City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 2721 Ingersoll Ave.
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 2925 Ingersoll Ave.
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
19. MARS CAFe
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (515) 369-6277
Address: 2318 University Ave.
Description: Drake University students and neighborhood residents patronize this cafe for coffee and conversation, and it’s also one of the city’s better-kept secrets for Saturday or Sunday brunch. The menu is simple but fun and tasty: French toast is made with good, thick challah bread and comes with a selection of toppings, including berries, bananas, or chocolate. The ham and eggs have a twist: lavender Dijon (it’s an acquired taste). Sandwiches and salads are also on the menu. The high-ceilinged, art-hung interior is also the perfect spot to grab a favorite drink and take in the scene. In addition to coffee drinks, beer and wine are available, and the espresso shakes are thick, creamy, and delicious.
20. RITUAL CAFe
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (515) 288-4872
Address: 1301 Locust St.
Description: Looking for a hippie-ish coffee spot in Des Moines? This is the place, with the requisite Tibetan prayer flags and tie-dyed decor. It also whips up some tasty basic breakfasts, like oatmeal, eggs, bagels, and yogurt with hemp granola. There’s also sandwiches like hummus with vegetables and a veggie po’boy with grilled peppers, onions, and marinated artichoke hearts. Hot drinks include the usual spread of mochas, cappuccinos, and other coffee options, as well as Cafe Cubano and Yerba Mate. Beer and wine, too, as well as smoothies packed with healthy stuff like protein powder and Vita Boost. Closed Sunday.
21. SMOKEY ROW COFFEE HOUSE & SODA FOUNTAIN
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (515) 244-2611
Address: 1910 Cottage Grove Ave.
Description: Look for the old-fashioned blue neon sign outside this bustling joint just off I-235, straddling the dividing line between the Western Gateway and Ingersoll Avenue neighborhoods in the shadow of a redbrick church bell tower. Sunlight streams through the full-length plateglass windows and into the high-ceilinged rooms. In addition to a wide selection of coffee and tea drinks, there’s a full menu of salads and sandwiches, including burgers and panini, as well as ice cream treats like sundaes, shakes, and phosphates. Breakfast is served all day, with egg sandwiches, quiche, and giant cinnamon rolls among the offerings.
22. ZANZIBAR’S COFFEE ADVENtURE
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (515) 244-7694
Address: 2723 Ingersoll Ave.
Description: A narrow little coffeehouse with some strong java. Their daily fresh blend might include coffee from New Guinea, Ethiopia, Hawaii, or points even farther. The selection of blended drinks has international touches as well, like a Mocha Mex with Mexican spiced hot chocolate, espresso, and steamed milk. There’s a small breakfast menu with dishes like Eggs Expresso, which are steamed in the espresso machine and come out light and fluffy. With plants in the corners, stained glass in the windows, and a pressed-tin ceiling, there’s a funky little vibe, and it’s a nice spot to sit over coffee, even if tables are a little small.
23. MACCABEE’S DELI
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (515) 277-1718
Address: 1150 Polk Blvd.
Description: A corner of Brooklyn has landed in this cramped sandwich shop in a west-side residential neighborhood, on the first floor of a brick building housing the Iowa Lubavitch. Corned beef, pastrami, and other meats are piled high and hot on rye bread. For hungry eaters there are one-third-pound sandwiches, and for the truly decadent, try the Whole Megillah, with two-thirds of a pound of meat! Side dishes include good potato salad and coleslaw. Add a knish and a Dr. Brown’s soda from the cooler, and you’re all set.
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 2843 Ingersoll Ave.
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 1007 Locust St.
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 6163 NW 86th St.
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 208 Court Ave.
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 6587 University Ave.
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Restaurants
Address: 2724 Ingersoll Ave.