Ultimate place for pizza: Taste of New York
Iowa’s love affair with pizza is so intense today that young people can barely believe it when grandparents tell them about a day in the 1950s when they discovered the [...]
Read More →
Posted October 14, 2015in Food Dude
Posted October 07, 2015in Featured Story, Food Dude
New kids in the skywalk
Two weeks ago, we wrote a paean here to the wind-grieved luncheonettes of central Iowa. We mentioned that they were victims of urban renewal and moms joining the workplace. One [...]
Read More →
Posted September 30, 2015in Featured Story, Food Dude
The youngest old pro
Long ago, in a restaurant world without bistros, gastropubs, sports bars or media buzz, Des Moines’ food scene was personality driven. Excellent cafés bore the names of their owners — [...]
Read More →
Posted September 23, 2015in Featured Story, Food Dude
Paula’s sweet nostalgia
Lunch counters have gone the way of soda fountains. When most folks liked Ike, and Ozzie & Harriet ruled the airwaves, both genres were ubiquitous. Then teenagers found less innocent [...]
Read More →
Posted September 16, 2015in Featured Story, Food Dude
Renaissance of indulgent dining
When it comes to food choices, so much has changed for the better here the last 50 years that it’s tempting to think we live a golden age of culinary [...]
Read More →
Posted September 09, 2015in Featured Story, Food Dude
El Tapatio moves west
Mexican cafés have overtaken barbecues as the No. 1 growth industry in Des Moines’ restaurant world. The metro can’t get enough Mexican food. It’s reasonably priced, fresher than most cuisines [...]
Read More →
Posted September 02, 2015in Food Dude
Krunkwich Ramen House
Maverick chef Sam Auen opened Des Moines’ first ramen house, Krunkwich, last spring and 105 years after Japan’s first ramen house. Japan may own the genre today, but Chinese immigrants [...]
Read More →
Posted August 26, 2015in Food Dude
County Line Café is a classic
An out-of-town journalist recently asked me what turned Des Moines into a significant food town. I said something I had not previously given any thought to: The best chefs and [...]
Read More →
Posted August 19, 2015in Food Dude
The Beerhouse — the latest sports bar on 86th
“How many of these different kinds of bars have you been to?” asks a social media survey. There were 27 choices — full bars, wine bars, neighborhood bars, dive bars, [...]
Read More →
Posted August 12, 2015in Food Dude
The go-to place for detox dining
Chef George Formaro recently discovered a 1922 menu from a Fort Des Moines Hotel restaurant. The fare offered was far more classically French than anything I remember here growing up [...]
Read More →
