Diners' Choice: Innovative restaurants in Des Moines

OpenTable

Updated December 05, 2024

Looking for the best restaurants that are fit for foodies in Des Moines? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Prairie Canary Restaurant & Bar

4.9

4.9 (317)

$30 and under

American

Des Moines

About the restaurant

Prairie Canary Restaurant & Bar serves comfort food with local flair in a historic building on Main Street in Grinnell, Iowa. Prairie Canary was opened in September 2012 and is currently owned by Chef, Paul Durr. Located in the city of Grinnell, also known as “The Jewel of the Prairie” and home to Grinnell College, Prairie Canary provides a gathering place where guests can enjoy Midwestern flavors in an inviting, understated atmosphere that speaks to the colors and textures of the Iowa prairie.
Prairie Canary Restaurant & Bar is all about being local. From the name of the restaurant to the dishes on which the food is served, effort was taken to showcase local talent and area producers. Enjoy your meal on hand-thrown plates and bowls. Sit at hand-made hickory tables. Savor farm-fresh produce grown just miles away. Sip on an Iowa wine or pint of beer. We look forward to seeing you!

Top review

Matt

Dined on Nov 10, 2024

Great food and attentive waitstaff. Overall fun evening.

Discover more

Popular dish

Iowa Chop

Alba Restaurant

4.8

4.8 (407)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Des Moines

About the restaurant

Alba offers a creative culinary twist on traditional American cuisine. Dishes are prepared using fresh seasonal ingredients, the finest cuts of meat, and the freshest fruits, vegetables and herbs. Our menu changes often, we invited you to join us to discover a new favorite.

Top review

BillVIP

Dined 5 days ago

Great service, incredible food. All the dishes were excellent. The Beef Stroganoff was the hit of the night!

Eatery A

4.8

4.8 (541)

$30 and under

Mediterranean

Des Moines

About the restaurant

Eatery A is Des Moines's destination for Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. Perfecting simple dishes that focus on local, quality ingredients, we strive to offer our guests exotic flavor profiles that let the ingredients take center stage.

Top review

Julie

Dined on Dec 9, 2024

With a reservation we got seated immediately. Pasta and pizza arrived in a timely manner. Was delicious and good size portions. Highly recommend.

Discover more

4.8

4.8 (1187)

$30 and under

Farm-to-table

Des Moines

About the restaurant

“Fresko” meaning “fresh” inspires our creation of seasonal menus made from locally sourced ingredients. Fresko makes natural food from the bounty of Iowa farms whenever possible. The culinary team prepares product from start to finish applying natural time honored techniques with care at every step. This enriches the flavorful and nutritious product we serve and benefits our community. Fresko believes we are what we eat and eating well means living well.

Fresko features a splendid assortment of original cocktails with a deep spirits menu and a beer program with sixteen beers on tap in addition to bottles and cans. Fresko's wine menu focuses on quality selections at a great value to our guests.

Top review

BrookeVIP

Dined 4 days ago

My only disappointment tonight was that I had asked through OpenTable specifically that we be located as close to the front door as possible since my dinner companion had difficulty walking with a cane. So instead, we were seated on the opposite end of the restaurant other than that it was absolutely the great food I have experienced before, and the service second to none.

Discover more

4.7

4.7 (375)

$31 to $50

Contemporary American

Grimes

About the restaurant

Welcome to Destination Grille. A contemporary, upscale yet casual restaurant that reminds us of travels and destinations around the globe. We are an experience like non-other!

Please join us Monday through Saturday from 11am-9pm and Sundays 11am-8pm.

Don't forget to join us for a night cap Fridays and Saturdays, our bars remain open until 11pm on both levels!

We have a lot of options with a fabulous ambience on each level, but it can be overwhelming your first time, please call if you have any questions!

Top review

Rob

Dined on Dec 11, 2024

Very good evening for our birthday celebration. Our server Sam was excellent and attentive. Fun for all!

Bar Nico

4.7

4.7 (82)

$30 and under

Mexican

Des Moines

About the restaurant

Our restaurant's mantra is "Sin Maiz, No Hay Pais" meaning "without corn there is no country" as such, our tortillas are hand ground in house from heirloom organic Mexican corn varietals - made daily & cooked to order. As a result of our corn obsession, we have no flour in house & are a completely gluten-free kitchen.

Top review

amy

Dined today

Always amazing. I had the roared chicken enchiladas. Rich flavors. Fresh tasting. Service was outstanding.

Roots95

4.7

4.7 (36)

$30 and under

American

Johnston

About the restaurant

Welcome to ROOTS 95 Craft Kitchen and bar! Mora is taking the "Craft" part of the name very seriously. As it suggests, craft food emphasizes handcrafted, chef-driven food (versus cookie-cutter menus you see everywhere), made from fresh, thoughtfully sourced ingredients, often with globally inspired flavors.

In addition to the entrees, you will find globally inspired pastas, handhelds, small plates & flatbreads.

Top review

Stephany

Dined on Dec 13, 2024

We chose a 4m reservation, because weather was blowing in. That left us to chose from either the happy hour menu of small plates, or the main menu. We have eaten here before, so we knew what to expect. There is a well-curated menu of enough variety that we always have options. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable about ingredients, and always ready to make recommendations, if asked. The food is delightfully plated, not overwhelming, in size or seasoning. He had the Alfredo and I had the Scottish salmon with rice. There was enough left from my plate to take a taste home for the dogs, but his was gone. We did get a slice of cheesecake to split for dessert…soft, tender, and not too sweet. Perfect size. As we left, we marveled at how calm we were and how well fed. No pressure, great escape for food and relaxing conversation. But..make a reservation. You might feel silly about it, making a 4pm reservation, but last week we tried to walk in at 5, and ended up going elsewhere. And they have recently changed their hours to make lunches extend to happy hour.

Discover more

Experience

Happy Hour

Experience

Ladies' Night every Thursday

Experience

Wine Down Wednesday

Mulberry Street Tavern

4.6

4.6 (568)

$31 to $50

American

Des Moines

About the restaurant

Mulberry Street Tavern brings a fresh yet nostalgic vibe to Downtown Des Moines. Once a hub for the city transit, it is now adorned with rich woods, leather, and a zinc bar that create a warm and timeless social destination. The open-hearth kitchen produces shareable worldly tavern fare, hearty entrees and, hands down, the best burger in Des Moines. Enjoy perfect classic cocktails, eclectic award-winning wines, and interesting regional and foreign beers on draught.

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined today

Had a wonderful time. Highly recommend the bison!!!!!

Discover more

Popular dish

Half Chicken

Blue Sushi Sake Grill - Des Moines

4.6

4.6 (205)

$30 and under

Sushi

Des Moines

About the restaurant

Blue Sushi Sake Grill unites creative ingredients with energetic vibes, premium cold sake with happy moments to give you a fresh and fun new way to experience sushi. Our sushi and grill menus allow you to explore your sushi favorites in new and unexpected ways. We like to say that sushi is for sharing, and our menu encourages it. Order a spread of all your maki, nigiri and sashimi favs from the sushi bar, and throw in a few orders of starters from the grill. We'll stagger your plates so you can savor it all bite-by-bite, and maximize the sushi experience you've been craving all week. If you're not sure where to start, tour the menu during Happy Hour, where all our guest favorites — from our sushi, grill and drink menus — are available at an amazing value. We offer Happy Hour every day of the week at Blue Sushi Sake Grill!

Top review

Laura

Dined on Dec 8, 2024

EVERYTHING was delicious, fresh, excellent presentations, perfect timing between courses❣️ Dipping Crab, Tuna Tower, Godzilla Bomb, Everything Smoked Salmon. Our waiter Tristan's favorite Amazon Roll is now one of our favorites too❣️. Thank you Open Table for recommending Blue Sushi Sake Grill when we arrived in Des Moines.

Splash Seafood Bar and Grill

4.5

4.5 (1953)

$31 to $50

Seafood

Downtown Des Moines

About the restaurant

DiRoNA award winning Splash Seafood Bar & Grill serves only the freshest seafood flown in daily and expertly prepared in both traditional and contemporary styles. Splash Seafood bar and Grill also serve the Midwest's finest cuts of steaks and chops with the same care as they give the seafood. Be pampered by the highly experienced wait staff in one of Des Moines most unique and elegant dining rooms surrounded by whimsical wall murals as well as 9 large salt water aquariums. Splash Seafood offers an extensive wine list, recognized with an Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator, as well as a full bar specializing in tropical drinks. Also enjoy a more laid back atmosphere in the raw bar, Splash Oyster Bar & Seafood Market, just across the hallway from Splash Seafood. Enjoy all the fresh oysters and shellfish that the raw bar has to offer as well as the full menu from Splash Seafood. Also be sure to take advantage of the raw bars Seafood Market to enjoy the freshest seafood at home.

Top review

DanVIP

Dined 6 days ago

Great food and service as usual! Danny served us well.

Discover more

Explore Diners' Choice best of Des Moines