Des Moines questions (work, health, company)

[wineflight]

Does DM have a Whole Foods or equivalent?
Hike and bike trails?
Dog friendly?
Health food restaurants?

I haven't been there for over 10 yrs. and I when I did live in Iowa it was in a very small town off I80. I know DM has grown to say the least, but wondering if I can get some comforts I'm use to down south here.

Thanks!!

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by wineflight

Does DM have a Whole Foods or equivalent?
Hike and bike trails?
Dog friendly?
Health food restaurants?

I haven't been there for over 10 yrs. and I when I did live in Iowa it was in a very small town off I80. I know DM has grown to say the least, but wondering if I can get some comforts I'm use to down south here.

Thanks!!

No Whole Foods, but that company says they're going to put one here within the next year or two. There are smaller health food stores, Hy-Vee has a decent selection of organic products and of course there's organic produce at the farmer's market. You may not have a one-stop option like Whole Foods, but it's all there.

Lots of trails through the city and around the area. Polk County Conservation Board has a map of the trails, then there's some smaller ones within the city (Waterworks, Grey's Lake, etc)

Dog friendly? Sure. I can't think of any examples of it not being dog friendly, although nobody likes the person who takes their dogs to the farmer's market (for good reason). There's a dog park in WDM that I guess is kind of cool.

Health food restaurants: I guess Campbell's, which is one of the smaller health food stores I was talking about. They serve food. I think there are a few other places where you're likely to find organic/healthy food served, I'm sorry I can't think of them right now. I'll suggest A Dong, Vietnamese food, which is probably the best place for a vegan to go in this town. Sam's Egg Rolls on SW 9th is another good Vietnamese/Chinese place that not a lot of people in town know about. Good food, good dude.

[capitalcityguy]

Gateway Market (2nd location opening soon) is DSM's equilvant to Whole Foods. I'd say it is better because it is locally owned and thus not a duplicated concept you can find in any decent sized city.

Gateway Market: Central Iowa's Good Food Market in Des Moines

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

Gateway Market (2nd location opening soon) is DSM's equilvant to Whole Foods. I'd say it is better because it is locally owned and thus not a duplicated concept you can find in any decent sized city.

Gateway Market: Central Iowa's Good Food Market in Des Moines

Oh yeah, Gateway. I go there every now and then but I forgot about it for this thread. Gateway has a great selection of stuff, but it's a lot smaller than the Whole Foods I imagine (never been in one). They also have a restaurant attached to it and I highly recommend the Cuban sandwiches. The DM Register said their fries are the best in the city, but I think they're way too starchy and salty.

[wineflight]

Oh how wonderful to here about Gateway...and possibly Whole Foods. As far as "dog friendly"...I've never known a city to be so as here in TX. Most restaurant patios allow dogs. Most parks are dog friendly with no leashes and complementary doggie bags. Even some downtown shopping allow you to bring in your small dogs. I prefer no dogs when I go to patio happy hours and such but I do like to run the hike/bike trails with them. There is even a "no leash" law here now.
I'm excited to come back to DM in May and explore. Thanks so much for the information.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by wineflight

Oh how wonderful to here about Gateway...and possibly Whole Foods. As far as "dog friendly"...I've never known a city to be so as here in TX. Most restaurant patios allow dogs. Most parks are dog friendly with no leashes and complementary doggie bags. Even some downtown shopping allow you to bring in your small dogs. I prefer no dogs when I go to patio happy hours and such but I do like to run the hike/bike trails with them. There is even a "no leash" law here now.
I'm excited to come back to DM in May and explore. Thanks so much for the information.

I believe most parks have doggie bags and I think I saw some randomly downtown. We do have a leash law in parks.

As far as restaurant patios go, I don't think so. We don't really have the climate for many patios, as you probably know so it doesn't matter as much. I would hold off on bringing the dog around restaurants. I know there are a couple of bars that are somewhat dog friendly. At Hairy Mary's (RIP) there was a big dog that would sit on the barstool, which was kind of cool.

[dmguy30]

Originally Posted by El Rhino

I believe most parks have doggie bags and I think I saw some randomly downtown. We do have a leash law in parks.

As far as restaurant patios go, I don't think so. We don't really have the climate for many patios, as you probably know so it doesn't matter as much. I would hold off on bringing the dog around restaurants. I know there are a couple of bars that are somewhat dog friendly. At Hairy Mary's (RIP) there was a big dog that would sit on the barstool, which was kind of cool.

You can take them to GT's on Ingersoll. Otherwise, it's the typical stores that cater to pets. Several of the sports teams have special "dog" day events (like Iowa Stars and Iowa Cubs). You can take them to the farmers market every saturday Downtown. Also, the Downtown Community Alliance has installed special "poop" bag dispensers throughout Downtown for pet use.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by dmguy30

You can take them to GT's on Ingersoll. .

Yeah, that's the bar I had in mind. I didn't know if they only allowed regulars or pretty much anyone with a dog to bring them in.