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Demolition underway at former Mezzodi’s spot

Demolition is underway at the building at 4519 Fleur Drive in Des Moines, which formerly housed Mezzodi’s restaurant. The 5,400-square-foot space has been vacant since the Italian eatery closed about a year ago. The building was originally built in 1976 and sits on about an acre of land. It’s owned by Raccoon Valley Investment Company, which intends to rebuild a new restaurant that would be about the same size.

Get Fit Grill

Construction at the South Creek Crossing building on Mills Civic Parkway is complete for its new occupant, Get Fit Grill. The new eatery touts itself as a healthy, quick, casual restaurant offering meal prep, smoothies and more. The new grill will seat approximately 60, and it will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. It will occupy the middle bay of the new building and is slated to open in July. Two additional unnamed tenants will fill out the rest of the site at 5585 Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines. Visit them at www.getfit-grill.com.

Smith joins Johnston Barber Shop

Sara Smith joined the staff of Johnston Barber Shop with more than 14 years experience to her credit. She had owned and operated the Knoxville Barber Shop since 2006. Smith attended the Iowa School of Beauty and the American College of Hairstyling. She began in Johnston on June 7. The Johnston Barber Shop is located at 6180 Merle Hay Road. Phone number is 515-276-9884.

New Ankeny hotel

The building in Ankeny, formerly known as Chip’s restaurant, has been purchased by investors with plans to renovate and expand it into a hotel. The existing portion of the building, currently about 7,500 square feet, would be transformed into a lobby area. A four-story, 80-room hotel would then be built next to where the old restaurant was at 2502 S.E. Tone’s Drive, and a walkway would connect the two.

Construction is expected to begin on the new project next spring. The plan is for it to be a part of the Best Western Premier brand, which features deluxe amenities and slightly larger rooms than typical Best Westerns. This would be the first Best Western Premier brand in the Des Moines area.

Art Center eatery

The Art Center has a new restaurant open at 4700 Grand Ave., in Des Moines. Its name is Chef’s Palette, and Chef Rosie Punelli has made some changes to the lunch menu. The upscale eatery is offering homemade soups like Green Lentil Coconut Soup, fresh Calabrese Farro Salads and Fruit and Nut Tuna Salad sandwiches. Chef’s Palette is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call 515-277-4405, or visit www.desmoinesartcenter.org.

Bubbly Tea

A new tea house is coming soon near Drake University. It will serve bubble tea, which is usually blended with milk or fruit along with chewy tapioca balls. The shop will be located at 2312 University Ave., in the space that used to be an embroidery shop, and it will be called Bubbly Tea. The shop is planned to be open in July, and its hours will be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

No more Mustard’s

Say goodbye to the sugar biscuit. Mustards, which had been located at 6611 University Ave. in Windsor Heights since 2003, is now closed for business. The restaurant had been serving central Iowa for more than 40 years, offering pizza, burgers, baby back ribs and sugar biscuits.

Baby store to close

Little Padded Seats, a cloth diaper shop in Valley West Mall that sells reusable diapers and accessories along with other “natural-parenting” needs, is planning to close at the end of July. The shop was originally an online business established in 2008, but lower sales and diminished traffic have prompted the owners to pursue other ventures. The store’s remaining inventory will be discounted starting June 27. The store is located in Valley West Mall next to the kids’ play place on the lower level near Younkers. It’s open mall hours, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Call 515-557-0947 or visit them at www.littlepaddedseats.com. CV