Diners' Choice: Neighborhood gem restaurants in Des Moines

OpenTable

Updated December 05, 2024

Looking for the best restaurants that are the best neighborhood gems 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

Cooper's On 5th

4.9

4.9 (137)

$30 and under

American

West Des Moines

About the restaurant

Cooper’s on 5th is a great place for Lunch & Dinner. We have had the pleasure of being West Des Moines’ first Craft Cocktail Bar. Join us for our amazing food menu & award-winning cocktail program. Classic & Reimagined Americana comfort food paired with one of Des Moines’ original & highly awarded craft cocktail programs. Great beer, wine, and martinis.

Top review

Catherine

Dined 3 days ago

If you're seeking a warm ambience and friendly servers, check out this wonderful restaurant in Valley Junction - West Des Moines!

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

4.7

4.7 (209)

$30 and under

Italian

Des Moines

About the restaurant

The Latin King restaurant was founded in 1947 by Rose and Jim Pigneri, who immigrated from Terravecchia, Italy to Des Moines. Rose and Jim wanted to bring authentic Italian fare to Des Moines and began this undertaking in earnest upon selling their home to finance the Latin King restaurant lease, which had previously operated as the Cinderella Sandwich Shop (circa 1930) and the Chanticleer Restaurant (circa 1937). Pigneri named the Latin King after New York City’s Latin Quarter and operated the Latin King for 35 years, notably taking only 10 days of vacation time during his tenure. Pigneri sold the Latin King to his third cousin Bob Tursi in 1983.

Top review

Callen

Dined 7 days ago

Excellent food prepared perfectly. Professional servers. We were celebrating my son’s graduation from college and couldn’t have picked a better place. Highly recommend.

Destination Grille

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

Steph

Dined 7 days ago

Great food and tremendous service! Will definitely be back!

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

Aura Restaurant & Lounge

4.6

4.6 (220)

$31 to $50

American

Urbandale

About the restaurant

Lively & flavorful tapas along with vibrant cocktails offer a unique shared experience that challenges the traditional. At Aura, it's good vibes only! Our invigorating environment is the perfect place to gather friends & family.

Top review

Mitch

Dined 1 day ago

Awesome wine dinner. Meal was delicuous and wine was superb and well paired. Very fine staff and service!

Discover more

Experience

Happy Hour Everyday!

HoQ

4.5

4.5 (352)

$31 to $50

Farm-to-table

Downtown Des Moines

About the restaurant

Welcome to Hoq Restaurant! Experience delicious, sustainable farm-to-table dining in the historic East Village of Des Moines.

Top review

Linda

Dined on Nov 13, 2024

Great food and service here. I enjoyed dinner and drinks and I highly recommend it.

Discover more

Experience

NYE at HoQ

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.

Explore Diners' Choice best of Des Moines

Explore more Diners' Choice lists