Iowa’s best athletes may not be “corn fed” so much as barbecue fed. Before games and after them, teams across the state, including the Iowa Hawkeyes, Iowa State Cyclones and Drake Bulldogs, count on Jethro’s BBQ, the Des Moines barbecue group founded by Bruce Gerleman, to keep their players fueled.
In a conversation on The Iowa Podcast, Heather Henderson, Jethro’s Director of Operations, and Ivan Chavez, its Executive Chef, gave a behind-the-scenes look at how the catering side of the business has become a fixture in Iowa athletics.
A standing order, week after week
“We did Drake basketball last night… and the Iowa Hawkeye football team,” Henderson said. “That is a standing catering at least once a week, if not twice.”
For the Hawkeyes, that means custom menus each week with multiple proteins, pastas and starches, served from up to ten full warming trays. Chavez and his team haul the food in two vans packed with hot boxes. “We bring around 12 to 14 boxes every time,” he said.
440 sandwiches in an hour
The numbers add up fast. Henderson said Jethro’s has averaged about 165 meals for the Hawkeyes, and 220 for Michigan State when the visiting team needed to be fed. For Michigan State, the crew prepared and wrapped 440 sandwiches in a single hour, along with sides and dessert.
“It’s an assembly line,” Henderson said. “All of our stuff is fresh and made that day.”
And yes, the stories about athletes’ appetites are true, especially for linebackers. “They come back sometimes like two or three times,” Chavez said. Players often fill one box with pasta and another with proteins.
That kind of service happens on tight timelines and under changing conditions, and the repeat orders reflect the trust these programs place in the Jethro’s team.
“The answer is always yes”
The same crew that feeds a football team can also scale down to a private dinner for 15. For in-home events, Henderson described setting up on a host’s kitchen counter, serving the guests and cleaning everything up “like we were never there.” One host called the experience “elegant.”
Henderson and Chavez sum up their approach simply: “The answer is always yes.” That mindset has taken Jethro’s catering across Iowa, including to remote lakefront locations with no cell service.
A little help from Splash
Jethro’s catering can also draw on its sister restaurant, Splash Seafood Bar & Grill, another of Bruce Gerleman’s downtown Des Moines restaurants. That means menus can stretch past barbecue to dishes like lobster mac, or even the TikTok-famous Dorito pasta.
“If Ivan can’t do it, someone on the team can,” Henderson said. “We have all the resources.”
She added a challenge of her own: “I would challenge somebody to give me something that I would say no to.”
Hear the full conversation
Henderson and Chavez share more about the Jethro’s catering operation in their full interview with host Justin Brady on The Iowa Podcast: Inside the BBQ Powerhouse Feeding Iowa’s Athletes.
To learn more about the restaurateur behind Jethro’s and Splash, visit About Bruce Gerleman.
Related: Splash earns Wine Spectator’s 2026 Award of Excellence · Splash’s Wicked feature menu with Chef Ryan Baber · BBQ that gives back: Jethro’s late-summer community campaigns
