Diners' Choice: Hot spot restaurants in Des Moines

OpenTable

Updated December 05, 2024

Looking for restaurants that are the best hot spots 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!

Fleming's Steakhouse - Des Moines

4.8

4.8 (906)

$50 and over

Steakhouse

West Des Moines

About the restaurant

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is an outstanding choice to enjoy an exceptional Prime steak, glass of wine, or handcrafted cocktail. Whether you're celebrating a special occasion, hosting a business dinner, or simply wanting to enjoy an excellent culinary experience - we will create a safe and memorable evening for you. If you prefer to enjoy your fine dining experience at home, you can order and pay for lunch or dinner online and then pick up curbside or select from one of our delivery partners.

Top review

KariVIP

Dined 2 days ago

Always good. Tiffany and Andres are our favorites. Excellent service, as always.

The Stuffed Olive - Des Moines

4.7

4.7 (778)

$30 and under

American

Des Moines

About the restaurant

The Stuffed Olive is about the entire “Martini & Tapas Experience.” From your favorite classics to new and exciting blends you’ve never seen before, you’re sure to find a cocktail to love on our vast martini menu. Add a warm, comfortable atmosphere, great wines, beers and top-shelf spirits, and The Stuffed Olive will become your favorite place to start, end or spend your entire evening. Our tapas menu offers appetizer-sized portions of globally influenced entrees, for a sampling and sharing dining experience. Pair tasty tapas with your favorite martini for happy hour, dinner or a late-night snack. We welcome you to sit back, relax, enjoy great food, good conversation and your favorite martini. Welcome to the Stuffed Olive!

Top review

Dale

Dined 4 days ago

We enjoyed the upscale ambience of the new stuffed olive. The food is as good as ever and the service excellent. It’s quiet so you can talk without any difficulty. I like all the different seating choices.

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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!

Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant - Clive, IA

4.7

4.7 (1196)

$30 and under

American

Clive

About the restaurant

Experience the perfect fusion of award-winning wines, Napa-style tasting rooms, and modern casual dining at Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants. Enjoy contemporary American cuisine influenced by international flavors from our scratch kitchen. Each dish is expertly paired with our selection of wines for the best food and wine match. Whether you explore the tasting room for a pre- or post-dinner adventure or join the world's largest wine club, we believe in the power of food and wine to create lasting connections. Dining reservations are highly recommended, but walk-in guests are always welcome on a first-come, first-serve basis. Gluten-free and vegetarian dishes are available.

Top review

Stephanie

Dined today

10/10 recommend Brussel Sprout appetizer is a must have! Great Sangrias & Martinis! From steak, to pasta, to salmon & burgers, not one person in our group was disappointed with their meal!

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Popular dish

House-Made Truffles

Popular dish

Cooper's Hawk Chocolate Cake

Experience

Brunch & Bubbles | Saturdays & Sundays 10am – 2pm

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.

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

Tiesha

Dined 1 day ago

Delicious food, excellent service and staff, and a beautiful atmosphere. My only wish is that there were more dessert options with less nut ingredients (for those who can’t have them; this made the dessert menu very limited). But the appetizers, dinner, drinks, environment, and superb customer service still made the dining experience 5 stars!

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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.

Louie's Wine Dive - Des Moines

4.4

4.4 (854)

$30 and under

Contemporary American

Des Moines

About the restaurant

Louie’s Wine Dive serves lunch, happy hour and dinner daily and brunch on weekends. Award-winning food is created from local ingredients under the eye of formally trained chefs. Louie’s wine list and featured wineboard offer hard to find, quality focused selections. Louie’s offers a craft cocktail and local beer menu. Louie’s Wine Dive features a warm, casually elegant atmosphere. It's the place for food and wine lovers to be social!

Top review

Kenneth

Dined on Dec 4, 2024

My favorite place to visit in Des Moines. Incredibly charming and wonderful experience every time I go. Hyvee next door is fun for wine drunk grocery shopping afterwards.

In Confidence Speakeasy

4.4

4.4 (20)

$30 and under

Speakeasy

Des Moines

About the restaurant

For Large reservations or other inquiries please call 515-528-7733 x 4627 f=

SPEAKEASY BAR IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN DES MOINES

Hotel Fort Des Moines brings the Prohibition-era feel to downtown Des Moines - In Confidence. Enjoy our hidden secret with a curated wine collection and crafted cocktails.
Enjoy your downtime in a unique casual setting deserving of the Great Gatsby himself!

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined on Nov 23, 2024

Great bar! Only thing is we saw it was happy hour between 5-7pm but we got there at 645pm and was told it was over. Drinks were still great!

Dave & Buster's - Des Moines

4.0

4 (112)

$30 and under

American

West Des Moines

About the restaurant

Each Dave & Buster's has more state-of-the-art games than ever, more mouth-watering menu items and the most innovative drinks anywhere. From wings to steaks, we've got whatever suits your appetite and our premium bar assures we're stocked to satisfy! Plus, you can watch your game on one of our massive HDTVs with epic stadium sound.

Top review

Whitney

Dined on Nov 16, 2024

Food was all fantastic and waitress did an excellent job with our large group. We will be back!

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Experience

Sunday SIP Night

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