Hidden Gem, shhhhhh Was on social media and someone sent out a link of locations of good tenderloins around. It so happened it was on the direct route for us on the way home that evening. We parked, got out and exchanged that "look" when your not sure about the outside of a place. However, don't judge this book by the cover, or the name for that matter. There was some seating outside, but we walked in, did a quick scan of the room and bellied up to the bar. It was a week day evening and it was not too busy. Newer waitress being trained behind the bar, but no worries we all gotta learn sometime. The place is a bar with all the normal "bar" things. Pool table, TVs, music, etc. Dimly lit, smell of fried food and beer. Seat yourself and vocal friendly staff. From the seats we snagged you could see the grill in the kitchen. The cook was working up a storm. I knew I was there for the tenderloin. I did a quick yelp search and found some great reviews on the Hot Sausage Sandwich after watching the cook work on 2 of them on the grill as we sat there. They were Giant! Convinced hubby he should try and just from the SIZE that I could see from my seat. We didn't get any sides just the two sandwiches. The orders were spot on. My breaded tenderloin was good! It was pounded flat, and they happily brought me extra pickles. The Hot Sausage Sandwich was a hit! Hubby was really impressed. He rates the Sandwich alone as 4 out 5 stars! it was a lot of food just the sandwich alone and he said he would happily come back. While we sat there enjoying our meals we watched pick up order after pick up order getting started and called in. That says a lot. We absolutely loved this hole in the wall. We loved the atmosphere and the vibe from the regulars as they sat an enjoyed their drinks. Hubby also mentioned how he got small town vibes from here and keeps talking it up even a week later. I know well be back. -quick PS I am trying to get the Sausage Sandwich pics to post and well post separately. read more

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Man do I feel like my hometown bar when I stepped in here. Signage on the front door was missing just the way I like it. There was room at the bar for us to sit and get a nice cold draw from the tap. I noticed by reading other reviews that the tenderloin and sausage sandwiches were top favorites here. Once I had a couple of drinks and heard/ seen about 15 tenderloins and sausage sandwiches be ordered and served I knew what I wanted. It didn't disappoint as I split my meal with my guest. Everything that I want and nothing I didn't need is here. I am excited as I found my new regular stop that makes me feel like the small town I'm from. read more

Norwood Inn - I'm coming back on Saturday morning - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

The service sucks waited 40+ minutes still no food. Fries came after we finished eating

Went here with Cook for a customer lunch one day. Food was alright, then I decided to look over towards the bar and saw our waitress at the time using her bare hand to itch her foot while wearing her Uggs. Then proceeded to bring us the bill with the same hand she itched her foot with. The only bright side to that lunch was seeing a helicopter flying so low it was like it was filming an episode of dirty dining or something. Idk, but wont be back. read more

Slid into Norwood Inn for a quick lunch today... My first time there. One of the little local spots I've wanted to check out. It's small but easy to find on a corner lot. The parking lot was filled with 4x4 pickup trucks that almost obscured the building from view. This is what I'd call a true dive or a hole in the wall... And I loved it. I lived in, and graduated from, a very small rural Iowa town. I left there when I joined the Navy at 18 in 1988. Boy this place brought me back home. Something that doesn't happen often in the city... It was like every bar and grill I grew up around. Dimly lit. Seat yourself. The weathered tables and chairs bar and barstools. An older obviously local crowd of regulars. A no nonsense staff. A mix of homemade and Sysco food. The TVs behind the bar were playing football recaps and the national news. I suppose you can wait for your server to bring you your bill at the end of your meal...or you can just walk up to the bar and take care of things there. I ordered a variation of what seems to probably be their most well known item. A hot Italian sausage sandwich with cheese, pizza sauce, and hot peppers. Along with onion rings and a coke... It was really good and reasonably priced! Our two meals and drinks came to $26 and change before tip. I kind of wish this place was closer to the West side. It's the kind of bar I could honestly enjoy landing in and having a couple beers at on the regular. I have a couple of those places now. The spaces and people just don't evoke the same memories. You know what I mean? On to Eastside Eddie's, Skip's, and Henry J's. I have a few more boxes to check off in 2023. read more

Norwood Inn - Whole hot Italian sausage sandwich with cheese, pizza sauce, and hot peppers. - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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The food is tasty, high quality and made to order. The prices are amazing for 2025. Crinkle cut fries!

Best damn sausage sandwich in town. Bet you'll take half of it home. Great service, clean atmosphere.

Love their Italian sausage sandwiches. They can get kind of busy on Fridays and karaoke night, but food is always fast and hot. Kitchen closes between 9-10 most nights. Fun little dive bar to have a drink in while waiting for your order. read more

Best sausage sandwich in Des Moines. Bring cash to tip or just pay cash. Local bar been around forever but the food is delicious

Came here on a Saturday afternoon thinking it wouldn't be too busy. Place was packed for a benefit fundraiser. Had a great time seeing the community and locals support one of their regulars. Ordered aome drinks and food. I had the tenderloin, which was very good with some crispy crinkle cut fries! Boyfriend had their famous hot sausage sandwich and he loved it! We will be back for their amazing food and drinks. read more

Norwood Inn - a menu for a restaurant - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Stopped in for a lunch on friday. The place was packed. Food is priced right and the staff is friendly. Had the sausage sandwich with a side of wings and loved them both. Can't wait to try some other lunch items in the future. read more

Norwood Inn - Sausage sandwich and wings - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

I've been here a couple of times. This trip there were 3 of us and we tried 3 different sandwiches. All of them were excellent. We tried the Italian sausage, the pork tenderloin, and the big fish sandwich. They were all excellent. The pork was a real piece of pork that was super tasty. The fish was actually a good piece of fish that was awesome. It's what I would classify as hole in the wall place for the locals; that is a great place to go. Don't try to go for a quick meal... Nothing quick here; but definitely worth the wait read more

Stopped in because I heard some good reviews about this place. I'm new to Iowa from Los Angeles and I love experiencing new hole in the wall places off the beaten path. The bar seating was full but there were several tables open. Sadly, the initial customer service I experienced here sucked. We were not greeted by any staff only looked at by bar patrons so I proceeded to walk up to the bar and ask the bartender whether we could still order breakfast- it was 12pm on a Saturday. Without looking up at me, saying hello she immediately said "no we stopped serving breakfast at 10:30 or 11am - whatever - by that point I was already turned off by the unfriendly vibe and we left. read more

I'm giving five stars for the hot sausage sandwich alone! It's amazing! Huge!!! I have no idea how they can serve it for under $8 with graziano sausage! It's a typical dive bar setting, but you can always grab it to go. I hear the tacos are good too. We had breakfast there and they had homemade strawberry rhubarb jam too. Bloody Mary's were delicious and only $2 on Saturday mornings. Good service too. read more

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Excellent food! It took about 45 minutes to arrive though, which is way too long considering my 1/2 hour lunch break. So avoid it if you have any time constraint. But again, my French dip was fantastic, so was my wife's sausage sandwich. It's a small place with an old school bar vibe, so it's comfortable as well. Our server was friendly. read more

In the middle of No(where)rwoodville, IA is a little dive called Norwood Inn. Upon arrival, I was already in love just pulling into the parking lot (blink and you'll miss the tiny building). Little greasy spoon dive bar, this place totally has my name written all over it. We walked into a dimly lit bar, found an empty table close to the restrooms and had a seat. Bartender/server brought out menus promptly. It is the most simple menu I think I have ever seen. Only four breakfast meal options, and then a small selection of omelettes. That's all. I DEFINITELY dig this place! The options were 1) biscuits and gravy, 2) hot sausage breakfast, 3) steak and eggs, and then 4) their "traditional breakfast" plate (eggs, potatoes, toast and a meat). 4 omelette options make up the remainder of the breakfast menu. No frittatas, no soufflés, no waffle with a smiley face option, just hearty breakfasts. We opted for 1 steak and eggs breakfast, and then 1 hot sausage breakfast (after finding out that the hot sausage was actually a Graziano's sausage plate); otherwise, we would have gone for the traditional breakfast. We also ordered a 1/2 order of biscuits and gravy because...why not. Toast options are simple, white or wheat. Though the hot sausage breakfast doesn't say eggs, we found out that it does come with an order of eggs. My guy likes over hard and I like over easy, definitely not compatible with our preferences, so it was great that we got our own. And though the menu says hashbrowns, the cook came out to ask if we wanted breakfast potatoes or hashbrowns. We opted for breakfast potatoes and found out that she had some leftover baked potatoes from the night before and made breakfast potatoes fresh out of them. If you know anything about breakfast potatoes, you know that day-old baked potatoes make some of the best breakfast potatoes. And they were fabulous. Jam was homemade, in a mason jar, shared amongst tables, strawberry was the only flavor, and DELICIOUS! Coffee was hot and always full. But the steak and eggs, and Grazianos sausage and eggs were the cat's MEEEEOW! Generous portions! The sausage had so much flavor, with just the right amount of crisp on the outside for the perfect grill flavor. Steak was very tender and juicy. The biscuits and gravy were impressive, I noticed that the biscuits were handmade which was even more impressive. Absolutely love that! Total bill: 1 steak and eggs, 1 hot sausage breakfast, 2 coffees, 1/2 order of biscuits and gravy = $23 (not incl. gratuity). Awesome deal. This is definitely a little NE-side hidden gem! Service was friendly and attentive, no frills, it was great. We'll be back for more breakfasts, for sure. In fact, we are going to get out of our west side habits and start dining more regularly on the other side of town. Finding so many little hidden treasures and loving every moment of it. If you're wanting ambience and a wide menu selection, this isn't your place. If you want solid, down home breakfasts...this is the place! (and if you go with a friend, you can potty together with dual toilets in one room! IDK why I found that so cute and comical but oh well, if one breaks there's always a back up!!!) read more

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First time coming, they had really good comfort food!! Customer service sucked though.

I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me! Though I have read and enjoyed the letters from Yelp for many years, I must admit that until now I had always thought they were made up. It just seemed too much of a stretch of credulity to believe that they are true, real-life tales of actual readers. Let me just say that when my wife and I decided to make plans for an ordinary weekend staycation the last thing on our minds was the possibility of running into three sorority co-eds, miles from civilization, surrounded by the primal wilderness of unspoiled nature, where our hunger could reach untold heights far from the disapproving eyes of society. Alas... we didn't. But we did stumble upon a little dive bar hidden from prying eyes and sandwiches that we had previously only imagined in our wildest dreams! Tucked away in the quaint town of Norwoodville is the Norwood Inn. It's a typical dive bar that you would expect to find in a small town, this one happens to be just north of Des Moines. We sat down and ordered our sandwiches. My wife and I were very pleased to discover the crispy tenderloin resting in a basket with its pickles, onions, ketchup and bun all in full view; vulnerable, open and fully exposed. The only thing separating the three of us was a thin, almost translucent sheath of paper. Crispy, large and in-charge, this sandwich was a flavor explosion in my mouth. We thought we would just nibble around the edges and be able to stop, but we were enticed by the flavors to go in deeper. You could almost hear the desire for the sandwich to be had right here, right now - we were not going to wait until we got home to continue! Before we knew it, the sandwich was gone; we were in no hurry and not yet satisfied. And my wife's sausage sandwich! That thing was a full 10 inches of man food; it arrived confident and large. My wife turned away briefly, but realized that because of the sheer size of the thing there was no escaping it! It was loaded with pickles, onions, ketchup and mustard, gorged with juice and nearly pulsating. A single drop of glistening love juice (ketchup) ran down its side; one bite in and there was no stopping us - our hearts were pumping like the pistons on a Kawasaki in high gear. Our first thought was we needed to slow down or this would be over too quickly. So we pulled back for a moment to wipe the sweat, juice and excess moisture from our faces and fingers. Catching our breath we dove back in face first, grabbing a single piece of the succulent paprika-colored meat to savor on its own. We continued on, changing positions often to avoid wearing down from the sheer size of the food. Time passed in slow motion as we explored the sandwich, lingering, discovering new parts and subtleties. We made our way through the multiple layers, textures and emotions and finally finished, exhausted and spent. We were done! The satisfaction on our faces and the stains on the table were the only evidence left behind. Highly recommended! read more

Norwood Inn - Norwood Inn's sausage sandwich - a full 10 inches of man food. - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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The only eatery in the town of Norwoodville Iowa! Well, the town isn't that big, actually I don't even think it's an actual town, it's a small area between Des Moines, Ankeny, and Altoona. All I know is, this place gets pretty busy! It's a bar and restaurant and is visited by many regulars! I know this because when we came here, everyone was looking and wondering who we were haha! You seat yourself at a table or the bar and check out the menu. The menu is posted as a picture here on Yelp and I am grateful for whoever did that because it helped me get an idea of what they have! The first question I asked the server was if breakfast is served all day, the answer was no. (I never got a response on when it was actually served) They have a pool table here for whoever is looking for a bar with a pool table. For dinner we had the Italian Sausage Sandwich (hot) and the Breaded Pork Tenderloin along with Gizzards for a side. The Italian Sausage Sandwich I believe is their signature item, and it was GOOD! I read good things about it on their Facebook page and everything everyone says about it is true! It is a good amount of food and it tastes fantastic! The Pork Tenderloin was okay, it didn't really wow me, but it was okay. The Gizzards was very good as well, it is breaded deep fried for those wondering how it's prepared. The atmosphere is a local bar feel, it's loud with everyone having a good time drinking and playing pool. Almost everyone knows someone in the establishment somehow it seemed like. The staff members were friendly, but they ended up only having one bartender who doubles as the server as well. So in order to get your check you need to go to the bar to close out your tab. There was also no check up on how we were doing and no water fill up. Overall, good food here, but the atmosphere is not for us. This establishment is definitely a bar first and restaurant second. read more

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Bartender, Short, heavyset, long dark hair with glasses, was the absolute rudest bitch I have encountered in my life. From the get go she was obviously bothered by the fact I wanted to order food. I asked a few questions about what I could get on my sausage sandwich and I was replied to with arrogance and complete rudeness as make me feel like I didn't belong there and wasting her time. Because I asked to have her add something to my sandwich when she passed by she gave me a nasty look in which I gave one right back to her. She then said, " Just for that you can pay upfront!!" Which they normally don't do. You pay when you're done. Then my buddy came up to order the same thing right after me, and he was greeted with," what the fuck?? Is there a coupon out there on sausage sandwich's I don't know about??" What in the f**k They had just got slammed and there was only 1 other women cooking so I can understand being stressed but there was NO EXCUSE for her behavior. The one good thing about the visit was the sausage sandwich is still fantastic. If I ever go there again and that's a big if, if she happens to be working I will walk the F**k out of there. What a sad deal that employee can turn people away for good. They need to send her on her way. read more

Only gave one star because you can't give zero. Worse bar on the Eastside. The bartenders can make a drink even after googling the ingredients. Food wasn't cooked all the way, when we told the cook they got mad. If you want a very dirty unpleasant experience this is definitely the spot.​ read more

Great sausage sandwiches and other menu items! The owner and his staff have not changed in years!! Friendly, good food and staff are always a place I will return to. read more

Hot sausage sandwich is always a winner here read more

Norwood Inn - Hot sausage with everything to go - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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I only rate this a 2 because the curly fries were good and my girlfriend liked the shrimp other than that i do not recommend this place if you want more than just good fries. read more

I went to this place the other day for breakfast. I had seen an amazing review about it and knew I had to try it. I had never heard of the town before, but It only ended up being 12 minutes away from my hometown. I ordered the biscuits and gravy. The biscuits were AMAZING! I did feel like there was a little too much gravy on it. But I would definitely love to go back and just get some biscuits with butter and their homemade jam. There was only one lady working and she was super kind! Definitely will be going back to try their lunch menu! read more

Norwood Inn - Biscuits and gravy - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Food is made to order, fresh, hot, and always right. The servers are amazing, the bartender cooks and serves. The food is priced wonderfully. I come every other Sunday and am never disappointed! read more

Norwood Inn - Front of menu - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Best hot sausage sandwich in the whole damn metro. No debate. Dine in or take out. Beer is cold. Prices are good!

We stopped in around 1115 on a Sunday. There was one female employee behind the bar with four patrons seated around the bar and a single patron seated at a table. We ordered a Bloody with Bud tall boy and a screwdriver. We were served quickly. No fancy glassware here but the drinks weren't weak. She asked if we wanted food - they were serving breakfast. We ordered an everything omelet, which came with toast and hashbrowns and a bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and toast breakfast. The food took a little longer than I wanted but was expected but she was the only employee. The food was great! The bacon was thick, crispy and chewy. The eggs were moist. The veggies in the omelet were done well and the amount of food in both dishes was perfect. Instead of getting commercially available packets of jelly, we were given homemade strawberry (rhubarb?) jelly. It. Was. Amazing. For four drinks and two decent plates of food, our total bill was just over $22 - totally worth it! They are open at 0600 Monday - Saturday (which is perfect for night shift-ers) and at 0930 for breakfast on Sundays. The employee said she'd serve breakfast all day on Sundays! Stop in and check them out. We want to come back and try lunch. read more

Norwood Inn - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Homemade onion rings would have gotten another star..thinner patties then I remember,but still good read more

Norwood Inn - Been awhile since we ate here... - New American Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Has the best Hot Sausage Sandwiches to die for. Not too spicy and its ready in time for you to be severely happy when you get it in uour tum tum!!! Priced right an is very filling. I can only eat 1/2 then save other halve for yumminess later. Great job and thanks! Love playin pool too!!!! read more

Always busy. Love this place. Food is great and drinks are plentiful. Patrons are usually pretty decent and staff is friendly.

Small, family owned forever, just a plain old bar with good sausage sandwiches and other food.. Great place to drop by.

The best hot sausage sandwich ever.somewhere everyone should go and try one.you won't be sorry d.hawthorne.