Zombie Burger expands to Ankeny

Zombie Burger announced plans to open a restaurant in the Northview Centre II at 1550 N. Ankeny Blvd. in Ankeny sometime before May 2016. The 2,400-square-foot space will seat 60 people inside and 40 on a seasonal patio. It will offer the traditional Zombie Burger menu, which includes burgers, appetizers, salads and shakes. Owners are working with the city to get a variance that would allow them to serve beer and spiked shakes like the original restaurant in the East Village. Owners Paul Rottenberg, George Formaro and Jeremy Reichart also announced they are developing plans to take the franchise to Iowa City and Omaha in the future. Exact locations haven’t been decided, but those stores — which would be quick-serve models like the one in Jordan Creek Town Center — could open as soon as mid- to late-summer.

Iowa Tap Room to bring all-Iowa craft beer to East Village
Full Court Press — which owns El Bait Shop, Hessen Haus and The Royal Mile — has plans to open Iowa Tap Room, an all-Iowa craft beer hall, in late February or early March. The craft beer hub will take up 7,200 square feet at 215 E. Third St. in Des Moines’ East Village. It will have a patio and a deck and a 64-foot bar that wraps around a silo that dispenses beer in a half-hexagon shape. Iowa Tap Room will feature Iowa-made craft beer and also serve food made with ingredients sourced from Iowa and made in house.

Firehouse Subs opens Des Moines location
Jeff Kelderman opened another Firehouse Subs in the metro, located at 2708 Ingersoll Ave. in Des Moines. Kelderman owns the local franchise, including one store at 3710 Merle Hay Road, and has plans to open another location in Paradise Pointe in West Des Moines. The Ingersoll eatery is located in a recently constructed retail building where Pita Pit is expected to open in January and Panchero’s Mexican Grill to open early in 2016. Firehouse Subs is open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday; and 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Call 280-3024, visit www.firehousesubs.com or find it on Facebook.

Juniper Moon opens on Ingersoll
Three men behind Gusto Pizza — Josh Holderness, Joe McConville and Tony Lemmo — along with Daniel Smith, opened Juniper Moon, a cocktail lounge located next to Gusto at 2005 Ingersoll Ave. in Des Moines. The lounge focuses on beer, wine and cocktails and does not serve food, but it does have a payphone inside that connects customers to Gusto Pizza, which will deliver pizza and items from Lemmo’s Café di Scala. Hours are 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., Monday through Friday; and 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday and Sunday. Call 369-7786, visit http://junipermoondm.com or find it on Facebook.

Pita Pit adds another metro location
Another Pita Pit restaurant opened at 440 S. 68th St. in West Des Moines. Mike Rink, the franchise owner, also owns locations in Ankeny, Urbandale, Cedar Falls and Waterloo. He has another store planned to open in January at 2708 Ingersoll Ave. in Des Moines. The Pita Pit at 15700 Hickman Road in Clive is owned by Lexi and Bobby King. Pita Pit hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily. Call 221-2360, visit www.pitapitusa.com or find it on Facebook.

Design changed for downtown Hy-Vee
Additional costs have prompted a design change in the Hy-Vee store currently under construction in downtown Des Moines. Construction crews found more old basements on the site than anticipated, adding to the cost of excavation and delaying the $30 million project about a month. The new design will save about $615,000. The changes proposed by Hy-Vee include removing a canopy from a restaurant patio along Court Avenue, eliminating a store entrance along Fourth Street, replacing some brick pavers with concrete and removing metal cladding from the south façade of the parking garage. CV