restaurants in Ames are good, not great, so lower your expectations, as I have over the years. Come instead expecting to hang out with fun Iowa folks. Hickory Park is fun for the atmosphere, not the food. Wallaby’s has a nice scene (for Ames) and a nice upstairs patio and decent food.
The Cafe and Aunt Mauds are what locals would call “fancy”. I like Provisions Lot F on Airport Road, food is decent. In all three cases think Charleston’s (if that’s still open down there). Jethroes is well liked here, but it’s Kansas City style, thin cut and with burnt ends, different from Texas bbq.
Cornbread in downtown gets my vote for best BBQ in Ames. If you’ve never had BBQ in Texas, then it’s excellent. Beer at Torrent Brewery in downtown is pretty good, and there are usually decent food trucks in parking lot.
Most bars are in Campus Town on Lincoln Way near Welch Ave. we do have a Fuzzy’s now, if you crave something from home. Lots of pizza joints around town.
By the way, most servers love when TCU comes to town, locals don’t tip anywhere near as well as Texans (if at all).