I'm from Zimbabwe so when looking for a place to eat this restaurant popped up. Reviews looked good…read moreso we stopped in. They had 4 dishes which the waiter verbally told us about, no menus. The restaurant serves Ethiopian food. It's kind of in a not so good area. My friend and I ordered the goat dish with rice and salad. The food came out pretty quickly and we hot it with a fork and spoon. I asked for a knife, I heard the waiter washing one and handing it to me still dripping wet. The food was good, but ambiance can be better. The waited said they were remodel so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I believe there are many Ethiopian truck drivers in the area and this is their go to place. When we walked in the group of Ethiopians sitting down(all guys) just stared at us, it was kind of unwelcoming Besides the food being flavourful and not bad, the place could use a little more organisation and professionalism.

Small, quiet restaurant. We ordered a platter with goat, beef and chicken over seasoned rice. It…read morewas delicious. Our server was a nice young man who took the time to explain their menu, he checked in on us as we ate and, and was up front about prices, the spiciness of the sauces, etc. It was a very good experience and our first time eating Somali food.

My daughter and I are from Chicago and one of her favorite restaurants is an Eritrean one. Since I…read morewas in the area visiting her at Iowa State and she wanted a break from dorm food we decided to explore the food scene and sites in Des Moines. First we did have a little trouble finding the place for whatever reason the GPS was trying to take us a half block away. It's in a little strip mall and the sign isn't very big. Inside it's got a counter and a few tables basic but . Now onto the food we had a beef Tibsi (sautéed beef) the Alicha ( curry veg) and some sambussas. The Sambussas were hot and tasty empanada-like appetizers with a unique flavor. Served piping hot. The injera was tasty as were the other dishes and the beef was tender. not a big deal but the menu did not have an English translation and the food wasn't presented as it might be in a more upscale place. But it tasted better than it looked and my daughter said it was waaaaay better than dorm food.

One of my favorite foods is Ethiopian & Eritrean cuisine... so I was excited to check this place…read moreout. The food was served quickly and just as expected on injera. It was DELICIOUS! I also ordered coffee and it was spot on. If you have had real Ethiopian coffee, there's a distinct flavor... and it was perfect. The place was clean and is part of a small grouping of stores. There were only a few other people in there the whole time I was there but the place was very casual and a "hole in the wall" type of feel. I will definitely go back. Service was quiet but polite the entire time. Wish I could give an extra half star ... the only reason not five was because ... although not feeling unwelcome.. I did not feel like they cared if I was there or not.

First off, hats off to the chef! The food is amazing! It's spiced, cooked well, all the meat is…read moretender and soft, cooked perfectly! Each dish was great! The fufu is soft, perfectly sticky, and smooth. The palm butter soup, savory, rich, spiced, and the chicken with it is tender soft and falls off the bone! The fried fish! Crispy outside and tender flaky meat! It was perfection. Not spicy and not too salty! The brown rice was amazing too! Soft fluffy grains of rice that is blackened seasoned! Will definitely come again!

I ordered takeout so I cannot comment too much on service. But, the limited interaction I had was…read morevery friendly. A gentleman asked what I ordered, checked with the kitchen and notified me of their progress. Location was cute inside -- parking can be found in the back. I ordered the attieke platter and palava sauce with fufu. I loved the sauce they gave with the platters (it's like a savory spicy sauce, not very spicy though). The attieke platter came with WAY too much attiéké, needs more of the other items to help balance it out (attieke was similar to couscous). The palace sauce dish was flavorful and tasty. Looking forward to trying their other dishes.

I really wanted to like this place as it's new to Ankeny and a local small business but I have to…read moresay my first time here was underwhelming. We were seated quickly at 5:45. Two other tables in the place were occupied. Host came and gave us waters/silverware. We didn't see a server for 15 minutes while the host came by again gave us some bread. We let him know we were ready to place a drink/app order. He said he was just the host, he'd go look for our server and also apologized for the wait because they were slammed. No other tables had filled other than the 2 that were occupied when we came in. There was an uninterested bartender, or rather just a guy standing on the other side of the bar because he didn't do anything the whole time we were there. Our server came over after another 5 minutes and took our drink/app order. While waiting for our drinks, the table behind us complained about their steak & said it was inedible and the server brought the owner out who offered them half off their bill & gave them free desserts. When our drinks finally came (40 minutes later), we said we were ready to place our entree order. She took our order, seemed unenthused & said "it will be awhile for the garlic knots, we are super busy, so... sorry." Still only 3 occupied tables. The garlic knots came out & they were the same bread as the ones that came out for free in the beginning. Would have been good to know before we paid extra for them as the appetizer. They were good and buttery. The side salads were rather boring, romaine lettuce & cucumbers and an underwhelming amount of croutons. The ranch for the salad was quite good. Our entrees came out an hour after ordering. My husband ordered the lasagna & said it tasted good but it was more like a baked pasta with thick layer of cheese, then a layer of lasagna noodle on top of a pasta-sauce soup. I ordered the chicken parm. Presentation was not good. Not enough sauce, too much cheese. Chicken was breaded well but I barely got to it. Taste was not very flavorful. I didn't dislike it but I won't be desperate to eat it again. We had to ask for refills every time we needed one. Didn't complain but we did ask for our check right away, the owner came over apologizing for the wait and offered us a free dessert. She was very nice and apologetic & we felt bad. We chose a cannoli and it was delicious. The owner told us she makes the cannoli filling herself and it was so good!! The entire meal took a little over 2 hours & we're not sure if we'll be back, but if we were it would be for the owner's cannolis & not for dinner. I hope it was just an off night & might suggest hiring better staff if it wasn't.

I think this is now out of business. Keep driving by and it is never open. Do not plan on going…read morethere for food.