Five Restaurants That Make Dining Out Fun Again
You mentioned you were tired of the same old menus. I can help.
Recently, a reader put it best:
“Every casual dining spot seemingly has the same menu. Same sandwiches, same apps, same salads. Zzzzzzzzz.”
I hear you. I’m finding a lot of Alfredo, Caesar, and smash burgers out there, too. Of course, if you go high—at Harbinger or Oak Park, for instance—you can blissfully forget chicken fingers ever existed. But if you want something interesting on a casual Tuesday night? That takes some digging.
And digging is what I do. I’ve come up with a list of five hand-picked restaurants that take off-the-beaten-path turns, without costing the same as a week’s worth of groceries.
But before I get to that, let me give you two tips overall that can help ease dining-out fatigue. First of all, dine out with friends. When there are just two of you, you tend to notice the letdowns more. But when you’re focused on a table full of friends, the flaws—the so-so plate of predictable food, the slow service—fade into the background.
Also, don’t dine out as often. On a recent trip to Duluth, MN, we stayed in a hotel room with a kitchen. I cooked in four out of five nights, and we picnicked for lunch most days. On the fifth night, we dined out and had a splendid time. A Canadian Walleye was great, and even though a steak arrived overcooked, the evening itself felt like a treat.
So now, five hand-picked restaurants that will best answer your call to “Get Me out of My Dining Rut!”
1. Go Global
This is the most obvious choice. The colorful, multi-faceted, often veggie-forward dining you find especially at our Thai, Indian, and Vietnamese restaurants are the perfect antidote to yet another smash burger.
The restaurant I’d point you to first, however, is MinGalaBar Burmese Kitchen. The food is fascinating—partly a crossroads cuisine of South and South Asian food, but with a character all its own.
My only caveat: go with friends. Because it’s in a less-traveled corner of Urbandale, the dining room can be surprisingly quiet. The atmosphere is pleasant, but bring a tableful of pals to create the energy the food deserves.
2. Go Global Again
If you crave global dining—but with a scene, complete with great cocktails—head to Palms DSM. This lively Ingersoll spot serves West African–Caribbean flavors in a bright, stylish room with a casual yet energetic groove. Highlights include smoky and irresistible jerk chicken, fiery coconut curry wings, terrific oxtail pizza, and delightful sides, such as jollof rice and mac-and-cheese, all served with a genuinely welcoming touch.
3. Go Out for Breakfast
While the menus at many bar-grills are getting notoriously similar, that’s not the case at most breakfast spots. In my recent roundup of a.m. dining, all restaurants I visited spotlighted a few specialties that weren’t cut from the same food-service catalog. While I loved the blueberry French toast at Eggs and Jam, I think either chilaquiles or the tres leches pancakes at Café con Leche will most decisively help you remember how nice it is to find a happy surprise at a restaurant table.
4. Drive for Something Remarkable
They may veer towards the higher end, but any one of these five restaurants within a two-hour drive of Des Moines will surely get you out of your dining rut. To narrow it down to one very easy road trip, I recommend heading Cobble Hill in Cedar Rapids for food that’s seasonal, inventive, and grounded. This article also gives you some ideas on what to do while you’re in Cedar Rapids.
P.S.: Before you go home, swing through Iowa City to pick up a slew of croissants from the highly acclaimed DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries to take back to Des Moines. They freeze well. And if you need a great spot for lunch, don’t forget Paper Crane.
5. Restore Your Faith in Restaurants
These days, the biggest surprise might be finding a restaurant where you leave thinking, “Yes, that’s why I love to eat out!” Skip’s can do that. The restaurant doesn’t chase trends or rework the menu every season; instead, it just delivers what you came for, night after night. Give me the pan-fried walleye or a perfectly cooked steak, a cool dining room on a hot summer night, and a staff who’s genuinely glad you’re there. Some evenings, that’s exactly what I crave most.
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Love your recommendations and especially the nudge toward international dishes in three of the five. Nothing breaks monotony than diversity :)
MinGalaBar Burmese Kitchen is hands down the most enjoyable meal I have had since I moved back to Des Moines four years ago. I have a small dining group ("The Supper Club") and we try to hit someplace new to us every month. It was four of us, we engaged the server for suggestions, got about 4-5 things to try (I still dream about the Rainbow Salad, a noodle dish that to our Western palate is as much of a "salad" as Jell-o and marshmallows, but no biggie; it's spectacular). I have been back but am overdue to go back again. We've also done Palms and enjoyed that, too.