Eatery A: Five-star quality at a two-star price

Dust off that favorite little black dress in the back of your closet, ladies, and strap on your best heels. Ditch the tennis shoes, men, and find that one tie you only wear for work parties and funerals.

Tonight, try something different with a romantic dinner date at downtown Des Moines’ hottest restaurant — Eatery A.

You’ve probably heard of Jason Simon’s latest business venture, which opened earlier this year. Just six years after founding Alba — another downtown favorite — Simon has opened one of the trendiest dinner spots in the city.

The wood-fired Mediterranean fare is the spotlight at Eatery A, but the half-price happy hour is the real showstopper.

But unlike that rhinestone belt in the closet, Eatery A is more than a trend. From the street, its looks are deceivingly plain — that is until patrons walk through the door and instantaneously feel as though they’ve left Des Moines and entered a stylish little community all its own.

Wood paneling wraps from the floor to the walls and even to the tables and chairs in a modern, artsy style rather than a rustic, hipster style, like many of the new Des Moines restaurants have turned to.

Small lights between artistic hanging fixtures provide just enough lighting to see your date and enough ambiance to set the mood.

Prefer a padded booth by the bar or a table next to one of the large dividers that double as functional art? Call in ahead of time to reserve one of the round booths in the back — a small room with three large half-booths separated from the rest of the diners. It’s a welcome separation from the noisy chatter that can sometimes fill the venue.

Meeting someone for happy hour and prefer to sit at the bar and watch all the action from the front row? Not a bad idea, considering all wines, beers and pizzas are half-priced until 6 p.m.

Eatery A has 14 wood-fired pizzas with gourmet toppings such as pistachio pesto and sherry gastrique.

Happy hour provides diners with draft and bottled beers ranging from $1.50 to $5.50 and wines starting at $3 a glass. Deals like that are hard to find at any old run-of-the-mill sports pub, but at a fashionable establishment like this it is almost unheard of.

The only downside of the wine list at Eatery A is approximately half are available by the glass. But its redeeming quality is the wide variety of its exports, which includes bottles from South Africa, Portugal, France and Italy.

Beers available include varieties from across the country, three Iowa breweries and one bottle from Dublin, Ireland, an eclectic mix that is likely to please most beer drinkers.

Eatery A also has a short list of cocktails featuring whiskey, bourbon and rum among unique flavor combinations.

Eatery A is surprisingly affordable for what it offers.

Take a night off from the usual routine and head out for a nice evening at Eatery A. CV

Eatery A
2932 Ingersoll Ave.
Des Moines
515-282-8085
Tues.-Thurs. 3-11 p.m.
Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m. to midnight
Sun. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
www.eateryadsm.com
Happy hour Tues.-Sun. until 6 p.m.