A great Des Moines staple I finally got to try. I was even more excited when I saw it's an actual dining car! It was bigger than I expected and they have a screened in patio! I had the grilled cheese with fries because I'm 5. The grilled cheese had 3 cheeses on sourdough. It was excellent! The fries were the fat caterpillars of deliciousness that I love. I also had a piece of the signature chocolate cake. It was the size of my to go box and I couldn't have loved it any more! It was everything you dream of before biting into chocolate cake! The atmosphere was very homey and our waitress Jenn was excellent. She was speedy, efficient and very friendly. I'm definitely going back because so many things looked awesome. Get yourself into the Drake Diner and don't forget the cake! read more

Drake Diner - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

old school shake had me in love. i can't wait to go back. the atmosphere was awesome.

Great food and professional service! It is the original and everything it should be. Biscuits and gravy awesome, corned beef hash the best. read more

Awesome hash browns! Good sausage and bacon! Great service! Nostalgic place. Comfortable seating.

The go to place for breakfast. Not sure about other dishes because I have only eaten breakfast there a 100 times.

Solid, reliable food. Service sometimes hit or miss, tends to be better in the mornings. Ambience is classic Drake neighborhood. Iconic place, worth a stop. read more

I wanted to try this place out as it has come highly recommended; sadly I was a bit underwhelmed. Beautiful building and the wait staff were amazing. The food and coffee? Id rather make my own. I ordered a cup of coffee and a denver omelette which came with hashbrowns and toast. The coffee tasted burnet and the omelette had undercooked veggies inside and lacked flavor. Hash browns were dry, burnt, and overly salted. It all looked DELICIOUS but I was deceived because the pictures look better than it was. Cool place to hang out, but will definitely not be my go to breakfast place. read more

Drake Diner - Denver omelette - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Drake diner is consistently good. The food selection is fantastic and everything my husband and I have had there has been fresh and delicious. The service is also amazing. Drake diner is actually one of our favorite breakfast spots! read more

Great classic diner. Foods great. Atmosphere is great too yum yummy very tasty good flavor texture taste wow!

Nice diner spot of the Drake campus. There was a great variety of food and the service was good. The blue cheese burger was very good, as it is a staple to the restaurant. Recommend for a great meal. read more

Drake Diner - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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first of all, everything looked and tasted frozen. service was great and friendly, but it was not very clean in there at all. all of the carbonated drinks my family ordered were flat and warm, food was not good at all. do not recommend. read more

How is this place only a 3.7? Are ya'll high? Old school affordable diner food. Everything is good.. Best price per food in town. read more

I had the country fried steak and I swear that it was one of the greatest things that I have eaten in a while. A good plate of comfort breakfast food! Our server was phenomenal with our large party, and they handled us all like a champ! Laid-back vibes, which worked out well for our two youngin's read more

A Des Moines landmark! Just look for the neon lights! You guessed it this is your classic 50's style diner. With giant portions, soda's, shakes, pie, and heck they even have good old diner bottomless cups of coffee! The staff has always been great every time I have been here.. They have indoor and outdoor seating in the spring, summer, and early fall seasons.. But really why wouldn't you want to sit inside in the glow of the neon lights! Not much here for a Vegan to eat, but if you get a side of hashbrowns it will feed an army! Just saying! All ages always here, Drake students, kids, and the senior crowd this place is fit for any Bull Dog! read more

Drake Diner - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Foods good but it does not commensurate with the cost unfortunately. I do love the fact that it takes me back home by feeling like a diner that I just got off the NJ turnpike to eat at. Little pricey but oh well. read more

Terrible food. I just moved here from the southwest. I've eaten at this diner twice & ordered my 2 favorites - a southwestern skillet & huevos rancheros. Both were tasteless imitations at best. Example: the rancheros had black beans instead of refried beans, and no tortilla, avocado, spanish rice, or even salsa! Terrible food. read more

Our server - James - was awesome !!! And food was great-as always -- He's definitely an asset to the diner Five stars. read more

This is a great restaurant for those all in breakfast mornings. Expect a short wait. 20 minutes at noon on Sunday. The hash browns can come with onions and cheese. They also have homemade malts. read more

Drake Diner - Chicken fried steak and hash browns - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

This is by far my favorite place to go in the Des Moines area! They are always extremely friendly and very consistent with their service.

The food is always amazing, I got a very berry smoothie and the Belgian waffle with warm strawberries and whipped cream. It was amazing and the waffle was completely covered in whipped cream on top. I also got a chicken jack sandwich for lunch and can't wait to try that. read more

Lemme tell ya... Drake diner has some solid breakfast. Me friends and I went to drake diner on Sunday after church and it was crazy busy but our party of 5 was able to be seated within 20 minutes. Although we were seated within 20 minutes, it took almost an hour for our food to arrive which was a bummer. I ordered a half order of biscuits and gravy and a short stack of pumpkin pancakes. I would definitely recommend both of these options because they were pretty dang tasty! read more

Drake Diner - Pumpkin pancakes - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Not the best experience but will go back and try again. Had to wait to be seated even though several tables were open. Then we Had ti to wait over 10 minutes for a waiter to even take ouur drink order. Then our food sat in the cooks window a very long time before being served to us. Wonder if they were very low staff. Food was good as expected. Hope the next visit will bee better. read more

I think originally with my previous review I meant to hit 5 My husband and I are regulars here! The staff is friendly and I love the manager/hostess with the short pixie cut she is so nice and accommodating. We have are normal go to which is the veggie omelet with no cheese and substitute bread for the potato pancake. The potato pancakes is to die for! They have so many vegetarian options here which I love. The portebello mushroom fries are bomb and well as the veggie sandwich on a croissant. They have great bloody mary's too. I'd say the only thing I don't like about the DD is there coffee, it's a little tasteless so I always add two packets of sugar to my coffee. I don't normally take sweetened coffee. Other than that it's clean, the food is great and the staff is awesome! read more

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The good: the food was excellent diner fare, and the ambiance was exactly what I'm looking for in this kind of breakfast place. The bad: the wait! They told us 45 mins and it took well over an hour, so they need to work on managing expectations on that front. Overall: Drake Diner is a charming breakfast spot that has tasty diner food. Be prepared to wait on a weekend. read more

Drake Diner gets my five stars for a lot of reasons. I always rate a place for what it is or is trying to be. Drake Diner is trying and succeeding at being a family friendly, classic American diner. You can bring your kids and extra relatives here and feel comfortable with the laid back atmosphere and safe menu. Servers are always friendly and attentive. Food is consistently good. Portions are ridiculously too large; you can pretty much share any menu item with another person and both of you will be stuffed. The California burger (cooked medium) is my go-to, and I always get it with onion strings and a side of their Parmesan dressing. This is a menu item that I somehow manage to eat all by myself, only because it's so damn good that I can't stop eating it. Their chili cheese fries are bomb. My kids always get their pancakes, the deep-fried sausage breakfast corn dog things (these creep me out), or their captain crunch French toast (also weird and not my thing). People with kids will appreciate that all kids get to pick out a prize from the giant prize bucket at the end of the meal. My kids lose their shit over this, and getting to talk to the big bulldog parked out front, and it's really cute to watch. We dig you, Drake Diner! read more

Lunch today with my parents. Place was quiet and not crowded! Covid protection procedures were being followed. They no longer pass out menus, but ask you to look up the menu on your phone. That could be a problem for some people, but worked for us. Mom is on Keto and ordered a Ruben with no bread with a salad. Waitress payed enough attention to detail to leave the croutons off the salad since she ordered no bread on her sandwich. Dad had cheese burger and fries. I had tuna melt on sourdough instead of rye and fries. All the food was good with good portions for a reasonable price. read more

Hometown food, covid responsible service and lots of delish options- a hidden gem northwest of downtown

Our second time visiting - we aren't locals, but stay right near the diner at the HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS. We truly enjoy eating here. It was a busy Friday evening, we were seated immediately and waited on quickly. Our server was exceptional and very attentive, even though he had quite a few tables. We ordered an appetizer of onion rings (full order is ALOT- half would have been enough, there was only two of us) - we each got the MAYTAG BURGER with regular fries and sweet potato fries (included in the $12.99 price) they were cooked perfectly and you could tell everything was fresh and nice and hot. They do serve alcohol and have a great selection of malts/shakes and desserts. We were to full to try any, but next time we're in town I'll be trying a malt - they look delicious!! Really nice menu - salads, vegetarian options, nightly specials - you won't be disappointed!! read more

We came here around noon on a weekend and the place was packed! Thankfully they had two seats available at the counter so we snagged those up immediately! Our server was quick to greet us and take our order. We ordered the veggie bene with cheese hash browns, coffee, and a pumpkin milkshake. The veggie bene was good. We had the option of ordering it soft, medium or hard. I like my eggs well done but soft in the middle so I opted for medium. I should have ordered hard because the eggs were not even cooked and were super runny! The coffee was really watered down. I would skip it. The pumpkin shake is a seasonal drink and was super delicious!!!! The other yelpers aren't kidding when they say the shakes here are awesome! Definitely order a shake if you come here. Breakfast is served at this diner ALL DAY so you can sleep in if you want! The servers at this diner are rushing rushing rushing! It feels a bit hectic if you sit at the counter, but service was so fast and attentive I really can't complain. Prices can be on the pricey side but the quality of food was worth it. read more

Drake Diner - veggie bene - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

How cute! Definitely a greasy spoon/hangover kind of establishment located fittingly on the Drake University campus. I was rocking the comfy clothes during my visit but luckily a hangover was nowhere to be found (what can I say, I just wanted to heavy breakfast food...). The exterior of this building is iconic diner vibe with metal siding (I believe that's how you would describe it) and booths and bar space available in the interior. Nothing fancy but plenty of nostalgically cute vibes to go around. I was surprised to find that they have a liquor license and plenty of booze to go around for morning cocktails like rum and cider or peppermint schnapps and hot cocoa. Note: the apple cider is not real cider - it's one of those powder mixes and they're charging $2.50 per cup for it! I counted on my fellow handy Yelpers to decide upon my order which consisted of the veggie eggs benedict and hashbrowns topped with gravy (gravy was a personal addition - I know, it's hard to believe I didn't have a hangover given my beastly breakfast order). Note that egg beater substitutes will run you $1.50 extra. I loved my order and would have finished it had I a second stomach. My boyfriend's side of bacon was especially good (and heart stopping) - something about it tasted like pork cracklings? We couldn't figure out why but I'm not complaining. Our server was a powerhouse - fast service, slightly cutthroat and perfect to keep things rolling along. (not that I'm a fast diner) He was borderline unfriendly but I couldn't help but appreciate his Soup Nazi-like charm. read more

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Why have I not been here sooner? Breakfast all dayyyy I ate chicken and waffles; salty/greasy fried chicken and sugary syrup were calling my name. There are tons of other tempting looking things on the menu that I'm excited to return for... waiter recommended: Pumpkin Pancakes, Everything Skillet, Meatloaf Club Sandwich, Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs, other things I can't recall. Neon lights, true diner style. read more

Drake Diner - Chicken & waffles in the foreground... Meatloaf Club in the back - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Grilled pork sandwich only 1/4" thick overcooked meat $12.99 Was my favorite in the past - much thicker and moist. My wife also not happy with a breakfast specialty she used to like there. We use to frequent this diner for many years but not any more. Staff was very good -some the same for years. A shame - they were so contestant in the past. read more

I don't have much to say other than great food, great service, and great place! I went with 2 of my friends and we all shared our meals. Everything tasted great and we enjoyed sitting in the covered patio area. For a diner, they have a lot of options on their menu and also a lot of seating options as well. read more

I used to go to Drake's every morning for breakfast after work. After a recent unwelcoming experience I had the other day, I won't be returning. I'm giving three stars to the food they serve here and a star for Jen. She is amazing at her job and definitely deserves a raise for her excellent customer service skills. I'm unsure if the waitress that helped me that faithful day was having a tough morning, but the mug she gave me was filthy. Apart from the lack of attention to detail, she had an attitude. I get it. It's the morning and we're groggy, but she was just not having it that morning. Sadly, due to that experience I won't be returning. To whomever visits for breakfast, give the waitress's an adjustment period of thirty minutes before showing up when they open. Maybe then the attitude will lighten up. read more

Great food and good portions (little more than I could eat, husband was able to finish his) Came quickly after we ordered. Wait was about 25 minutes which isn't bad, we waited in our car and got a call once ready which was perfect. If you're looking for a good breakfast location that isn't IHOP quality this is a great option. read more

Their Maytag burger is phenomenal and juicy. The selection of soda is fantastic. The servers are very nice and friendly. Their ambiance is always busy and worth going to. read more

As I've heard, this is a long-time staple for Drake University students and locals; I can understand why this is true. I've been here on several occasions, for drinking and appetizers, breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have not been disappointed yet. This diner is a popular spot but there seems to be enough parking that I've never had to park far away. The service is attentive and courteous, even when they're getting slammed by the rush hour crowds. There is a variety of food and drink that should satisfy most diner-hoppers, and they tend to be prepared well. Nothing too fancy, but a consistently nice place to grab a bite (or drink) when you're in the area. read more

Drake Diner - Cover of their menu - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Fun place with good "real" food. Tastes homemade. Took the whole family. Pancakes are great and huge! Get the shakes. A bit spends but worth it. Breakfast All Day. Great comfort food. Server did a great job too! read more

Drake Diner - Outside of Drake Diner - Diners Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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This place is always busy and always bustling so there's usually always a wait if you want a table. I usually just opt for bar seating if I can just because they're usually open. Went with a friend and we ordered the meatloaf club, BLT, cheesy veg soup and a pancake. Food is always good! Service is USUALLY pretty good. Unfortunately our server that day seemed a little out of it but it was pretty busy. BLT had super crispy bacon, which I love! I feel like it could have used more lettuce and mayo though. The meatloaf club looked good but I didn't try. The cheesy veg soup was very thick; like THICK thick. It had a sense of nostalgia to it but I wouldn't call it a soup. It was satisfying though! This place has been here forever and for good reason. If you haven't been, I'd suggest to give it a try! read more

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Established local restaurant with nice outdoor patio. Busy, but in a good way. Food is predictable and consistent. Service is very good. Bathrooms are clean. Prices are okay. Come here for milkshakes and sit at the soda bar or come with a group for brunch. read more