What are your favorite local eateries, Des Moines? Share in the comments! (I’m asking again because I’d love to see your answers!)
Disclaimer: From photography to writing to design to administration, I create everything at G3 with no sponsors or venture capital. I’m a DSM native, a woman of color, and a chronic pain sufferer. I strive to be financially independent by the end of 2025. To that end, I thirstily humbly ask for your support! Please:
- Check out the affiliate links in this post,
- Become a paid subscriber, and
- Buy me a chai or two through Ko-Fi!
Thank you, and I’m grateful for your clicks! On to the food!
And remember! This is the last time Foodie 515 will appear here! It’s moving to my Substack, which you can subscribe to for free!
Openings, Closings, and Such
- Closing
- Mad Torta in Valley West Mall is closing, per their Facebook page.
- Sip & Float, a mobile beverage trailer, announced they are closed via Facebook.
- Now Open
- It appears `85 Bar is now open in Waukee, according to Hubster who drove by yesterday. This is their second location. Go Bears.
- And Such
- Kartoffelsack, a German cuisine food truck, will be at the DTFM. Also, I just learned “kartoffelsack” means “potato sack.”
Write your to-eat list in a WTF Notebook!
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Bits and Bobs
- Trostel’s Greenbriar announced on their Facebook page that long-time chef, Troy Trostel, passed away. Condolences to the Trostel family.
- This piece on Local Bites has been a few months in the works, and I couldn’t be happier with it! Wini and I had a good time with this!
- The Greek Food Fair starts, and you can find all the details here! Also, know that it’s cashless now.
- The Iowa Craft Brew Festival is June 1st (as in tomorrow). As I’ve mentioned, this is a primarily dry publication; however, 13 food trucks will be there, including three I’ve never heard of, so I wanted to share.
- Des Moines Girl has a “Guide to Food Festivals around Des Moines”, and I might’ve written it.
- I love what Oak Park is doing for Ingersoll. I might not be able to eat there often, but I love the space, and I love their approach.
- The very-much-not Super Secret Brunch Club at Secret Admirer is well into this year’s season.
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?
- There is no faster way to put me off than questionable chicken. Hubster and I recently dined at a new, local place that has gotten a great deal of positive attention. The chicken in his dish was reheated, dry, and nearly inedible. I’d like to give the eatery a second try because the space is darling, and I like the business model, but it’s a tough one for me.
- Project Rainbow of Iowa provides Pride flags throughout the month of June for a donation of $15. They’ll even place it for you!
- We received ours, and I joked with my friends, “How long before it gets stolen?” The flag didn’t even last 24 hours. Sadly, whoever did it was out of our camera’s range, so we didn’t catch them.
- However, Project Rainbow of Iowa generously replaced our flag, and we didn’t even donate more. We will, of course, but they also went above and beyond. I requested that the flag be placed closer to the house and in front of camera. Pardon the quality, but I’m happy to say it at least made it through the night.
- Quick note to whoever stole the first flag: You clearly don’t know me. I’m about to double down.
$50 for a year is a STEAL!
- Coming later today on G3: A Comprehensive Guide to Local Drive-Thrus!
- The next edition of Foodie 515 marks a shift! Early access will be for paid subscribers only!
- For June:
- Gems: A place where you can eat breakfast on the weekends and not wait an hour
- Guides: Celebrating Pride with my LGBTQ+-owned eateries guide
- Goodies: This jam isn’t clear, thankfully, but it’s clearly delicious. Woof. The puns. Guess who I’m featuring in the comments! I might even giveaway something from them to paid subscribers!
Life in General
- The best things I ate this week included:
- Egg rolls from The Eggroll Ladies, which I can’t share a photo of yet, but trust me that they’re delicious.
- Flame Cantina’s Mexican corn, which I didn’t take a photo of because I was decidedly off work.
- When I tell you that Flame never disappoints, I mean it. I’ve been about a dozen times since last March, and I’ve never eaten a bad thing there. It’s astonishingly good.
- The last time I left the house was Saturday. This has been a MUCH needed week at home. I’m fortunate in that I can usually clear my schedule when needed.
- Re: Go Bears. I no longer watch the NFL. That being said, I was born a Bears fan, and I’ll always cheer them on. Even if they end up in the burbs.
- For the sake of my everything, I’m experimenting with being on social media only once a week. Sadly, this means I’ll occasionally miss some restaurant news, but as this is primarily a project of love, I’m OK with that.
- If you know me, you know I’m here for pumpkin pie M & Ms in May.
- If any of you meet Charlie Cox this weekend, tell him he’s a beautiful human.
About My Affiliates
I am an affiliate for several companies, but I want to introduce you to them briefly. I only pick companies I believe in or use myself. Here they are:
- Bookshop: Where I buy damn near all of my books
- Scholastic Books: Obvious, right?
- WTF Notebooks: Notebooks AND swearing
- Marriott: We always stay at Marriott hotels when we travel
- MLBShop: Baseball is one of my truest loves
- Uncommon Goods: Their entire catalog!
- Bombas Socks: Helping unhoused folks (and my legs on the flight to London)
- NSFW: Good Vibrations: One of the oldest, sex-positive, queer-friendly sex toy companies
- NSFW: Geeky Sex Toys: Tiny Australian company making nerds happy
Until next week . . . over on my Substack!
