The best 10 restaurants and places to eat in Des Moines, May 2024

Leslie Spahr

Kfc

70/100 (4157 ratings)

"Food was hot and fresh expect for the fries. Order was accurate. The guy who took my order and girl who greeted me at the window were very friendly...."

Kelli Brooker

"The late night employees were friendly and got stuff made quick, even though I got there 15 minutes till closing they still had great..."

Vahpour

"Food was ready very quick, and hot-fresh. Would visit this location..."

David Presher

Anthony's Homeport Des Moines

78/100 (4000 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

Centro Restaurant

74/100 (3732 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"Perfect lunch spot when you want something more than the fast casual lunch spots. Great place for business lunches, or meetings at the bar. I had the..."

Chantelle Cadek

"My best friend and I wanted to go somewhere different during our weekend away and Centro was recommended. I am so glad we went. For starters, we were..."

Taylor Trost

"We had a reservations at another restaurant for nine people celebrating a birthday. . We waited at that place for at least a half hour and still no..."

Dustin Shingledecker

"My girlfriend has always wanted to come here! She loves pizza! Little pizza big pizza tall pizza short pizza I'm calling all pizza ! Every body..."

Dexx King

"I have not actually eaten IN Centro yet, but attended a wedding there and have gotten take out salads. The bruschetta at wedding was the best i have..."

Marianne Satinsky

"Great place to dine. It has good food, good wine, excellent..."

Rodney Pope

"Our server was excellent! I got the Centro calzone and it was so flaky and..."

Kimberly Martin

"I had a pasta dish, perfectly al dente, homemade and thus so flavorful. Sausages just wonderful, spiced perfectly. Excellent service and..."

Sue Petry

"Our waitress was the best ever. She seemed to come to our table at just the right time with more drinks or just to check on us. The food was good..."

Eugene Schultze

"Food was delicious and waiter was so awesome. I will be back to eat..."

Cindy Trujillo Street

"The food, staff and atmosphere was excellent. Our server was..."

Jacque Bokhoven Zondervan

"It was beautiful atmosphere, the food was nicely portioned, and the menu was great. Cooked well. I would say the food still could have been better,..."

Madelyn

"Solid 4.6 Star dining experience. I had to really nitpick to find anything wrong with our meal. Our service was excellent. The server explained the..."

Adam Lau

"Awesome experience. Italian pasta and pizza. The free garlic bread is absolutely delicious. One of my favorite places to eat in town. Perfect for..."

Matt Sievers

"I tried it once before covid and both pasta dishes weren't up to our standards. However I just visited again for the half priced pizza and both the..."

Yvonne Huang

"Sooooo good! Their meals are large, not family style, but close...and this is the lunch portion. Pair with a salad or appetizer to easily feed 2..."

Greg B

"Wow .. what an amazing dinner .. awesome staff .. really cool atmosphere..definitely a must do if you're in the area ....."

slim pickins

Kfc

71/100 (3651 ratings)

"KFC on Merle Hay is my favorite! University KFC could take some lessons! And my drive-thru clerk was friendly & full of..."

Dan Johnson

Spaghetti Works

70/100 (3612 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"This was a cute Italian diner type of experience. It's in a great location with a lot happening. The service was a little inconsistent between..."

Nick Chill

"Walked in on a whim. Planning to go to another restaurant near here, but I'm glad I went to Spaghetti Works instead. I was not familiar with many of..."

Richard Doyle

"Food good. Atmosphere good. People good. Salad bar good. They have plenty of variety and can basically get any pasta dish any way you want it. Kids..."

Jason Smethers

"I am absolutely in love! The food is so amazing, and it was surprisingly cheap with how well their quality was. I got the build your own pasta where..."

Icesis Overlin

"Spaghetti works is one of my favorite places to eat whenever I am in the Des Moines area. It's in the middle of downtown in the perfect place. If..."

Charles Williams

"Always like coming here. Staff is friendly and for the amount of food you get it is well worth it. Nice place to sit with family. Love their..."

Maddox Bago

Fong's Pizza

75/100 (3418 ratings)

Smitty's Tenderloin Shop

83/100 (3411 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"We had supper here last night, fantastic food and service!!!! Tenderloins were delicious and huge, cheesy bacon fries were awesome!! We would..."

Lyn Ross Pickett

"Was there during the week. From Long Island and only my first tenderloin sandwich..Awesome although the King was so big It was a bit tough for me to..."

Michael Sacco

"I grew up in Iowa and have lived in Hawaii for the past 36 years. Every trip back to Iowa I head straight to Smitty's from the airport. I'll be..."

John Toillion

"You will never have a Tenderloin this great in Des Moines or any place..."

Kenny Phipps

"The Tenderloin is sooooo D-E-L-I-O-U-S!!! The environment was sooooo BAD!!!!!!!! even though there were decent and nutritious food. It was Sooooo..."

Maria Bui Nguyen

"Excellent experience! Great food! Super friendly staff! Can’t believe we haven’t been here before..."

Kassey Fehrmann

"Awesome, huge tenderloins and very friendly down-home type service. Can’t believe it’s taken me so long to try this place. One of my new..."

Carlene Lutz

"Best pork tenderloin EVER !! Friendly staff. Nostalgic “50”s..."

Nanci Gowell Blanchard

"This place is the best in the Midwest. Everything was just..."

Michael Chartier

"First time to Smitty's. Brother lives in WDM, and so my dad, my brother and myself went to check it out. We all got the tenderloins with fries..."

Kevin Taco Moore

"Best tenderloin I have had. Onion rings were great as well. We will definitely be coming back to eat. Customer service was the best I have had in..."

Kasey Thomas

"Loved this little slice of heaven in Des Moines, tenderloin done perfectly with homemade onion rings and a malt. Yummy!..."

Corey Hapgood

"This place is great, unbelievably tender pork tenderloins! One redeeming thing about Des..."

Ken Burns

801 Chophouse

89/100 (3409 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"Oh my. I am glad I set this restaurant for a very important business meeting. Why? Because everything was perfect. Excellent service, amazing food,..."

Ted Phillips

"Dinner last night was fantastic. They stayed open late for our group of people. Service was top notch, the food came out fast, hot, and..."

Andrew Ungs

"Have taken my wife here the last two years for her birthday and have absolutely loved it! Thank you to the staff for making the occasion so special..."

Michael E Davies

"Great service. Amazing..."

Alexis Dawson

"One of the best meals I've ever experienced, staff was..."

TJ Wermers

"Best Restaurant in town. ..."

Matt Overton

"Best staff best food in the..."

Todd Petrowsky

"The food was amazing. The wine list was overwhelming with options. The server was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful with delicious suggestions...."

Brad Pollock

"Let's start with the giant seafood bowl, all of the seafood was amazing and on point. The lobster was incredible and the oysters were amazing and the..."

Tony Chiappetta

"I’ve Been to 801 right at about 10 times now. Couple times as a large group, but mostly just with my wife or another couple. Out of all of the..."

Blake Overton Mortgage Team

"Sat at the bar and Drew made me feel right at home! This is a classic steakhouse--wood panels, awesome bar, great beef offerings with shareable..."

Tony Davis

"Okay, I can honestly say that this is one of my very favorite restaurants in all my travels all across the United States. Keep in mind it's pricey...."

Doug Griffiths

"Our second visit and just as memorable as the first. This is a truly wonderful restaurant. Food, service, ambience: all great. Our server, Zach, was..."

Richard Greensted

"I’m super sad I didn’t take more pictures of this amazing place. We came for a birthday date and everything was perfect! Our sever Zack was..."

Megan Ratliff-Rader

"Could rave for days about my experience. Collin our server deserves more than whatever he's paid!! He was prompt, super helpful and very welcoming...."

Layla Sollazzo

Smokey Row Coffee Co.

88/100 (3401 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"Best coffee house ever! All of my out-of-town friends and family can't wait to go to Smokey Row when they visit. Ever tried their Andes Mint Pie? ..."

Carrie Elzey Wray

Django Restaurant

91/100 (3281 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"Menu items that are to die for: Grilled Niman Ranch Pork Chops: 2 giant pork chops served over a sweet potato hash. Recommend medium cooking..."

Kira Barker

"We were looking for a new place to add to our mix for dinner and cocktails. We had been recommended by several people to give it a shot and we were..."

Tom Hudson

"We made a reservation when it was announced that Django was closing. Our dinner last night was one of the best we have had. Our favorite server Lou..."

Kathy Rae Ritzler

"I went there this weekend for my Anniversary and the food was amazing, and we had a wonderful waiter! We had Fried Calamari, and the mussels Diablo..."

Courtney Anderson

"My husband and I celebrated our Anniversary at Django last evening and had the best service!! From wine & cheese platter at the bar to the service..."

Sarah Beth Kessler

"A favorite restaurant anywhere I travel. When I’m in town, this is a must visit spot. There are so many fantastic things to try here, however, the..."

Scott S. Waschitz

"We enjoyed an excellent meal and unique mixed drinks. Many wonderful options. Our server, Taylor, was awesome - very friendly &..."

Tami Jo Wagner Pink

"I think is a great place. To bad it is closing Grandson Charles took good care of me. The staff & patrons were very friendly.😀 Three cheers for..."

Patricia Gunville

"Great unique food with an amazing flavor profile! You can tell they pick fresh ingredients and do not take any short cuts. The waiter was amazing...."

Danie Marie Bowman Kramme

"Went to Django tonight, and it was beyond amazing! I DO NOT ever write reviews but I couldn't not say something about how amazing our waitress, Kira,..."

Janelle Ellis Ordway

"Amazing food and service. Waitress was very knowledgeable with the wine and oysters. The duck and scallops were perfect. And cheesecake also..."

Dawn Filson

"Perfect circumstance, Perfect dishes, and Perfect server. Those three combo are matched with my favor. I strongly recommend this place for your..."

IOWA COWBOY

"Visited Iowa in Oct.2021. We were trying new cuisine and was led to this place. The outer and inner appearance of the restaurant was hip and cool,..."

Kimberly Hawkins

"All of the food was honestly incredible ranging from the appetizers: bread and cheese plate and crispy onion rings to the entree: salmon to the..."

Cat Powell

"Delicious food, nice staff, good atmosphere. Waitress forgot to get us one of our drinks so she comped a dessert for us; that made us feel valued...."

Ben Glover

"Great food, drinks, and service during our first time here! Updated - our second time here in sept 2021 was equally as great! We tried new foods..."

Dave Donahue

"Came in to just have drinks while waiting on a dinner reservation at another restaurant. To my surprise, the place was so nice. Sat at the bar to..."

Carolyn Cacal

California Burrito Taco Shop

83/100 (3263 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"If you’ve ever moved from California, Nevada, or Arizona, you need to eat here. This is the Mexican food that you’ve been missing. Straight up..."

Sergio Jimenez JR

"I did like the food and the service is good place is clean . I love the taco salad best food in..."

Gustavo Yoc Aguilar

"Good food at a great value! Love the Chile Relleno jumbo burrito or the..."

John Ng

"Washington burrito is to die for. Both literally and..."

Kevin Olortegui

"This is one of the restaurants I can count on for being consistent and good. It doesn't matter if I am ordering lunch for myself or 100 people, the..."

Chris Perkins

Kfc

70/100 (3215 ratings)

"KFC is awesome I love kfc I wanna go there right now , the food here is pretty good this place is very easy to find , there's plenty of parking..."

Bella Official

"Just did drive through, the chicken was good but the mash potatoes were runny and the slaw had way to much juice. Should be better for..."

BB RagMan

Hy Vee Market Cafe

90/100 (3116 ratings)

"We shop at this Hy-Vee regularly. The staff is great and helpful. From the employees stocking shelves if I'm unable to find something, to the meat..."

Kelly Callison

"We absolutely loved the catfish dinners we had, it was so delicious! Our waiter and waitress Logan and Hannah are so friendly and made our dinner so..."

Felecia Gallardo Clark

"It's a great place to shop friendly people great food good Bargains I couldn't imagine going anywhere..."

Brenda Todd

"First time to visit Market Cafe everyone was really friendly. We had a great waitress named Autumn. We will diffently be back because the food was..."

William Smith

"I contacted the store manager Tonia about catering food for our graduation. She was absolutely wonderful and bent over backwards to help. We ended up..."

Kari Palmer Osborne

"The staff is friendly and helpful. They have a wide..."

Michael David Adams

"We worked with the Euclid Ave Hy-Vee in November 2017 and chose them to cater our wedding at the Science Center. The Catering Manager, Ashley Guthrie..."

Jenna Kramer

"I love this Hy Vee! I was raised grocery shopping every Saturday am at Hy Vee . Have since moved to Illinois and no such store here! My family..."

Michelle Gillespie Beckman

"Employees are friendly and efficient, food is fresh and never outdated, the store and parking lot are always clean and I save a lot of money by..."

Denise White

Mcdonald's

70/100 (3023 ratings)

"I normally go through drive through between 6-8 am , no matter who’s at each window , they are always nice and my order is always hot and..."

C.C Cox

"They are the best. Friendly, and they seem to mc love it working there...."

Courtney Jones

Kfc

70/100 (2975 ratings)

"Fantastic!! Store is spotless, orders being filled in orderly fashion. Excellent service!! For restaurants having issues in this post pandemic era..."

Bigg Joe

"The Euclid store did a wonderful job today! Kudos to the manager for leading a great staff 👏. Please, keep up the good..."

Mark Marquez

"Normally I do not have a problem but tonight 1/27/2022 was horrible. The potatoes tasted like bleach water tasted horrible and some chicken was not..."

Amanda Bradley

"I love their MD Sweet Lightning. Chicken's not bad either. At least they don't screw up your order like..."

charlene chanen

Mcdonald's

70/100 (2933 ratings)

"Carson, Emma and a couple others that have yet to learn their names are fantastic at their jobs. However next time I hear another employee insulting..."

Carol Jochims-Barger

Mcdonald's

70/100 (2917 ratings)

"I am not typically motivated to immediately log in and leave a review for anyone, but I've been to this McDonald's my entire life and this morning's..."

Victoria Cory

"Great McDonalds. There was me, my son and grandson. Had a great..."

Dee L Ewing

"The staff here is definitely a lot more friendly than the East University location, and the play place is definitely an added bonus for our little..."

J fmdevil

"Ordered a ICED caramel macchiato one morning, got hot, realized as soon as I pulled away from drive through, so I went back to drive through window,..."

Celeste Oney

High Life Lounge

90/100 (2892 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"The best place in Des Moines for comfort food. The ambience can best be described as 1970's bowling alley chic. Broasted chicken, tator tots, fried..."

Sharon Grace Dunlop

"The chicken definitely lives up to its reputation as the best. Have never tasted better. Meatloaf is good too! 20 beers on tap. Made a special stop..."

Douglas Coffey

"Went there on St Patrick’s day so it was packed but a great atmosphere. Food came out fast and hot even with the insane amount of people there...."

Angela Cozad

"Great food, quick service, can never go wrong with bacon jalapeno wrapped tater..."

Justin Moorhead

"Good place to eat but wish they had cold glasses for the draft beer..."

Michael Allen Sr.

"Great food and great service. The waitress was very friendly and made sure we had adequate refills, etc. The food was hot, fresh, and tasted..."

Rachel Beach

"What a treasure Des Moines has! The staff was friendly, the drinks were delicious, loved the raspberry tang, and the food was comfort food like Mom..."

Nicole Sawyer

"Hot Beef Sandwich. You don’t need a menu, just order it. The other food is great too, but you can’t go wrong with the Hot Beef. DAMN!!! Regina..."

Marcus Littleton

"Great Casual hang out, bacon wrapped tots were killin it as always. Had the Elvis dip for the first time... btw it's not spicey at all but it's a..."

Derek Martinez

"Best place in town. Great staff and reasonable prices. Awesome..."

Matt Edwards

"Had the spam sandwich and loved it. Great place with a ton of food..."

Allen Diel

"We Had a great time a real throwback to the 70s The chicken was great and so was the bacon wrapped tater tot’s perfect late night snack after a..."

Dale Thompson Jr.

"Hands down one of the most chill bar in Des Moines. Ryan our bartender was excellent, he’s a cool dude…very kind and hospitable and he makes the..."

Philipo

"This is a really fun place to grab a bite to eat and a drink. The High Life Lounge is a great restaurant and I love that it is open until 11pm. My..."

Caraleena

"Came here for lunch as I was staying across the street at the Marriott. I had the broasted chicken. Being from Houston, I had never heard of it. But..."

Dell Thomas

"As a loyal High Life drinker, I had to go here. Loved the ambiance of the place! Had the bacon wrapped tots and they did not disappoint! So, good I..."

Josh Sterling

"Comfort food at it finest! Where else can you grab a chicken pot pie that’s better than mom made? I highly recommend the pizza puff- it will..."

Real Advantage Partners Real Estate Team

"Ice cold beer on tap and the bacon wrapped tator tots were even better than advertised. The broasted chicken was very juicy and tender as..."

Mo Dizzle

"Very pleased! Food was delicious, as well as timely! This was actually our second stop due to a long wait time at a previous diner. Thank you for..."

James Ehrlich

Mcdonald's

70/100 (2876 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

Dinner

Lunch

Cheap Eats

"I appreciate the friendly and efficient staff at the drive through during the lunch hours. Keep up the good..."

Nancy Harvey Miller

"I love the culture at this location. The homeless people are always..."

Jarret Coon

"I love this McDonald's and the management. The Smoothies are fantastic and they haven't gotten my order..."

Steven Levy

Malo

81/100 (2794 ratings)

Accepts American Express

Table Service

Wheelchair Accessible

"I went to dinner with my brother on a Sunday evening. The patio was pretty busy. The service was great and the food was delicious!! I highly..."

Kelli Enos

"Excellent place for eating and get some drinks. I loved the music, the attention was spectacular. 100% recommended..."

Egleys Frank Dorante Gomez

"This was our second visit…four of us. I had the chicken taco and the steak taco. Came with some of my favorite Malo Fries. Loved it. It was half..."

Todd Schmidt

"When visiting Des Moines, this by far was arguably the best restaurant we ate at! I would highly recommend! Service was good and the food was great!..."

Ryan Duckworth

"Absolutely love this eatery. The Dos Pescados was muy delicioso! I really want to give my experience 3 ⭐️ because the bar service was absolutely..."

Jamie C.

"Delicious seafood nachos! I ordered a small appetizer as an entree. Best I've ever had! 😋 My husband got the #17. He said it was very good, but..."

Adrianna Elzinga

"We were able to sit outside and our server by Megan B. We were both super hungry and I was very indecisive!! We added on the queso and gauc to the..."

Tracey Rabjohns

"My first food stop in Iowa was to take a solo walk to get tacos at Malo. This one was a home run at my first at-bat as a Des Moines rookie. Wow. I..."

patbubo

"This was my 2nd time here! The food was great I always get carnitas they're so good! Meat was tender with lots of flavor! I got a strawberry..."

Shawna Lindell

Eatery/a

85/100 (2764 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

"Best pizza I've had in town. The hummus is perfect, which is rare. We had a reservation and were seated very quickly. It was very crowded so I don't..."

B Rice

"Literally the best pizza I’ve ever had. When I went in November they were doing half off during happy hour. Absolutely worth it and I promise you..."

Lauren Wieland

"We had the hummus as our appetizer, pizza #16 and the lamb gyro. All were delicious. We specially loved the fresh baked pita bread and the pickles on..."

Saman Ghazvini

"[December] We love our Dinner Club! It's an eclectic group formed with one or two degrees of separation, all with a love for good food and great..."

Elisha Birkenholtz

"We had a great variety of different flavors. I was impressed with the execution of Mediterranean and Italian dishes. We had Octopus, Meatballs,..."

Geno Benshoof

"Cannot say enough good things about this place. Walked in to LCD Soundsystem bumping through the speakers which was excellent. We went during happy..."

Katie Gerlach

"Service needs to have more customer service skills, be more attentive and at least fake that they are happy to greet and/or help customers. It took..."

Ana Chavarria

Iowa Beef Steak House

85/100 (2764 ratings)

Wheelchair Accessible

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Andrew Sayasane

Gustavo Camacho

Cindy Green

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Nicholas S. Czerniewski

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kaylee dean

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Chris Ellis

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tyler mitchell

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damarcus ogletree

Judi Roux-Bohn

Leslie Spahr

Kelli Brooker

Vahpour

David Presher

Chantelle Cadek

Taylor Trost

Dustin Shingledecker

Dexx King

Marianne Satinsky

Rodney Pope

Kimberly Martin

Sue Petry

Eugene Schultze

Cindy Trujillo Street

Jacque Bokhoven Zondervan

Madelyn

Adam Lau

Matt Sievers

Yvonne Huang

Greg B

slim pickins

Dan Johnson

Nick Chill

Richard Doyle

Jason Smethers

Icesis Overlin

Charles Williams

Maddox Bago

Lyn Ross Pickett