4/14/26 3:15 p.m…read more Online Order for Pick Up Food: We were very excited to try the food here, but we weren't too impressed, unfortunately. We ordered a Caesar Wrap w/chicken, Chicken Pesto w/no cherry tomatoes, Firehouse Chimichurri w/steak and no cherry tomatoes, Chocolate Smoothie, and Farmer's Punch. For starters, all of the produce was fresh and crisp (which is always a plus), but you can tell that meat is not their forte. The chicken tasted as if it were precooked, frozen chicken (not saying that's a bad thing, just didn't seem as if it was freshly cooked), and the steak was full of almost inedible gristle. The overall flavor of the food was pretty lackluster as well, besides on the Chicken Pesto; the balsamic vinaigrette was very overpowering. The Caesar Wrap was large, but the sandwiches were quite small portion-wise. The Chocolate Smoothie tasted more like a green smoothie with chocolate protein powder, and we had a really hard time keeping it mixed; sadly, we didn't finish it :( The Farmer's Punch, on the other hand, was really good! Service: The service wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. The person who greeted us was friendly, but not particularly social, if that makes sense? It almost seemed as if they didn't have enough time for us. They were polite and quick with getting our order to us, though. Ambiance: Inside is quite small and not meant for a dine-in experience; there are no tables at all. This is definitely a pick-up/to-go/drive-through type of establishment. It's kept very clean, though, from what we could see.

Seriously what a fun concept! They grow the lettuce for the salads right where they make the salads…read morelove it! How cool!! They only negative... is its a bit of a small salad for $10. The bowl was quite small... I had to add to it once I got home to make a full meal.

Awesome place that really surprised. Clearly a farm to table concept with a varied but overwhelming…read moremenu. Came in on a weeknight with coworkers and received good service and fantastic food. Nice drink menu (I enjoyed their take on the old fashioned) with cocktails and a nice craft beer selection. Everyone loved their food, from the barley soup to the ravioli, burger, Brussels salad, and the salmon I got. Hidden gem perhaps was their incredible dessert selection. The cherry tart was a pleasant surprise and the salted caramel chocolate cake will def fix a choc craving. Would gladly come back.

Food and decor, service was all amazing! Gluten free options were nice as well! Enjoyed all of it…read moreand will be back. Just wish the burnt ends weren't like $15 for 5 bites!

Small place, had the volcano bowl as a take out meal. It was so fresh and delicious. You can…read moreask for brown or white rice and whatever topping you like. The bowl is rather large, so choose the medium bowlif you aren't famished. I didn't realize till I was heading out that they offer bobba tea as well. I will make sure to go back another time to try the bobba.

We were looking for something quick to eat at the playground while our toddler played before…read moredriving back to Des Moines. This came up on Yelp and our family loves poke so we went for it. First of all, just the 3 protein bowl is definitely big enough to split between two or maybe even three people. I selected shrimp, salmon, and spicy salmon with almost all the free veggie toppings, mixed rice, and spicy Mayo and eel. I do think they made a mistake and accidentally put the soy ginger sauce on it instead (?) as there was no eel sauce. However it was a small mistake and the food was still really delicious. I also ordered a jasmine mango tea. It was alright and the toppings were generous (lots of popping boba and mango slices) but the tea was super bitter like it had been oversteeped. Either way the poke was really delicious better than anything else we have tried in Des Moines. We will definitely try to order again if we come to the area in the future.

My wife and I went out for dinner last night and had THE Cafe's special entre. It was a fish dish…read morefeaturing many varieties including red snapper, and shrimp. It was an Italian soup style with incredible flavor. I hope they offer it many times again, as we loved it!

Disappointed... I came here for restaurant week to try their Thai Menu. It looked good online and…read morethought I'd give them a try. The Cafe has been on my list for a while now. Disappointed to say the least, I came in the back door not realized there was a correct door and was rudely cut off by other patrons at the front desk. I had to wait several minutes to be waited on and the place had plenty of spots. Maybe because I was a party of 1... they didn't seem to care. After I shared what drink I wanted, I learned they were out... fine no problem. I asked about the Thai specials, the waitress was clueless. I had to ask for the restaurant week menu and ask about the specials. She said they looked good but couldn't describe them and hasn't tasted them. I got the salad on special, but get this... they were out of the main restaurant week special... such a let down. The ambiance was mixed, one corner was a cute date night the other corner was crying children. All dimly lit and outdated decor. The whole experience was off, I ended up leaving after my one drink and salad. I hope to give this place a second chance sometime but hope they aren't out of dishes and I can get a trained server. Maybe another night for sure!

The Filling Station is a gas station, an extra stocked convenience store, a breakfast/lunch food…read morecounter, and a tables inside and out to enjoy your refreshments and the view. Gayle and I stopped in today after reading about it within some "48 hours in Ames" article. I ordered a brisket grilled cheese sandwich, while Gayle chose a similar one with blackberry flavoring. We split a can of Guinness off the convenience store fridge, and then sat outside for our street and car wash view. We had nice shade on a not too hot day and took the opportunity to hang out bit after we finished our meal. This was a tasty and pleasant experience of good value overall.

Was nearby for an early meeting and had a gap before my next one. Decided to grab breakfast and…read morerolled the dice and just went here for a quick bite. Wow, it is a lot more than a quick breakfast at a gas station! The kitchen was complete and had a full menu offered up. It was also a commercial bakery... multiple bakers working on cinnamon rolls that looked divine! I had a breakfast quesadilla. It had real flavor in it with candied jalapeños. It was a lot but judging from all the plates I saw come out of the kitchen everything there was solid in serving size. The chai latte was good too. And the folks were nice. They definitely have loyal fans locally, folks were ordering for tailgates!

We stopped here for lunch when in Ames for a concert. It came recommended by a coworker and our…read morewhole group enjoyed our experience. Amongst our group we ordered the Long Island ice tea, nerds flavored Long Island ice tea, bloody marry and some martinis. We also ordered lunch and everyone seemed really pleased with their food. They were super busy but did a great job accommodating our group of 8. Glad we popped in during our time in Ames.

5 trips to Brazil were amazing so it was great to be at this bar for lunch and dinner. In Ames this…read moreis the # 1 place to be by far. Soccer. World Cup. Academia. Global travelers. Great staff. Feijoada is needed. I look forward to returning.

We stopped in here along our road trip and we're pleasantly surprised. We split a house salad and…read morethe pasta dish to save room for their peanut butter pie. Wow! Everything from the service to the food and the ambience was wonderful. This is definitely one of our favorite restaurants in the area and we plan to come again on our next trip through.

Had dinner here on a Tuesday evening while in town for a conference. I partnered up with another…read moreconference attendee and we came here for dinner. The menu had a diversity of options with both bistro and full size options. We both settled on the Main St. chicken dish on recommendation from the waitress along with swapping the rice for mashed potatoes. Great suggestion. My conference mate asked to have her mushrooms removed and I asked to have the tomatoes removed. Although we both ordered the same meal, the presentation looked different for each of us and hit the spot for our tastebuds. Mine seemed more like a chicken marsala while hers was a tomato sauce. Either way we both enjoyed our meals. We both also had dessert - I had the delicious chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. Honestly there was too much sauce but the cake was still delicious! My conference mate had the peanut pie and it was divine - imagine a Reese cup with an Oreo crust. If I'm ever back in Ames this will definitely be on my return list!!

For starters service was very swell, I had this very nice employee which i think her name was…read more"Caelyn" helped me out so much and was just a sweet young girl that seemed like a bundle of joy! It was my first time ever coming to a tropical smoothie and i wasn't sure what to get and she recommended me the "mango monsoon" which was very good, i will be coming back!!

For starters, the staff is great! They were patient and extremely kind. They all had smiles on…read moretheir faces and were quite happy :) They're all very fast, but very efficient. Our food was delicious!!! The portion sizes for the price is perfect and the ingredients are FRESH! Everything tasted wonderful and it wasn't too much. We also got a smoothie, which was SO GOOD! It was very well blended and somehow stayed blended? Lol. Other places tend to half a** blend things and they wind up separating, but that was not the case here thankfully. It was also packed with flavor. They even have kid friendly options on the menu, too. Inside is more on the "intimate" side. It's small, but not cramped. The decor is upbeat and it's delightfully bright. It was a bit "noisy", but they blend smoothies, so ‍ lol. We didn't mind because it wasn't too loud; we still had a normal level of conversation without having to yell. I'd say it was an average noise level; not too loud and definitely not irritating. Overall, this is definitely a fantastic lunch spot! We will be going back to try more of their menu :)

I love Wheatsfield, as it provides terrific food and lifestyle options without compromising my…read moreoverall experience. The overall vibe of the place is calming, which helps me in these hectic times. Private parking lot, great layout, helpful staff who know their store. Excellent produce. Terrific deli and meat market. Numerous options that you cannot obtain in most store. Located just West of downtown Ames. I try to stop here every time that I am in Ames, as I find items that I cannot get elsewhere, and they add to my quality of life. Some interesting food options always intrigue me too!

Great selection of natural foods. Pricey, but not more so than other natursl foods groceties. A…read moremembership helps. Good downtown location with plenty of parking. The employees are always helpful and very friendly.

Very cute pub. I had the Shepards pie and the Brussel sprouts for my side. It was absolutely…read morefantastic. I have never had Brussel sprouts made that were perfection as they were here! The Irish soda bread was a definite must try also. We also had the crab cakes that came with enough greens that basically made it a salad. The crabs cakes were also very good. They had a huge selection of tap beers that would satisfy just about any palate. We were very satisfied with our experience. If we lived in the area this restaurant would be on my rotation of favorite regular places to go.

We stopped in for dinner before an event at Stevens auditorium. We were seated right away and got…read moreour orders in. It's a very relaxing Irish pub vibe with a variety of seating options and lots of TVs. Our drinks came out quickly and the food followed shortly thereafter. I got a martini and it was very well prepared. My wife got a glass of wine from their decent wine list. For dinner, I had the lamb burger, which was quite tasty. It was a good combination of flavors and the fries were hot and crisp. My wife got a naked burger with a side salad. The creamy Parmesan was very tasty and it was a nice bed of greens. A table next to us had some sort of a problem with one of the dinners and the server tried many many times to get the customer to order a replacement, but he said he was OK with what he got. When she brought the check to them she made sure to take that off since he did not eat it and would not accept a replacement. They seem shocked at this, but I wondered why they just didn't get a replacement! Great service by that server. She was also our server and did a fantastic job with us. We had very tasty food and great drinks , so I would definitely recommend it and would go back if I was in the area.