Good news, Darling to leave spotlight and return as Nothing Major
For years, getting into Good News, Darling felt like you were being let in on a secret. The 26‑seat cocktail parlor — tucked behind Hello, Marjorie, dimly lit and deliberately small — became one of Des Moines’ most quietly influential bars, known for high‑concept cocktails and mood over madness. This summer, that chapter comes to an end.
Nick Tillinghast, the owner of Des Moines Does Things, confirmed that Good News, Darling will move and reemerge in summer 2026 as an entirely new concept in the Equitable Building under a new name: Nothing Major.
The new bar will open at 608 Locust St., next door to Des Moines Athletic Club, and the format will shift dramatically. Instead of reservations and restrained pacing, Nothing Major will lean playful and casual, serving cocktails, slushes and small‑batch ice cream, with late‑night dessert baked into the plan.
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“If anyone asks,” Tillinghast joked in a recent post, teasing the understated name and signaling a tonal pivot from the precision‑driven Good News, Darling model.
A downstairs empire in the Equitable Building
The move is part of something much larger. As of this spring, Tillinghast’s group controls all of the west‑side storefronts on the first floor of the Equitable Building, a block-long stretch that now houses Des Moines Athletic Club, a prep kitchen, a home office — and space for at least one more new bar with a late‑night dessert component.
Buildouts are slated to begin within weeks, and the consolidation marks a decade‑long arc for Tillinghast, who has lived in and operated out of the iconic downtown building for years.
“Ten years ago the goal was to revive a neighborhood,” he wrote. “We’re getting there.”
Hello, Marjorie features a pink LED light with the Jack Kerouac quote, "The prettiest girls in the world live in Des Moines," at 717 Locust St. Here's how the cocktail lounge looked on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Des Moines.
From speakeasies to sports bars
Tillinghast’s career tracks the evolution of Des Moines’ cocktail culture itself. He opened Hello, Marjorie in 2017 in the former Register & Tribune building, creating a midcentury‑inspired lounge named after his grandmother that would eventually land on USA TODAY’s Bars of the Year list and help redefine expectations for cocktail bars in Iowa.
Inside Good News, Darling, a new cocktail bar, behind Hello Marjorie in Des Moines.
Behind it came Good News, Darling in 2021, conceived as a place to take risks — weird ingredients, two‑course cocktails, strict capacity limits — and operate without worrying about scale.
Secret Admirer, a new bar opening in a historic boiler house building at 110 S.W. Fifth in Des Moines.
That same year, Tillinghast expanded in the opposite direction with Secret Admirer, an airy cocktail bar and patio built inside a former 1900 boiler house near Principal Park. The bar opened in August 2021 and quickly became a summer staple, known as much for its skyline‑framed patio as for its approachable drinks.
The bar and seating at Des Moines Athletic Club on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Des Moines.
Then came a pivot many didn’t expect: Des Moines Athletic Club, which opened in the Equitable Building in late 2025. It’s a sports bar — but in Tillinghast’s vocabulary — with fewer taps, better glassware and cocktails priced deliberately lower than his lounge concepts to encourage staying awhile.
Letting Bellhop go — and ideas that didn’t stick
Not every idea stayed. Tillinghast sold the East Village tiki bar Bellhop in early 2022, citing a desire to consolidate ownership and focus on long‑term fit rather than constant expansion. Bellhop had opened in 2019 and introduced Des Moines to high‑concept tiki drinks before tiki fully saturated the market.
He also once planned a Japanese listening-room-style bar called Do Not Disturb, envisioned for the East Village, in the space now occupied by The Contrary. That project was publicly scrapped in 2022 before buildout began, another example of ideas evolving — or being abandoned — as priorities shifted.
What about Eggroll Ladies?
With the Equitable Building storefronts changing hands, questions have surfaced about tenants. Eggroll Ladies closed at 604 Locust St., Suite 104, moving to a food truck operation that will crisscross the state.
What’s left behind — and what’s next
The end of Good News, Darling, as it exists now, will sting for fans of moody rooms and meticulously strange drinks. But Nothing Major suggests something looser, louder and more forgiving — a reflection of where downtown nightlife has moved post‑pandemic and where Tillinghast seems increasingly comfortable placing his bets.
Owning the block gives him freedom: to experiment, to fail smaller and to think in ecosystems rather than one‑off bars. If Good News, Darling was about how far you could push a cocktail, Nothing Major looks like a question of how much fun you can have letting go.
And in a neighborhood that’s taken a decade to wake up, that might be the biggest shift yet.
Hello, Marjorie owner Nick Tillinghast stands near a painted portrait of his grandmother Marjorie, the namesake for the bar, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Des Moines.
Nick Tillinghast’s bars, explained
Hello, Marjorie
Opened 2017, Downtown Des Moines
The foundation. Named for Tillinghast’s grandmother, Hello, Marjorie helped kick off Des Moines’ modern cocktail era with midcentury style, classic‑leaning drinks and a lived‑in, living‑room feel. It’s the most recognizable of his bars, nationally recognized and still the anchor of his downtown footprint.
Good News, Darling
Opened 2021, behind Hello, Marjorie
The experiment. A 26‑seat cocktail parlor designed for creative freedom: unusual ingredients, multi‑course drinks, strict capacity limits and a moody, speakeasy‑like atmosphere. Beloved by cocktail nerds, it was never meant to scale — and will close in its current form before reemerging as a new concept in summer 2026.
Secret Admirer
Opened 2021
The patio bar. Built inside a former boiler house, Secret Admirer trades dim lighting for sunshine and greenery, with a breezier cocktail list and one of downtown’s most coveted outdoor spaces. It’s seasonal by nature and designed for lingering.
Des Moines Athletic Club
Opened late 2025
The neighborhood play. Tillinghast’s take on a sports bar prioritizes design, sightlines and quality drinks over volume and novelty. Cocktails are intentionally cheaper than at his lounges, aiming for approachability rather than exclusivity.
Nothing Major (coming summer 2026)
The next chapter. Replacing Good News, Darling, this new bar will focus on cocktails, frozen drinks, and small‑batch ice cream, with a casual, late‑night dessert angle — signaling a looser, more playful direction.
Details: 608 Locust St., Des Moines
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Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at [email protected].
