Ready. Set. Relax!

Get ready to get comfy in Altoona. There’s a new movie theater in town, and it’s offering the best of the big screen while including the comforts of home. Cinemark has opened its new XD (extreme digital) venue with a 12-theater venue offering its new “luxury lounger,” an electric recliner equipped with cup holders and foot rests. Each theater is equipped with stadium seating as well, meaning each seat is set higher than the seat immediately in front of it. The rows are designed to be roomier in order to provide better sight lines, so no more getting stuck behind the tall guy wearing a hat. In addition, the new theater will feature state-of-the art, wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor screens, Barco DLP projectors, RealD 3D, custom JBL sound systems. These new movie theaters are located at the intersection of Adventureland Drive across from Prairie Meadows at 2227 Adventureland Drive.

Gilroy’s
The 6,000-square-foot space that is the former home of Jimmy’s American Café on Eighth street in West Des Moines has been sold to a company led by local restauranteur Scott Carlson. Carlson looks to be making significant upgrades, remodeling the longtime favorite to offer Midwestern comfort food and to be named Gilroy’s. The new eatery is slated to open on April 1. Carlson’s other successful restaurant ventures include Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Company and Americana Restaurant.

A Dong time coming
A Dong is back in business. The Vietnamese restaurant briefly closed after an Aug. 16 fire severely damaged the establishment located at 1511 High St.in Des Moines. But the family-style restaurant has now reopened and is back serving the same menu, with the same prices, and even much of the same staff. Demand has been high since the doors reopened, the restaurant reports, and they recently sold more eggrolls in five hours than they usually sell in three days. A Dong is known for its plentiful vegan and vegetarian selections. The building has been updated to have a more modern feel.

The Garage
A new car repair shop, appropriately named The Garage, is open for business on Des Moines’ south side at 4824 S.W. Ninth St. The locally owned shop has three stalls and offers oil changes and other automotive repairs and maintenance.

21st century filling stations 
You can now charge your electric vehicle at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites at 6075 Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines, near Jordan Creek Town Center. Among the three new charging stations at the hotel, two were designed specifically to recharge Tesla Motors’ electric vehicles. These new chargers are the first of their kind in or around Des Moines.

Dim Sum coming soon
Piu Piu, an eclectic mix of Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine, is coming to 2721 Ingersoll Ave. in March of 2016. The new restaurant will include Sunday Dim Sum, a traditional Chinese cuisine usually prepared as fully cooked, small bite-sized portions, which are served in small steamer baskets and are pushed on carts around the restaurant. Customers sit at their tables and choose from the selection of ready to eat food.

Old Thyme Kitchen opens
Old Thyme Kitchen opened on Saturday, Feb.13 at 515 Maple St. in West Des Moines’ Valley Junction area, just west of the Theatrical Shop.

New Urbandale Art Park Exhibition announced
Urbandale’s Public Art Committee received and reviewed a total of 27 applications for the Art Park and made a recommendation for the top three sculptures for the 2016-2017 Art Park Exhibition. The artwork will be secured to concrete pads in the Urbandale Art Park for a 10-month exhibition during the years of 2016 and 2017. The selected artists will receive a $1,200 stipend for loaning their work for the exhibition. CV