Great vibes and attitude here, everyone friendly and attentive service. Jack at the bar is great and the tequila old fashioned is one of the best cocktails I've had outside of Chicago. What a bonus to get authentic birria here too, not always can be trusted at more frou frou Mexican places like this! read more

Malo - Oaxan Tequila Mezcal Old Fashioned, the best cocktail outside of Chicago in years! - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Restaurant experience was a mess from the start. Waited 15 minutes to be seated even with a reservation. Then waited another 20 minutes for drinks. And then waited over 45 minutes for our very average meals. Very unorganized and chaotic experience. At least the mgr was apologetic and offered to make it right - at the end. Will be our last visit! read more

My experience at Malo was fantastic! I enjoyed tacos, chips and guacamole, street corn and a marg. The patio was lovely, service was fast and kind. I'm from Nashville and was pleasantly surprised at the affordability of this restaurant. If I'm ever back in the Des Moines area I would 100% entertain visiting here again! read more

Malo - Raspberry margarita on the rocks - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Food was delicious, I had the chipotle shrimp street tacos, they were full of flavor! We also ordered the chips and salas trio. This is the type of place where you pay for chips and salsa. It was good, but when we asked for a refill on chips our waitress brought us all broken chips. The service was lacking, our waitress didn't check on us ever. I had to glad her down to order chips and then again to order dinner. There could have been a better pace and definitely more attentiveness. They have a great patio area. Food was good but service lacks. read more

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When I was in town, my friend recommended this spot and it did not disappoint. The nachos were great and I also tried the vegetarian tacos. I added the aioli and it was just what I needed. I only wish I lived closer and could try more items. The inside has a fun atmosphere and the staff were very attentive and friendly. There is also outdoor dining available when the weather is nice. Plenty of nearby metered parking. read more

Cannot say enough about this place! The food is so amazing and the drinks literally taste like perfection. Do not let the rating for you. This place is five stars. read more

Malo - Bomb Marg - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

I came with my boss and coworkers for happy hour on the patio and it was a lovely time. We had sangrias: they have red, white, and rose. All delightful. We shared chips and a dip trio of salsa, pico and queso. I got 3 tacos as my entree and I chose Mahi Mahi, Codfish, and Dos Pescado. Fantastic tacos. Our server was sweet, and attentive. read more

I enjoyed my lunch at Malo - it consisted of an al pastor, dos pescados and Mahi Mahi tacos (in ranking order of best to good). The corn tortillas were chewy with an arepa consistency, which I thoroughly enjoyed and was pleasantly surprised as my taco didn't fall apart. The service was good. There was some waiting at the front, I might've popped in at an odd time 2pm. Got seated quickly and I was ready to order as I checked out the menu online before arriving. The only thing that was off was there was no water refill; thankfully I made it through my meal without choking. Would Def have the al pastor taco again. It was legit. read more

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Food was yummy. Margs were average. Service was slow on a Saturday night. Churros were to die for!! Save room for the homemade churros and get a side of ice cream to dip them in (you won't regret it). Overall atmosphere of the place was super cute and trendy for Des Moines. Server was really nice she must have just been busy because everything was brought out to us very slow. Chips and salsa trio was overrated in my opinion. I would try their guac or queso next time. read more

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The last time I was here was with the old management and I absolutely loved the dos pescados. Yesterday I came post re-opening and I wasn't a fan of it. The fish was fried much differently and didn't have the same taste. It also didn't have real lobster like the last time. I'm sure their other food is good as my friends liked their food though. I just no longer recommend the dos pescados. The patio seating was really nice and servers were attentive. read more

Malo - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

I thought this place was definitely worth a four star! I was surprised to see it only at a 3.5. We made a reservation online but it was fairly dead at 5pm on Saturday. We got the chips and salsa trio to start. The salsas were good but the chips were lackluster, don't appear to be made in house. Then we both got a couple drinks. I started with the mango jalapeño margarita which was tasty. Note - you can add jalapeño to any flavor but I believed it's just the physical jalapeño because we didn't get much spicy flavor. I did like how you could choose tajin or salt rim. Next I got the rosé sangria and honestly it was so unpleasant I asked to trade my drink. Luckily the server was very accommodating and replaced it with the passion fruit margarita which was good. For dinner, I got the trio mix and match with Barbacoa, steak tenderloin and shrimp. The Barbacoa was delicious and my fav! One of the best I've ever had. The the tenderloin was solid, though I would recommend cutting the steak into smaller pieces, it was a bit hard to eat. The shrimp however fell flat for me. It was sautéed shrimp on cabbage. That's it, no flavor. Overall, good service. Good margaritas for $8 and great Barbacoa taco. I would come back with the limited selections in Des Moines. read more

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First time for all & heard nothing but good, so we were all excited! We had a reservation & got seated right away. Once seated, we got water & ordered additional drinks. The decor & vibes were so fun, creating a great atmosphere. I wouldn't say it was too busy at that point, but drinks took 20 minutes to come. We asked the waitress & she seemed overwhelmed with the patio being open. Food came quick, hot, fresh & had soo much flavor. We definitely packed boxes to go as the serving size of everything was huge! Other than the very timely wait for drinks & flagging down our server for assistance, everything was amazing! read more

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There are some high end restaurants in these few blocks but I wanted something more casual. Malo was a good choice. My sangria rose' and seared tuna appetizer were very good. The mahi tacos were a bit too done and dry but not a worry. I left happy. read more

Malo - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Came all the way from Hammond Indiana to pick up a friend and ran into this Gem! The Mgr straight out the door Jen was amazing and like, genuine/real. Educated us on the history of the building (firehouse) which was cool. I came in with two non English speaking indigenous friends and they loved the pork belly tacos & shrimp a la crema. The service was good. When we all walked in & felt a bit underdressed and out of place but the staff & food took our mind off of that, we felt very welcomed. Great experience and great representation of downtown De Moines or Iowans for that matter. Thanks Ms. Jen Ps: Dessert - Churro w ice cream & the fruit w cream were Bomb AF! ‍ The chocolate cake was too sweet but I'm not that into chocolate so maybe a chocolate lover would like it.,.. ALSO: we're Mexican. We approve of this restaurant read more

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Incredible experience! Our first time coming to Malo was for a birthday party of one of our friends - it was lovely getting to try their queso & salsa mixes & sharing with the table. 100% would recommend for an appetizer, as it's very share size friendly! I also selected the taco mix & match & was pleasantly surprised with all the different types & flavors one could select from!! Their alcoholic beverages were amazing & the service was very friendly for such a large party handled it well! read more

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Upscale Mexican. Fantastic food, the best tacos I have had in a while. The burritos are enormous.

Delicious blackened salmon salad! Tasty salmon wasn't overdone. Lots of pepitas and nice pineapple dressing.

Found out about their Taco Tuesday $2 street taco special on happyhourdesmoines.com, so had to go there last night to try it. What an awesome place! There were plenty of chips and salsa (see picture) served. The salsa and cream sauce were top-notch, while the chips were average. I immediately ordered a Paloma (delicious) and one of each $2 street tacos (beef and chicken - see picture) on corn tortillas. Both tasted great, but the beef were especially great - tender and such fantastic seasoning! The chopped onions and cilantro on the side was another tasty addition. Food: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Value: 4 Service: 5 If you found this review helpful, please click to show your support. For a list of great Happy Hour food and drink specials in the Des Moines area, visit: www.happyhourdesmoines.com read more

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I came to meet some friends and it was my first time in this restaurant. I was greeted promptly and with a big smile. It made me feel welcomed. Alex was a great waitress and she was very attentive and cordial. We had some type of Queso (they have a few options) the one that we had, had corn and it was very flavorful. I ordered the grilled chicken and it was a big portion. It had a salad, black beans (normally served with refried pinto beans) rice and the chicken with a sauce. The flavor were very good and tasty. Not sure what was the sauce but it was very good. The only reason that I am giving 4 stars it is because the mens bathroom need attention. They had black plastic bags over the urinals (both of them) and the floor were very slippery. Not sire if it is because of the humidity. I will be back for sure because the food it is just that good! read more

Malo - Wood Grilled Chicken - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Malo is amazing, with a great staff, and a lot of food for your bucks. The atmosphere is great. Staff truly care for their customers and their community. Recommended: chicken enchiladas, breakfast burrito are the favorites. Tacos are amazing, too. read more

Malo - Tacos! - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Extremely Disappointed/Ignored, Unprofessional Staff, and False Promises from the Owner My party and I arrived at the restaurant and were left standing at the front with no greeting, no host in sight, and no indication of what we were supposed to do. Several staff members walked right past us multiple times during what appeared to be a shift change. Not one acknowledged us or offered help. After about 8 minutes of being completely ignored, we decided to find the host ourselves. We eventually spotted her, sitting at the bar, casually chatting. Not working. Not assisting. Just socializing. We approached the bar to ask about being seated, and she popped up and finally showed us where we could sit. We waited another 30 minutes. Again, no follow-up, no eye contact, no service from ANYONE. We attempted to see the hostess again to see if we had an assigned waitress. However, she had vanished by the time we returned to check again, and we couldn't find her anywhere. But unfortunately, it does get worse. The owner of the restaurant called me after I left a review and apologized for the experience. They offered a gift card if I would consider removing the review. I agreed, thinking maybe they were trying to make things right. I never received the gift card. They asked for my mailing address to send it, and I gave it to them in good faith, which I now regret. It's been weeks, and I've received nothing. They got what they wanted (my review taken down) and disappeared just like their host. Beware. If this is how they treat guests and handle their mistakes, it says a lot about their priorities. read more

4.2 We have been coming here since the beginning, mostly Friday afternoons into evenings at the bar drinking and a Nosh. The reboot, was a flop, the amount of really good staff that have been lost is shocking and still, I love it. Most recently yesterday and with the lovely Katie as a bartender it was another great experience. I hope it lasts forever but it sure looks like it could use a boost. Good job! read more

I went here on a Wednesday which happened to be half priced margarita day! Wow, definitely perked up my night. This place is incredibly cute inside. Spacious and modern. We came kind of early without a reservation but were seated right away at a table. It did get busier as the night went on. They also have patio seating. Which looked nice for a warm day in September. And from what I noticed all the staff members had masks on. I had the pork belly tacos on flour tortillas with some salsa on the side. And wow those slabs of meat tasted delish. Crispy and melted in my mouth after each bite. My friend got the veggie burrito and it was huge. Honestly the biggest burrito I've seen, and it came with rice and beans on the side. I think the food was decently priced for the quality and atmosphere of this location. Especially since we had half priced margaritas. I had a positive experience so I recommend this place for a night out with friends or for date night. read more

Malo - Pork Belly Tacos - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

This was a phenomenal experience with great food great people and a great spot! One of the owners I spoke to name Collin is a phenomenal guy and does phenomenal work. They have such good dishes and it's amazing what a cheese quesadilla taste like at this place for $11! Food is phenomenal even their chicken it sets a bar that's for sure! I recommend this place a great date night! The ambience is phenomenal for sure and it's very very well kept and fancy! The food looks and tastes good as it does in the pictures and that's no question! Thank you for the experience. read more

The Cuban sandwich is the best sandwich ever. The chicken tortilla soup is the second best soup ever.

Walking in the door the ambiance is fantastic. We were seated quickly and our server was very friendly and attentive. We ordered a round of patron silver margaritas, delicious!! The lobster queso came out quickly with a tray of homemade chips and it was yummy. We ordered a selection of street tacos for dinner. I had al pastor, dos precedes, and the steak tenderloin. All were really tasty with the tenderloin being absolutely delectable! Food came out quickly and was hot and nicely plated. We will definitely be back for more!! read more

Great and FAST service. We were well taken care of during our visit and our food came out super quick, and was hot and fresh. The basic guacamole tastes like just mashed avocados, but was good when combined with the house salsa. I also had the BEST mango margarita I think I've ever had. It was hard to stick to ordering just one. We ordered the quesadilla appetizer that comes with a dipping sauce, and we both LOVED it. The dipping sauce was SO good and adds the perfect amount of fat and flavor to the dish. For main courses, me and my own both ordered the mix and match tacos. The all stars of our orders were the beef tenderloin and the fried cod. The beef tenderloin was perfectly seasoned, fall apart, and was well-balanced with the other elements. We also got an order of fried yuca and Malo fries that we barely touched because we were stuffed. The yuca came home with us. Overall, we had a wonderful experience at Malo and are almost upset that it took us this long to make it out here. read more

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I give the restaurant vibe (both indoor and outdoor) a 4, the food a 4 and the service a 3. We've been going to Malo for years because the food has always been great and we love the atmosphere. If there's just 2 people, you can usually get right in and sit at the bar or the high top tables around the bar, so it's nice not to have to make a reservation. But we've also been there with groups so definitely make a reservation in that case! My go-to's are the Carne Asada Tacos or Drunken Nachos along with the Charred Iowa Corn as a side and the Queso Malo. This last time my husband and I went there for dinner, I got the Al Pastor Tacos and they were...okay. They didn't have a lot of flavor so moving forward, I'll stick to my usuals. I would definitely recommend Malo! read more

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Meh. We had a variety of tacos & other food, including 4 different salsas & the queso. There was something missing in most of what we ate. It lacked any depth of flavor & I think it was salt. Im not a big "salt" fan & hate when restaurants over season with salt but Malo doesnt have that problem. If ur watching salt intake this may be the place for u. The wait staff were friendly & nice but hung out behind the bar talking so we waited awhile to get the bill then for her to return to run the credit card read more

I'm visiting from out of town. Came here to check out if Iowa Mexican food is as good as I've been told. Unfortunately, i did not have a great experience. We had made a reservation for four at 6:30pm. When we arrived, the hostess seemed confused on what was going on. Kept walking around back and forth and telling us to wait a moment. She was not rude at all, just seemed confused. Then when she walked us to our table, we asked if we could have a booth instead. She said they were all booked up for other reservations. However, in the 90 minutes that we were there, it was very minimally crowded, and the booth I had inquired about never had anyone sit at it. Took a while to get our drinks in. They came way later than the appetizer (salsa trio). We received one of the wrong salsas. The pico was fine, nothing great. The jalapeno Serrano was fine, a little salty and not as jalapeno as I had hoped. The chipotle crema came but was not what we ordered. That one tasted like straight sour cream, it was not good. The fire roasted chipotle came much later after we had to ask our waitress about it. She then had someone else take care of it, and bring more chips. Unfortunately; these went to the wrong table. Our waitress never followed up. We asked a food runner to help fix the errors. The chipotle fire roasted salsa was pretty flavorless. Finally our drinks came. The skinny margarita I ordered tasted exactly like the el Jefe which was just a regular margarita with triple sec and marg mix. I swapped with my bf's Paloma which was not as sweet as my skinny marg. Food was standard. Nothing exceptional. The queso fresco that came on my taco salad was actually shredded cheese from a bag, with some pieces that were hard. Not very much black bean or corn in the salad, mostly just spring mix lettuce that was overly dressed. Apparently the place has been taken over by new Management. Our family will not be going back. read more

Went here last night for dinner and had the mix and match tacos. I got Carnitas, Chorizo and know. Now, my wife and I moved here to Davenport from Arizona and my wife is hispanic so I know what good and authentic Mexican food is. They need to work harder to get good. The Barbacoa was good,not great but just ok, had flavor and juicy. The Chorizo was ok, not good but needs a little more spice and flavor. The biggest disappointment was the Carnitas which is typically my favorite! This one was dry, no flavor or spices, nothing. Half of the "meat" was fat which I know it gets cooked with traditionally but this was too much! I probably should have just stuck with the chips and salsa, the chips are bagged chips and not fresh cooked which a "upscale" restaurant should've had. But not horrible, the best part was actually the queso dip with the "spicier" green chili dip. If I have a choice, I will not be back. Giving two stars because of the effort on the food server. But in general it only deserves one star! read more

Wow just wow. Waitress was a gem. Every food item we tried was phenomenal. Ambiance is amazing. I will eat here every time I'm in Des Moines. Don't miss out on Malo read more

Stopped by here on our road trip on the way to Chicago. The service was great! The staff were attentive. Food was good portion and price was not bad. Seems like a local favorite from the vibe I got dinning in here. read more

1 star is for the outdoor seating! Chips and salsa- nasty, soggy, old chips with one of the worst salsa even from a can are better. Ordered the mix & match taco: -tenderloin was good, tasty meat, house made corn tortilla -shrimp taco - bland, despite over seasoning that tasted horrible -fish taco - the cream doesn't go well with the tomato topping. Tomato was too ripe than tasted rotten El patrón margarita- mediocre drink Worst Mexican food I have ever had!!! Tasteless, mediocre food and service!! Will not back and do not recommend at all! read more

I tried this place while visiting my best friend in Des Moines. The service was great! Our waitress was incredibly friendly. The food was pretty good and I've never had anything like it before! It was veryyy filling. Overall I enjoyed it and I liked the ambience. It's not authentic Mexican but more like a Tex mex place. read more

Malo - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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The service was horrible. We felt like our waiter forgot about us. It took 45 minutes to pay for our meal because we had to track down our waiter, wait for him to bring the ticket and then return with our cards and receipt slips to sign. DO NOT ORDER THE SHRIMP CEVICHE'. It is an insult to the dish. Nothing fresh about it and very oily which it shouldn't be. Margaritas were sub par. I would not recommend this place. It is extremely noisy and difficult to have a conversation. Huge disappointment! Never again. read more

Malo. Wow this place is amazing. A beautiful patio with very welcoming and attentive staff. They accommodated our group and made us feel safe with social distancing. Malo has about 10 different salsas and lots of options to try them. I got the Crema, Pico and Avocado salsa. The crema was my favorite! I then got the mix and match tacos which were phenomenal. The beef tenderloin, shrimp, and cod all had excellent flavor with quality ingredients. I recommend trying their spicy margaritas as well. We celebrated my friends birthday and they were very sweet and brought out a free desert. We chose the churros and they were unreal! And they give you so much for a free desert. I am looking forward to coming back when I visit Des Moines next time. read more

Malo - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

A small group of us came in Saturday night. I have to say that I was very impressed with the service, the food, and the manager who stopped by twice to make sure we had everything we needed. Highly recommend!! read more

So good! I had the 3 Taco Mix & Match with the Seared Beef Tenderloin Tacos Chipotle Shrimp Tacos and Mahi Mahi Tacos....all of them were delicious. The tenderloin taco was absolutely a must try. Lots of seating and fun atmosphere for a night out. read more

Malo - 3 Taco Mix & Match and Large Cheese Enchilada - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Good tacos. Salsa and guacamole are good, but they weirdly don't have any salt for the chips (?). The pozole was authentic and the mushrooms were a surprise hit. The pork belly taco was the best by far. read more

Malo - Portabella mushrooms, shrimp taco, pork belly taco, mahi mahi taco, margarita - Latin American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa