What are your favorite local eateries, Des Moines? Share in the comments!
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Thank you, and I’m grateful for your clicks! On to the food!
Openings, Closings, and Such
- Now Open
- Chubbs Chicken n’ Fries is now open in Local Bites! More on that below!
- Chain news: The Register’s Susan Stapleton announced that Jersey Mike’s on Fleur is officially open.
- I keep telling you about this because *I’m* excited. Jersey Mike’s is one of my favorite chains, and this location is across from Mayalu Coffee, my first Gem. So, it’s super convenient for me. If Jersey Mike’s owner is a Trumper, please never tell me.
- Coming Soon
- Chikin Lickin, a Korean fried chicken eatery, plans to open on June 1st. It’s where Dunn Brothers Coffee was in Waukee.
- An Indian food truck? One that has a samosa and chai special for $6? OK, yeah, you have my attention. TikkaTalk is coming soon, but I haven’t seen locations or dates yet. Go here and scroll for their menu.
- Home Sweet Cone’s second location will open this summer, and The Register wrote a profile on the shop and owner.
- An ice cream shop named Grannie Annie’s is opening in Altoona.
- Chain news: Grimaldi’s Pizzeria passed their inspection. The location and phone number are here.
- And Such
- Chef David Baruthio of Baru 66 and a few other former area restaurants recently opened The Surfside in Clear Lake.
- He’s also reportedly opening Au Poivre Bistro in Des Moines in a partnership with BeerStyles.
- Renn’s Syrups, which is outstanding, is opening a storefront in Nevada, IA called Renn’s Café, and I’m happy for her!
- Northern Vessel’s owner, T.J. Rude, shared on Instagram that another car crashed into the coffeeshop. It happened last year as well.
- Chef David Baruthio of Baru 66 and a few other former area restaurants recently opened The Surfside in Clear Lake.
Write your to-eat list in a WTF Notebook! Super portable way to keep track!
You can’t eat this girl for lunch, but you can find where to eat lunch! Subscribe today to stop the terrible Billie Eilish references!
Bits and Bobs
- CelebrAsian is going on now! Here’s their “Know before you go” post.
- Here’s information about a grant opportunity for LGBTQ+-owned restaurants!
- In June, my subscribers get a guide to LGBTQ+-owned eateries!
- Y’all remember Poppin’ Fresh? It came up in a Reddit discussion, and I was like OMG POPPIN FRESH.
- I’ve mentioned the Out to Lunch Series in a previous post, but here’s another breakdown the details.
- If you’re willing to make the 30- to 40-minute drive and pay for a ticket, you can pick strawberries at Center Grove Orchard.
- Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce and AE Dairy appear to have created a thing together, and I’m guessing the lid will be red? Blue lid forever, btw.
- The Greek Food Fair is in one week! Check out the schedule and details here! Per usual, stay away from the loukoumades. They’re mine.
Some day, I’ll sell my own books at Bookshop, but in the meantime, peruse my reading recommendations, which include food reads!
WTF, Des Moines?
- It’s the grossest read of the month. Iowa Capital Dispatch’s Clark Kauffman rounds up the results of recent restaurant inspections in Iowa. Always best to read this on an empty stomach. And before you go out anywhere. Especially, apparently, a popular barbecue chain.
- Axios’ report on the decline of weekday lunches out makes me wonder hope places like South Union Bread Café will survive. That would be a terrible loss if they closed.
- Something called Sugar Boogar is opening in Martensdale, Iowa, and I cannot.
- This is . . . quite the Reddit thread about The Keg Stand (tw // sexual harassment). You can’t trust all you read, well, anywhere, so take it for what it’s worth.
- I’ve had three disappointing eats in the last week, and they were all from places about which I’ve heard endless praise. This is why I hate hype. Very few restaurants live up to the hype these places have had, and it’s almost unfair to them.
- At 5:30 this morning during the storm, the DM Scanner Squad group on FB shared a burglary report at the SE 14th Dunkin’. I had the same reaction as this commenter:
You Can’t Even Get a Big Mac for $5
- What’s new at G3:
- Coming in ONE WEEK! A Comprehensive Guide to Local Drive-Thrus!
- For June:
- Gems: A place where you can get Gansito shakes
- Guides: My LGBTQ+-owned eateries guide
- Goodies: It’s my jam. It’s also a bad pun. Can you guess what it is?
Subscribe for free and get Foodie 515 every week! Pay just $5 and get ALL of the extras at Gems, Guides, and Goodies! Next week is the last week Foodie 515 will appear on my website!
Life in General
- The best things I ate this week included:
- An Oreo waffle cone cheesecake snowstorm from way-the-fuck-out in Grimes at Al’s Dairy Freeze. It was my own creation. I’d do it again.
- The Hot Rod from Lachele’s Fine Foods . . . I can’t share photos yet, but it was so good that I got a little angry at it.
- Chubbs Chicken n’ Fries chicken tenders . . . more on that soon!
- This Gummy Bear Light from Uncommon Goods brings us a lot of joy!
- Why does Meta get tax exemptions from state governments? This shit deeply pisses me off.
- I’m very low on food pics because nearly all of the dining out I’ve done in May has been for work. I’m getting that sorted in June. Apologies though. I’d like this to be a little prettier, you know?
- Personal shit:
- I took melatonin, still struggled to get to sleep, finally fell asleep, then was rudely awakened by my CPAP trying to suffocate me because our power went out at 5 a.m. along with 22,000+ other central Iowans. I then took my “stay awake” meds, and let me tell you: My body is confused as fuck.
- Thank you to the MidAmerican Energy crews for working quickly!
- I’m working on a podcast in which I get vulnerable about all of my mind and body struggles. If you’re interested, please do let me know!
- I’m taking a few days off next week. May has been extremely challenging professionally.
- Reminder: Please pay your writers, and please do so in a timely manner. If not for my three subscribers here (not joking), I wouldn’t have been paid since the end of February (also not joking).
- I took melatonin, still struggled to get to sleep, finally fell asleep, then was rudely awakened by my CPAP trying to suffocate me because our power went out at 5 a.m. along with 22,000+ other central Iowans. I then took my “stay awake” meds, and let me tell you: My body is confused as fuck.
I’d like to say I’m going to Chicago during my time off, but I’m not. But if you are, I HIGHLY recommend the Marriott Marquis! The views are stunning!
Until next week . . .
