Look back at 16 restaurants that closed in the Des Moines metro in 2023. Which do you miss?

Susan Stapleton, Des Moines Register
·7 min read

The inevitable happens all the time; a long-time favorite restaurant closes. Maybe it was a family favorite or a place you didn't get a chance to try before it closed. Either way, the evolution of restaurants continues in the Des Moines metro. Here are some of the notable closings in the region.

Did we miss something? Drop us an email at sstapleton@gannett.com with the name of the restaurant that closed. You can send any restaurant news such as openings, new chefs, coming attractions, favorite places and more our way too.

Barbarian

Roasted beets, apple, and smoked salmon at Barbarian.
Roasted beets, apple, and smoked salmon at Barbarian.

Chef Jacob Demars opened this fine dining experience with prix fixe menus inside Kinship Brewery in January. When Kinship closed in October, Barbarian also shut down. Demars does not plan to find a new home for the restaurant that was only open on Sunday nights.

More: Waukee's Barbarian tasting menu restaurant inside Kinship Brewing closes

Barrel House

Barrel House closed in August after about a year in business.
Barrel House closed in August after about a year in business.

The Quad Cities-based restaurant chain Barrel House closed its location in the Market District in Des Moines after about a year in business, and at the time announced plans to move into new space. The restaurant still has not found a new Des Moines location.

Barrel House has seven locations, including the latest to open in Coralville. The restaurant offers burgers, pizzas, wraps and tacos.

RRACKSS Fine BBQ & Bistro opened in the space.

More: After less than a year in Des Moines, Barrel House closes, looks for a new location

Beer Can Alley

Beer Can Alley moved two blocks west on Court Avenue in February before closing in November.
Beer Can Alley moved two blocks west on Court Avenue in February before closing in November.

Country music bar Beer Can Alley moved two blocks down the street last February and then announced it was closing after almost 12 years in the Court Avenue District before Thanksgiving. The bar that kept fans boot scootin’ and line dancing to Nashville beats does not plan to open a new Des Moines location, but does have two other bars in Omaha, Nebraska, and Sioux City.

The new location, although in a smaller space, offered a food menu with pizza and wings, fried pickles and totchos, breaded pork tenderloins and burgers.

More: Country bar and restaurant closes on Court Avenue before Thanksgiving

Ben’s Burgers

Owner Benjamin Carris announced that his burger restaurant in Ankeny was closing right before Christmas. Ben’s Burgers landed a nomination for the best burger in the state in 2023.

Curbin’ Cuisine from Beaverdale will take its place in January.

More: Ben's Burgers in Ankeny is closing. What will take its place?

Billy Vee’s Italian Restaurant

Billy Vee’s, the Italian restaurant in Clive, permanently closed in July. Owners Bill and Pam Valentino said that “things didn’t work out in this location. We thank you for your patronage.”

The restaurant originally opened in Panora, a town of about 1,100 north of Stuart, in 2014, before moving to Valley Junction in 2018. When a developer decided to raze the house Billy Vee’s occupied in the historic West Des Moines neighborhood, the couple moved to Clive in the Creekside Shopping Center.

More: Italian restaurant in Clive shuts down permanently over July 4th weekend

Claxon’s Smokehouse & Grill

Claxon's Smokehouse & Grill closes after 27 years in business. The barbecue restaurant opened in 1996 in Altoona.
Claxon's Smokehouse & Grill closes after 27 years in business. The barbecue restaurant opened in 1996 in Altoona.

Claxon’s Smokehouse & Grill served barbecue in Altoona with a slice of American grill fare thrown in on the side since 1996. Owner Andy McReynolds opted to close the restaurant that specialized in baby back ribs served with the sauce on the side after 27 years.

Casa Agave Mexican Cuisine plans to open in the space.

More: Two restaurants in the Des Moines metro have closed: one serving barbecue, the other Thai

Dough Crazy

Dough Crazy will continue to offers its edible cookie dough through its food truck and at the Iowa State Fair.
Dough Crazy will continue to offers its edible cookie dough through its food truck and at the Iowa State Fair.

The brick-and-mortar home of edible cookie dough closed in downtown Des Moines in December. Owners of Dough Crazy Easton and Lucas Smith plan to continue to operate a food truck and serve their edible dough at the Iowa State Fair.

More: Dessert shop with edible cookie dough in downtown Des Moines closes in December

Fong’s Pizza

Fong’s closed its final outpost outside of Des Moines in March when the Ankeny location called it quits. Fong's opened in the District at Prairie Trail in 2015 as the restaurant's second location. Fong’s remains open at 223 Fourth St., Des Moines.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria takes its place in 2024.

More: Fong's Pizza to close in Ankeny, leaving just one location for crab rangoon pies

Franka Pizzeria

Franka Pizzeria replaced St. Kilda Surf & Turf in late 2020.
Franka Pizzeria replaced St. Kilda Surf & Turf in late 2020.

Franka Pizzeria, the purveyor of Neapolitan pizzas in the East Village, closed on Sept. 16. The restaurant space at 111 E. Grand Ave. was sold to “another local business,” according a message posted on the Franka website.

Franka remains open in Clive at 12695 University Ave.

Franka opened in the former St. Kilda Surf & Turf space in late 2020. Both restaurants are owned by Alex and Whitney Hall.

More: Another business bought out the lease of this Neapolitan pizza restaurant in the East Village

Jennie Lee’s Korean

Jenny Lee's was one of the few places to order Korean fried chicken in the Des Moines metro.
Jenny Lee's was one of the few places to order Korean fried chicken in the Des Moines metro.

West Des Moines Korean restaurant Jenny Lee's Korean + American Restaurant closed in August after rent increased on the space. Chef and owner Jenny Lee Symonds opened the Korean restaurant at 3701 EP True Pkwy. in West Des Moines in the former home of Unrvld barbecue.

More: Korean restaurant in West Des Moines with crispy fried chicken, barbecue abruptly closes

The Old Spaghetti Works

The exterior of The Old Spaghetti Works at 310 Court Ave. in Des Moines. The restaurant in the Historic Court Avenue district closed permanently on March 27, 2023.
The exterior of The Old Spaghetti Works at 310 Court Ave. in Des Moines. The restaurant in the Historic Court Avenue district closed permanently on March 27, 2023.

The Old Spaghetti Works in Des Moines closed after 45 years on Court Avenue in March. Any pasta dish came with free refills and a trip to the salad bar. Diners sat at tables with red-and-white checkerboard tablecloths and could crane their heads to look at historic memorabilia on the walls.

While The Old Spaghetti Works in Des Moines closed, downtown Omaha, Nebraska, and it suburban location in Ralston, Nebraska, remain open.

More: The Old Spaghetti Works permanently closes Des Moines location after 45 years on Court Avenue

Pad Thai Garden

Pad Thai Garden, the West Des Moines Thai restaurant, opted to close in October, citing the road construction on Eighth Street in West Des Moines. The restaurant owners hope to relocate and open in a new space.

More: Two restaurants in the Des Moines metro have closed: one serving barbecue, the other Thai

Paesano’s Pizzeria

Owners Alec and Courtney Kennedy announced they were closing the 41-year-old Paesano’s Pizza on the southside of Des Moines in June.

“Our first priority is our staff, with that being said we will plan to be open through May while they seek new opportunities, but it could be sooner depending on how quickly that happens,” the couple wrote on Facebook.

The Kennedys said they closed the restaurant so they can focus on their two other businesses — CKD Home and Golden Hour.

More: You still have time to say goodbye to a 41-year-old southside pizzeria that closes in June

Scratch Cupcakery

The cupcake shop in West Des Moines closed in August after a decade in the space. Natalie Brown shut down her only metro area store at 7450 Bridgewood Blvd., Suite 215. Scratch Cupcakery still has locations in Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Coralville as well as a mobile food truck.

More: Iowa-based bakery Scratch Cupcakery will close its West Des Moines doors in 'just a few weeks'

Wahlburgers

Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg appeared in West Des Moines in 2018 to promote a new location of their burger joint Wahlburgers.
Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg appeared in West Des Moines in 2018 to promote a new location of their burger joint Wahlburgers.

Back in 2018, the celebrity Wahlberg brothers Danny, Mark and Paul made the trip to West Des Moines to open their second Wahlburgers location in Iowa at Jordan Creek Town Center. Last January, the 7,100-square-foot standalone location at 7105 Mills Civic Pkwy. in West Des Moines permanently closed.

Wahlburgers still has locations in Ankeny, Waukee, Grimes, Urbandale, and Des Moines in the metro.

More: Hy-Vee closes a standalone celebrity burger joint from Donnie, Mark and Paul Wahlberg

Zora

Zora Bar & Rooftop nightclub closed last summer and is on the market.
Zora Bar & Rooftop nightclub closed last summer and is on the market.

Des Moines restaurateur Edwin Allen III closed his troubled Zora Bar & Rooftop nightclub in August. Allen opened Zora, which reportedly cost $5 million to build, in 2021 at the corner of Ingersoll Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, but the bar has been up for sale since March. In July, city officials sued to have it declared a public safety nuisance, citing several shootings, one of them fatal, and other assaults or riots on the property.

More: Zora closes; owner Edwin Allen III files $10 million lawsuit against Des Moines

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, X, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: The restaurants, bars that closed in the Des Moines metro in 2023