Most of the "new" places on Ingersoll Avenue this year are local operators moving into a space another local business just left. Star Bar's owner announced his closing and named his successor in the same breath. Wellman's Pub moved a short way down the street. A sports bar opened where a well-known pizza bar used to be. An ice cream shop from Waukee took a Star Lofts bay that had been planned for a French bistro.
Each of these changes was reported on its own. Taken together, they show a corridor refilling itself from inside, with each seat a little more casual than the last one.
The Four Addresses, as of Early October
Here is where each address stands, using the most recent reporting available on October 4, 2026:
- 2811 Ingersoll Ave. was Star Bar for 21 years. It is now Wellman's Pub.
- 2920 Ingersoll Ave. was Wellman's Pub. No new tenant has been announced.
- 2301 Ingersoll Ave., Suite 105 was Gusto Pizza Bar. It is now CCBG, CC's Bar & Grill, and it is open.
- 2701 Ingersoll Ave. is a Star Lofts bay once planned for Bistro Montage. Home Sweet Cone is moving in, and its opening was still listed as "soon" in late September.
The sections below take them in the order things happened, since each move set up the next one.
2811: A Handoff the Outgoing Owner Announced
Star Bar was a fixture at 2811 Ingersoll Ave. for 21 years. The Des Moines Register described it as "part neighborhood hangout, part polished restaurant, part cocktail bar with a loyal following." The last service was brunch on Saturday, Aug. 1.
Owner Mike Hutchinson gave a plain reason. "It is time for my wife and I to enjoy our family and the next stage of our life," he told Local 5.
The same note covered what came next. Hutchinson told the station that Wellman's Pub, then located between 29th and 31st streets on Ingersoll, would be moving down the street into the Star Bar building. So the building never went on the open market in any public way. Neighbors learned it was closing and who was taking over at the same time.
On Aug. 24, KCCI reported that the move would begin Tuesday, Aug. 25, and that Wellman's chose the building for more space and better parking. Wellman's own site now says the pub "has moved" to 2811. That gap from Aug. 1 to Aug. 25 is about three weeks between Star Bar's last brunch and Wellman's starting its move. An empty storefront on a busy corridor rarely gets filled that fast.
2920: The Seat Wellman's Left Behind
Every move like this leaves a second empty space. Wellman's old home was 2920 Ingersoll Ave., and the hospitality group behind it still lists that address on its brands page. Our research turned up no announcement of a new tenant for 2920 as of early October.
That makes 2920 the most open question on the corridor right now. Wellman's left for more room and better parking, and those are the same things the next tenant will weigh. If this year's pattern holds, the likeliest outcome is another local operator moving over from nearby. Nothing published so far confirms that.
2301: A Pizza Bar's Space, Reopened as a Sports Bar
The Gusto space shows the slower version of the same story. Gusto Pizza Bar closed its last location on Ingersoll on May 2, 2024. Co-owner Tony Lemmo told the Register, "We have truly put our hearts and just about every ounce of energy into this location." He said it was time to spend more time with his family, his garden, and Aposto, his Italian restaurant in Sherman Hill.
That closing followed the same pattern as Star Bar's. A longtime owner chose to step back, and he kept his other Des Moines restaurant going a few neighborhoods away.
More than two years later, the space has a new tenant. CC's Bar & Grill, branded CCBG, calls itself a "hometown sports bar." Its logo closely resembles the old CBGB club sign from New York. The Register listed it as a fall opening on Sept. 29. CCBG's website now has a "Now open on Ingersoll Avenue" banner and gives the address as 2301 Ingersoll Ave., Suite 105.
The menu the Register previewed includes beer cheese rarebit, chicken popper drumsticks inspired by jalapeño poppers, and an Iowa chop salad topped with breaded chicken strips. CCBG's own site promotes watch parties, burgers, wings, and live music after the game. Gusto was a pizza bar. Its replacement is built around TVs and a stage.
2701: The Star Lofts Bay That Was Supposed to Be French
Star Lofts is the only new building in this story. The Business Record describes it as a recently completed mass timber mixed-use development with 20 apartments, all leased, and four street-level commercial bays.
One of those bays was supposed to be the new home of Bistro Montage, the French restaurant. That plan did not go ahead. The space on the building's western side is now going to Home Sweet Cone.
Even here, the tenants are local. Home Sweet Cone joins Zenko Tea, which sells bubble tea, desserts, and smoothies, and The Refill Market, a sustainable grocery that sells baking supplies, legumes, oils, vinegars, herbs, and spices. As of July, the developers had a letter of intent for the fourth and last bay. Molly Cutler of Cutler Development, which built Star Lofts, told the Business Record: "We have all local operators and each one brings something unique to their space."
Home Sweet Cone founder and owner Colleen Strohmaier opened her first shop in Waukee in July 2021 and added West Des Moines three years later. The Ingersoll shop is her third location and her first in Des Moines proper. When she explained why she picked this corridor, she pointed to how long its businesses tend to last:
"I love the Ingersoll location. It is so encouraging to see how many places there have been around for a decade or more."
The shop will lease about 1,500 square feet and include a walk-up window. A building permit for the space was issued in June. The Business Record expected a September opening back in July. The Register's Sept. 29 roundup still listed it as "Opening: Soon." As of this writing it is still coming, so check before you plan an evening walk around a cone.
Every Swap Moved a Notch More Casual
Lined up together, the four addresses show a second pattern. The Register's fall dining roundup described Des Moines restaurants as "settling comfortably into its casual era." On Ingersoll specifically, it pointed to a hometown sports bar, a small-batch ice cream shop, and Wellman's move into the Star Bar space as signs of a corridor "leaning into approachable hangouts."
The individual swaps show the same thing:
- Star Bar, which the Register called "part polished restaurant," handed its building to a pub.
- Gusto Pizza Bar's space reopened as a sports bar built for watch parties.
- A Star Lofts bay planned for a French bistro is becoming a scoop shop with a walk-up window.
Wellman's moved within the corridor. Home Sweet Cone came from Waukee and West Des Moines. The departing owners at Star Bar and Gusto both cited family and the next stage of life, and they didn't describe a struggling street. Star Bar's owner announced his successor in his closing note. Most of the spaces on this stretch are changing hands between local operators, and a short walk now has more counter-service and game-night options than it did a year ago.
For Ingersoll this fall, that means Wellman's at 2811, CCBG at 2301, and Home Sweet Cone at 2701 once it opens. We found no public announcement yet for who goes into 2920 or the last Star Lofts bay.
If you live near Ingersoll and want to know how the street's changes affect the homes around it, the team at Megan Mitchum + CO is glad to talk it through over a scoop, once Home Sweet Cone opens its window. Contact Us anytime.
