The 9 hottest new restaurants in the Des Moines area, July 2023 edition
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Des Moines area restaurant fans love to know what's new, what's hot and what favorite chef just launched a second effort that should be tried.
With that, the Des Moines Register updates its hot list, a look at some of the newest restaurants that diners can't get enough of.
Here's a look at nine of the hottest new restaurants in the Des Moines metro, an alphabetical list that will be updated as new restaurants arrive with newcomers removed as they reach six months old.
5 Boroughs
Owners Sarah and Toney Chem now have a factory for their bagel-making enterprise, so look for even more New York-style bagels in the future. The couple, who started 5 Boroughs back in 2016 in Clive, offers 12 bagel flavors (poppy seed, whole wheat, blueberry, and bialy, for example) and 12 cream cheeses (New York cheesecake, jalapeno, honey walnut, and cucumber dill, for example) that are blended daily in house with all fresh ingredients.
The Chems smoke their own pastrami in house as well. Capital City Coffee roasts their coffee locally. Look for the exceptionally adorable yellow neon sign that combines Des Moines and New York’s skylines in the dining room of this corner spot.
Location: 11101 Plum Drive, Urbandale
Contact: 515-214-1837 or 5boroughbagels.com
Hours: Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
More: 33 of the best places to eat in Des Moines: 2022 edition
Backpocket Pin & Pixel
A new 8,000-square-foot taproom in Johnston Town Center from Coralville's Backpocket Brewery features 40-plus games and a six-lane duckpin bowling alley. The restaurant portion specializes in 10-inch wood-fired pizzas, Korean-style wings, and street tacos with corn or flour tortillas that pair well with the German-inspired craft beers on tap.
Location: 6205 Merle Hay Road, Johnston
Contact: 515-666-1281 or backpocketpinandpixel.com
Hours: Open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 to 11 p.m., Friday from 4 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
More: New Johnston brewery, Backpocket Pin & Pixel, set to open in the new year
Barbarian
Chef Jacob Demars flexes his creative side at Barbarian, his Sundays-only restaurant inside Kinship Brewing Co. Diners can make reservations for the 32-seat restaurant.
The plates themselves look like a masterpiece, and the flavor combinations pinging around your mouth bring together ingredients such as pepper, white chocolate and orange in an amuse bouche or a coffee-rubbed beef tenderloin paired with potatoes whipped so fine they practically melt in your mouth. Every week could bring something different from the former owner and chef at RI Restaurant in Windsor Heights.
Barbarian releases reservations months in advance online at Resy, so do some planning to make a reservation. Typically, a dinner will be $125 for 18 courses, according to the restaurant's website.
Location: Kinship Brewing, 255 N.W. Sunrise Drive, Waukee
Contact: resy.com or barbarianrestaurant.godaddysites.com
Hours: Open Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m.
More: Intricate plates from chef Jacob Demars come to Barbarian, opening in Waukee in January
Bix & Co.
Bix & Co. opened in Valley Junction from its perch almost at the base of Railroad Avenue at Fifth Street. Its 1,400-square-foot patio, with a garage door that opens to a walkup bar, offers a perfect view of Railroad Park and its concerts.
Partners Darren Helm, Bambi Helm, and Matt McCormick included odes to Des Moines’ trolley system, the local streets and dishes from some bygone local restaurants.
Chef Tony Formaro played with recipes from beloved Des Moines restaurants for the menu. He makes green pepper rings with a battered crust similar to those found at Noah’s Ark. The 41-year-old Orlondo's on Park Bar & Grill, which closed in 2019, inspired the Italian nachos with a flour tortilla base and Graziano’s sausage, roasted red and banana peppers and mozzarella.
Over on the pizza side of the menu are 14-inch pies that use Grande Italian blended mozzarella cheese. Specialty versions feature Italian beef and the Southsider, with pepperoni, Graziano’s sausage, banana peppers and jalapenos.
Location: 111 Fifth St., West Des Moines
Contact: 515-661-1595 or bixandco-wdm.com
Hours: Open Sunday through Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to midnight and Thursday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
More: Bix & Co. revives old restaurant recipes for its sports bar menu in Valley Junction
Faustinos Taqueria
Asael and Sky Faustino, and Asael’s brothers Jose and David, opened their namesake Faustinos Taqueria in Franklin Plaza. The sunny restaurant with teal, red and yellow tables and chairs has walls with hand-drawn odes to movies with a Mexican twist — The Fast and the Fajitas, The Empanada Strikes Back, When Harry Met Salsa.
The menu leans into street tacos stuffed with carnitas, tripe, cabeza, nopales, chorizo or tinga de pollo, or try birria, quesabirria, or vampiros tacos with melted cheese, refried beans, choice of meat, guacamole, and crumbled cheese on top. The Faustinos make their own corn tortillas in house. Other menu options include burritos, quesadillas and tortas stuffed with chilaquiles, breaded chicken or beef, and more.
And for those who want a bit more to eat, try the plates of flautas, grilled shrimp, carne asada, or chicken cooked in mole.
Do be sure to grab salsas from the salsa bar to drizzle on your meal.
Location: 4944 Franklin Ave., Des Moines
Contact: 515-255-1410 or faustinostaqueria.com
Hours: Open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Naughtea
The Des Moines metro can now bite into a crispy and sweet Korean hot dog with a boba tea on the side. Naughtea in Ankeny serves a classic battered dog filled with mozzarella cheese and a beef hot dog, coated in sugar, or fancier versions slathered with potatoes, hot Cheetos and even ube cheese.
The small counter-service restaurant also serves milk teas in flavors such as jasmine lavender and Okinawa taro, cheese teas in taro ube and cookies and cream, fruit teas with green apple or passion fruit, and brown sugar teas with jasmine milk, matcha or wintermelon. Customers can add cheese foam, boba, mango jelly and other toppings that will make any caffeine junky forget Starbucks.
Location: 1810 S.W. White Birch Circle, Suite 115, Ankeny
Contact: 515-963-7904 or naughteaiowa.com
Hours: Open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More: Our Des Moines: Get to know the new Korean corn dogs and boba teas in Ankeny
Panka Rotisserie Chicken
Back in December, it was all about Korean restaurants opening. Now Des Moines lands an influx of Peruvian places, starting with Panka Rotisserie Chicken in the Drake neighborhood from Panka Peruvian owner Mariela Maya. Consider this her ode to Peru's favorite dish, rotisserie chicken, and street food.
The restaurant focuses on pollo a la brasa, marinated in yellow pepper ajillo amarillo and a brine for 48 hours, and then slow-cooked cooked over algarrobo coals.
Do take some time to admire the neon bright chicha posters — concert announcements from the 1970s — that line one of the walls, or take a selfie near the bathrooms.
Location: 3018 Forest Ave., Des Moines
Contact: 515-244-1430 or pankaperuvianchicken.com
Hours: Open Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Paris Banh Mi
Paris Banh Mi opened in April in Windsor Heights with a combination of sandwiches on baguettes, Korean corn dogs (try the version with crispy ramen on the outside for $5.75) and milk teas and slushies. Give the sizzling beef special a try with nobs of beef, a sausage link, a small meatball and a fried egg.
The restaurant also offers French pastries including croissants and more.
Order from the counter and then servers bring the dishes to your table.
Location: 6601 University Ave. in Windsor Heights
Contact: 515-277-8888 or parisbanhmi.com/locations/paris-banh-mi-windsor-heights
Hours: Open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tullpa Restaurant
Near Merle Hay Mall, diners are taking notice of another newcomer serving Peruvian cuisine. Tullpa Restaurant serves what it calls nuvo Andina fusion cuisine, combining dishes from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
Owner Gloria Henriquez and her boyfriend Lino Ordonez serve dishes such as arroz chaufa, chicarron criollo, lomo saltado, empanadas, and ceviche with fish or shrimp.
Do pick up a pisco sour.
Location: 3708 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines
Contact: 515-214-2327 or tullparestaurant.com
Hours: Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Previous hot lists
March 2022 hot list: The 6 hottest new restaurants to try in Des Moines right now
April 2022 hot list: The 8 hottest, new Des Moines restaurants to try right now
May 2022 hot list: The 7 hottest restaurants in Des Moines right now
June 2022 hot list: The 11 hottest restaurants in Des Moines right now
October 2022 hot list: The 9 hottest new restaurants in Des Moines right now
January 2023 hot list: The 8 hottest new restaurants in Des Moines
May 2023 hot list: The 11 hottest new restaurants in the Des Moines
Is your favorite new restaurant missing from the list? Drop us a line at sstapleton@gannett.com and we'll check it out.
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Where to find the best new restaurants in the Des Moines area
