My wife and I have been making a point to try at least one new-to-us place each month this year…read more April's pick was Baratta's, a Des Moines staple that has been part of the local dining scene for years. We went on a Thursday night and walked into a packed house. Baratta's is one of those sprawling, multi-room venues that feels like it grew one dining room at a time, and there is a lot of charm in that. The menu is equally sprawling, and we started with the Focaccia bread, which was excellent. We split the Ravioli al Forno and still had enough to bring home, which is always a good sign. A couple of things caught us off guard. The room we landed in ran loud enough to make conversation a little work, and the wine list was shorter than we expected for a place this size. Neither was a dealbreaker. Baratta's is the kind of place that has earned its reputation, and we would go back to explore more of the menu. Worth a visit if you have not been.

A Des Moines classic. Last night took me to revisit Baratta's down on South Union...a South side…read moretradition with history dating back to the 1920s. I think they've been under the current ownership since 1993. Spacious parking and I've always loved the atmosphere at Baratta's... Kind of an old school vibe, but up to date too. From the outside you can still see the evolution that happened over the years. A combination of store and home that evenutally merged together, but it's not as obvious from the inside. We were greeted right away when we walked in and were seated at a high backed booth in the bar area. If I recall the seating in the main restaurant is mostly low top tables and chairs. I didn't catch our server's name, but she was BUSY. It seemed like she working as a host, bartender, and server from what I could see. All rolled into one. And she did a fanstatic job! Drink orders were taken first and food a few minutes later after we'd had time to look over the menu. Most entrees come with bread and a side of either soup or a salad. I love their salads. All their dressing are made in house if I recall correctly. We ordered the Amaggio with chicken, the Manicotti al Formaggio with white sauce, both with side salads (blue cheese and creamy garlic), an unsweetened ice tea, and a soda (Coke products). $56ish before tip. Amaggio: "A house favorite with your choice of chicken, shrimp, or both rolled in a mixture of fresh bread crumbs and then grilled to perfection. Served over linguini with roasted red peppers and mushrooms. Topped with our Amaggio sauce made with olive oil, white wine, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, garlic and basil." Manicotti al Formaggio: "A unique blend of five cheeses including mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, asiago, and ricotta wrapped with fresh pasta and baked with your choice of red, white, or marinara." In full transparency I've never had a bad experience at Baratta's. Food or service... But that being said I can say the same about A LOT of restaurants in the metro! Some that others complain about regularly. I'm been trying to figure that out... 1. Either I'm not picky... 2. Maybe I'm very forgiving. 3. Or maybe I just choose to approach each dining experience with a positive attitude right out of the gate and it's infectious. Maybe a combination of all of the above...? It's just easier to be nice sometimes. It is what it is I guess... The food hit our table after a short wait. Bread and salads first and then the main dishes. Everything was cooked perfectly. The linguini in my Amaggio was still al dente. The chicken was delicious. Perfectly seasoned and not the least bit dry. I'm glad I left my bread to help clean my plate with. Our server checked on us regularly, we never had to ask for a refill...it was just taken care of...and Joe stopped by to check on us a couple of times too. I love seeing owners on site and interacting with their guests. That alone can bring a restaurant to a different level in my eyes. It shows accountablity that can sometimes seem absent these days. As always a great meal and an overall fantastic visit to Baratta's!

This place is setup to serve a lot of people during the lunch hour in the sky walk. I had a half…read moresandwich half soup. The soup was great with some real spicy kick to it. The sandwhich had some stale bread to it but tasted okay. Overall a great place to grab a quick bit.

Local. Best lasagna in town. Best Cajun Tuna sandwhich paired with roasted red pepper soup…read more You can't go wrong with anything on this menu. Everything is to die for but my favs are listed. Have a family get together get the pain of lasagna to bake at home. 100% a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Get the mix sauces and you might just host every holiday party at your house - not kidding this place is that good

Italian in the midwest for me is usually incredibly underwhelming. But this place is an outlier…read more Tumea & Sons aren't afraid of seasoning or garlic, the food was portioned for normal sized humans and tasted amazing. Usually I don't see Italian places offer angel hair so was happy they offered that for some of their dishes. Desserts they offered a variety of nice options such as tiramisu, lemon cake, peach dessert and more. Nice mom and pop restaurant. Speedy service too.

In town for the Junior Olympics and needed to carbo load. The place was packed on a Wednesday at 6…read morePM, but the service was still fast and friendly. The meatballs were easily some of the best I've ever had. The wedding meatball soup also hit the spot, and the Diablo pasta with shrimp and steak was delicious with a big kick of spice. I'm talking clear your sinuses SPICY. The manicotti and the bread were just okay. And the chicken tenders weirdly looked like calamari lol. The tap water had a really strange taste to it. Overall though, good portions and reasonably priced. Get the meatballs!

We came here for dinner with a reservation, which I definitely recommend making ahead of time. We…read moregot complimentary bread, which was very soft and delicious. You don't have to do the four-course meal for $60--they also let you choose just one course if you don't want to spend that much, and they give you a larger portion when you choose only one. My pasta was $22 for the Ragu Rigatoni, and my mom's was $16 for the Gnocchi Sage, which was homemade. They didn't give her a lot, but that's probably because it was handmade. It was delicious! However, I couldn't eat my pasta because they don't list the ingredients, and after taking my first bite, I realized it was pork. I don't eat pork and avoid it like the plague, so I had to spit it out. I ended up getting it to go and was disappointed that I hadn't asked about the ingredients beforehand. So, if you have any dietary restrictions, definitely make sure to ask before ordering. They packaged up our pasta for us, and the staff was very friendly. It's a cute, small restaurant with a really cool kitchen in the middle where you can watch them prepare the dishes in real time. Our waiter even left us some bread and butter in our to-go bag, which was really nice. I'd definitely come back next time I'm in town, but I'd probably try the spaghetti and pepper dish!

Lucca is one of THE best dining experiences in Des Moines. The menu design is a four course meal…read morewhere you can choose your own adventure each visit. The meal begins with a salad course followed by a pasta course. The cod cake salad was incredibly delicious! Both the gnocchi and the amatriciana were standout pastas. I had the pork ribeye which was succulent and cooked to perfection and served with a tomatillo sauce that was so tasty! Dessert is family style with an assortment of desserts for the table including a lemon cake and a tres leches cake. The service was great from start to finish including making the reservation (which I highly recommend). We were greeted the moment we walked through the door and quickly shown to our table. Since we were dining early, the venue was quiet for the first half hour or so, but diners kept coming in and by the time we left the place was hopping. It is very cozy and intimate but not so much so that you feel like other diners are on top of you or that you are listening in on their conversations. We brought our own wine, but there is a vast assortment of wines available. We enjoyed Lucca so much that we have made two future reservations already and are very much looking forward to dining with the wonderful crew there soon!

Aposto is literally the best meal I've had this year. I cannot express how f*cking delicious our…read moremeal was. The bone marrow starter was pretty good. But the PASTA I had... my GOODNESS there isn't anything else in Des Moines that even holds a candle to it. 147483919374/10 ambiance for this freakin good pasta. Also! My cocktail, the Pear Butter, was EXQUISITE. So unique and delicious :) Also our server was funny. Definitely would recommend him.

Finally got to try Aposto and at the best time too! Restaurant week at Aposto blew me away. The…read moreentire ambiance is so unique and elegant. The service and staff were friendly and welcoming. The food was also so good. Restaurant week proved they're worth visiting again.

Amazing fun place!! One of the owner's Dannie is amazing and provides an excellent hospitality…read moreexperience! The thin crust pizza has zero flop and great flavor profiles. A fun Des Moines must!

Ordered carry out at 6pm on Saturday, grubhub stated 31 mins…read more I arrived at 6:30, but waited another hour for my food. Dine in was empty. Bartender was friendly and apologetic. This was my first time at mad meatball and will be my last.

This is an old school gem! Staff is personable and friendly…read more The food is always excellent. The fried chicken is some of the best!

I finally visited Noah's Ark - I feel like you can't be a local without visiting this place at…read moreleast once! The interior and history is detailed and unique to Des Moines. I ordered the spaghetti with meat sauce and it was good, the serving size was huge! It came with salad, along with bread and butter. Next time I'm going to try the chicken Parmesan! Our server was very friendly and asked if we wanted dessert. Which I 100% recommended going for anytime you visit. Their red velvet cake is amazing!

The service is this place's only saving grace. I ordered the biscuits and gravy. The biscuits were…read morebarely baked through, but the cardinal sin was the ice cold gravy. My server was so sweet I didn't have the heart to ask her to just microwave it. Decent coffee.

Great food, service and wonderful staff. Made us feel right…read moreat home! Kevin, Sunny, Julie, Tyson and Chef were exceptional in providing service and even history lessons!

If you want great food and a really great experience in Des Moines, this is the place. We were a…read morelarge group from Austin Texas visiting our counterparts in Urbandake and they brought us here

Good morning! Good afternoon! Good evening! Whenever you are reading this...!…read more Owned by and operated by Simon Goheen. I've eaten at Simon's before, but not in quite a while. The last time may have even been before I started writing reviews... And I don't know why. If I had to pick a metro restaurant to label as magical.... Akin to how a child sees Disney... Simon's would be that spot for me. Let's start with the basics. When you arrive at Simon's you will find a small parking lot to the West of the property. There is also some street parking available on adjacent streets and in front of the restaurant. At open there will often be a line waiting outside to get into Simon's as they unlock the doors. Reservations are available for groups of 6+. Seating inside the main restaurant is booths, low top tables, and chairs, and seats at the bar. There is a waiting area one door to the West of the main restaurant... If you like photo ops the furniture and art in the waiting area are going to be right up your alley...! I love the vibe in both the restaurant and the waiting area! Dimly lit and a very relaxed feel to both spaces. It's one of those spots where you feel comfortable in shorts and polo or in a three piece suit. This time at Simon's was with a party of nine with 530 PM reservations on a Thursday evening. I was greeted right away as I walked in and two of us were already seated. I took my seat and our server introduced herself and took drink orders as we waited for the rest of our group. Two of my friends were greeted with hugs and handshakes from Simon and our server. Say you're a regualr without saying you're a regular...! I'm not going to remember everything ordered, but here's what I can remember seeing at the table... 1x Old fashioned (mine) 1x Baked artichoke dip 2x Spicy three cheese stuffed mushrooms (I'd ordered one of these) 2x Mushroom crostini 1x Garlic cheese bread 1x Vodka pasta w/ Grazianos sausage (seafood bisque on the side) 1x Chicken parmesan 1x Pork DeBurgo 1x Cordon Bleu 1x Seafood Cioppino and side salad with the house dressing (mine) 1x Shrimp & scallops 3x I have no idea... Lol Complimentary Red Velvet Cake The appetizers hit the table. It didn't seem like much time had passed after ordering, but that's how it is when you're in great company. We'd all worked together for over a decade or more and still keep in touch. Everything was spot on! I was particularly impressed with the mushroom crostini. So savory and then the contrast of the textures between the mushroom spread itself and the toast points... So good! I enjoyed my salad with the house parmesan ranch too. Soon it was on to the main show. I can only speak to my meal and a couple of shared bites. Service throughout the meal was perfect. We couldn't have asked for better. Both our server and Simon checked on us regularly and other staff was dropping by with refills and whatever else may have been needed during the course of our meal. I hadn't had a good Seafood Cioppino since Irina's took it off their menu and I was hesitant to order it knowing how good some of the other available items are at Simon's... It didn't dissapoint. Not in the slightest... The noodles were cooked perfectly and so was the shrimp and scallops. The spicy white wine and red cream sauce had a little kick, my forehead may have glistened a little, but it wasn't overwhelming. I really enjoyed this dish. My friend seated next to me offered me a bit of his Pork DeBurgo. Served in three medallions. I could have sworn it was filet mignon... Melt in your mouth tender. I would have never expected that from a pork dish! And of course I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the red velvet cake. Offered as a complimentary end to our meal. I grew up with a great red velvet cake. My mom used to make it for every birthday in our house. Hers was moist (and yes I know some people hate that word...) and the frosting was sweet. She used more of a whipped marshmallow creme frosting instead of a traditional cream cheese base, but the idea is the same. So many people dry out red velvet cake... One bite of this dessert done well brings back SO many memories. Simply said Simon's does it right. After as close to a perfect meal as I've ever had... Some of us said our goodbyes and a few of us reconvened in the waiting area to visit a little more before taking off. Simon stopped in and chatted with us. We talked about the meal, the art on the walls, the recent changes to the waiting area itself... He was the perfect host and is everything you want to see in a business owner! Personable, attentive, and someone who realizes that the key to a successful business is doing things the right way...consistently.

Went to a wedding where said they could cater pizza and salad to 250 guests. It was horrible!!!…read moreThey had no way of keeping the pizza hot!!! They just brought boxed pizzas in and stacked them on a table. For the time it takes to feed that many people the food was cold!! They ran out of plates so guests were using napkins for their plate. And they said they would bring the nice plastic plates NOT!! They also said they would set up and CLEAN UP NOT!!! Once again they lied!! Food and messy plates were stacked everywhere!!! NEVER HAVE THEM CATER!!! When they were asked if they could accommodate that large a job they should have said NO!!!!

Went to a wedding at Willow on Grand and the served Scorno's Pizza. It was cold, they ran out of…read moreplates and was a disaster for the brides family paying.