As
the fall sun sets over Ames, Iowa, and casts a golden glow over
the turning leaves across the Iowa State University Campus, one
place offers a view of the landscape like nowhere else.
And it has one heck of
a prime rib sandwich.
Legends American Grill,
located on the seventh floor of the new Legacy Tower in Ames’
Campustown, is the quintessential “room with a view.”
When you’re talking the Midwest, seventh floors are few and
far between. And while from Legends you can see the lights of Story
City on a clear night, you can drink a beer or a martini there any
night of the week.
“You don’t
see something like this much in the Midwest,” Legends Service
Manager Channing Thyberg says. “Ames is a pretty small place,
but when it’s dark out and you can look out and see the lights
of the city, it can feel pretty big.”
The view of the landscape
from the surrounding windows makes Legends a great place for dinner
and drinks – or as some people prefer – simply a morning
cup of coffee.
“It really found
its niche with the atmosphere,” Thyberg says, citing the bar’s
picturesque view of the central Iowa city. “It takes a lot
to compete with other Ames restaurants. We have a reputation for
good food from the other locations (Legends also has locations in
Johnston, Pleasant Hill and West Des Moines), but this place, looking
out over the city and the campus, definitely provides some uniqueness.”
It also provides a place
to watch sports. Each booth features its own plasma screen TV. There
are two monstrous flat screens above the bar, a projection screen
high on the interior wall and several more plasma screens throughout.
Two private rooms upstairs, which the restaurant reserves for large
parties, also have large plasma screens. Even the urinals in the
men’s room have individual TVs above them. If you miss any
action, it’s because you blinked.
So when the Cyclones
are at home, the sports crowd thrives. Jack Trice Stadium is in
walking distance – which you can see out the window –
and ISU fans pack the restaurant for burgers and beer. When the
’Clones are on TV, many stick around.
“Game days are
busy,” Thyberg says, the simple four-word sentence an ironic
connotation of the complexity of her game-day managerial duties.
“It gets loud. The beer flows, and we sell a lot of burgers.
Away games are especially huge. You have a good view of a TV from
anywhere in the bar, and the fans give it a home game atmosphere.”
And many stay until close.
The drinks still flow after the final whistle blows, and the beer
is cold whether the grill is hot or not. The TVs stop showing games
and begin showing post-game highlights. At night, ISU students can
see the lights of their dorm rooms out the window – as they,
too, are within walking distance.
“We get a lot of
college students during the evenings; we’re in Campustown,”
she added. “But it’s not a crazy, loud college bar.
It’s more of a hang-out sports bar.”
Because good food, cold
drinks and a nice view are attractive to just about anybody. You
never have to miss a play, but if your team isn’t playing,
you can always look out the window. |
