. What‘s not to love?

Best drinking spot in Ames. Strong cheap drinks. Great food too.

The Burgers are the best in Ames. I just learned they deliver too so no excuses now to settle on food that just ok.

The shot board with the prices clearly marked is great. I couldn‘t believe how much better the service is compared the usuals even though the place was packed.

the booths rock and the dollar bottles on wednesday are like a gift from the beer gods

This is bar FAR the best bar in Ames. The tacos are the best food in ames and the $3 angus burgers on wednesdays are the best burgers on the planet and they are huge. Shots may seem expensive but they are all huge and made from quality booze. Great place to socialize with friends and talk.

The best place to start and end your night.

plus is definitely the smokefree atmosphere, but the girl bartender was rude/snotty. some good drink specials, but nothing to write home about. good atmosphere, nice to have somewhere to sit and talk

I love this place!!!! The guys who work there are totally sexi!!!

The dollar tacos on Tuesday are pretty awesome, but their beer is really expensive and you can‘t get service unless you have huge knockers hanging out of your shirt. F this place.

Margaritas are great here although they can get a little strong, but that‘s not necessarily a bad thing sometimes...The tacos are greasy and kind of gross and the atmosphere is a little lacking, but it‘s in a good location and like I said, the drinks are good.

I LOVE the food, beer and great people at Es Tas. It is my only regular establishment in Ames. Their tocos are outstanding, and the DOS XXX on tap washes it all down. Be sure to say Hi to Jo Jo and the rest of the gang. They are super friendly. Great for Mexician Food lovers of all ages.
Buck

I have never had a better taco anywhere, let alone in ames. Strongest and best priced drinks around, the bartenders know what they are doing. Try their drinks/shots off the wall, they have great ones that you will not find anywhere else.

Amazing tacos, great service, most friendly bar staff in Ames, awesome drinks and shots!

The best tacos in Ames, great service!

Come see and hear THE DOONERS on their TOOR stop @ Es Tas, Thurs. June 8 @ 5pm. Acoustic style set. Then off to the Bali House later that evening for a full show with two other travelling bands. http://www.myspace.com/thedooners

i discovered their tacos about a month ago and i mothereffin luv em. nate dogg knows what i‘m talking about!

Tacos are to die for, and cheap!!

Es Tas is the best bar on Welch.. the laid back atmosphere is awesome and I always find people I know there. And of course the tacos are the best drunk food ever

best tacos.

i love es tas! they have the best food and the best service anywhere! AND cheap jag bombs!!

es tas is our bar. They have the best prices and everything is amazing. The best part is that they have all female bartenders and it is smoke free. The place rocks.

I love Es Tas. The bar has gotten really busy, but only because of cheap prices! They have the best egg rolls in town...yes I said egg rolls! And their shrimp tacos are amazing

I don‘t know of any place else that delivers delicious mexican food until 3 am!

I have no interest in it as a bar, so I can‘t speak to that.

The tacos are excellent. I don‘t know anywhere else around where the shells are crunchy and tasty in the same way, and the ingredients are fresh and well-chosen (for example, romaine lettuce instead of iceberg, and cilantro instead of nothing).

Beyond the tacos, the other stuff is pretty good, but I usually maximize the value of the trip by getting the tacos.

Es Tas rules! The bartenders make the place fun- especilly that short one w/ blond hair! She makes delicious jager bombs- and they‘re cheap too! Definitely a great hang out- and good music too!

It‘s a Great Place, I love the people, the food is DELICIOUS! mmm! ever get the time, drop in, take a good look at those people... they are juss as delicious! ;)

If you are going there for the bar, then you will have a great time. I don‘t know why it is listed as a cafe.

awesome homemade food I loved it! wait staff served me with a warm smile not the prompt‘est but the food made it well worth the wait the pink taco is delicious I rate it a 4 the food is great trust me if you dont mind a slight wait!

Not a good place to sit down, but for cheap delivery tacos it rocks! A great place for cheap food for a midnight cram session.

Absolutely disgusting. Quality of ingredients was poor, food took forever, wait staff seemed more interested in sitting around then actually serving.

I went there during an hour break between classes and it took so long to get my food I was almost late.

Food takes forever to get and is rather bland and tasteless. Avoid at all costs. You can get mexican food at a lot of other places.