Eat Play Love Des Moines Night @ Confluence Brewery!

Don't miss it!  Proceeds from this evening's event will go to Buy Fresh Buy Local Des Moines!  This is a family-friendly event!  Please RSVP on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/407552842680118/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Della Dolce Bakery

Today's guest post is by my friend Christie who knows a good cookie when she tastes one!  Check out her experience at this brand new bakery and make plans to attend the Grand Opening for some samples!

I had the chance to be one of the first customers at Della Dolce Bakery on their opening day yesterday!

This is the most beautiful bakery I’ve ever been in.  No surface was left untouched when turning this space into a cozy bakery.

Stop in the morning for a cup of tea or coffee and a scone, cinnamon roll, caramel roll, quiche, or turnover.  By afternoon they have dessert favorites such as cookies, cupcakes, pies, and tarts.  I had one of the chocolate chip cookies and it was DELICIOUS.  Crunchy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside.

Owner, Catherine, also makes wedding cakes and caters other beautiful desserts for events. 

Catherine is hosting her Grand Opening Ceremony on Saturday, November 2 from 5-8pm with the ribbon cutting at 6pm.  She will have light appetizers and samples sizes of menu items for everyone to try.

You can find Della Dolce Bakery at 13435, Suite 300 University Ave, Clive  IA 50325.  Phone: 515-330-2848.  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DellaDulceBakery

Raul's

I drive by Raul's Mexican Restaurant on 8th Street in WDM all the time and finally stopped in.  The sign out front for the lunch buffet sign caught my eye.  Tuesday thru Friday they offer an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet from 11-2 including salad, corn and flour tacos, enchiladas, pizza, rice and beans and more.  For $7.95 it didn't look like a bad deal.  But since it was my first visit I wanted to order something off the menu.

The decor was impressive and the restaurant was bigger than I'd expected from the outside.

I was greeted by a friendly server and presented with warm tortilla chips and salsa.  It wasn't my favorite salsa, but I was hungry and it was good with the warm chips.

The owner also stopped by to say hello and make sure my drink order was taken.  I definitely felt welcome.  The were a lot of "Regulars" that came in for the buffet since I heard a lot of statements like "good to see you again" and "back again!"  It was nice to see that the staff appreciated their customers.

I was excited to see that they offered a full gluten-free menu and they had kids meal specials on Tuesday and Wednesday nights where kids eat for $1.95.

I ordered the 1/2 order of chicken fajitas for $7.95.  The chicken was sauteed with plenty of fresh veggies and came with rice, salad, sour cream and gauc and tortillas.  Everything was very tasty.  I especially liked the fresh gauc.  Even though I like guac, I often skip it in restaurants because of the sketch factor.  but not here, I happily applied it to my tortillas and enjoyed.

I'd certainly return again to try some of their other menu items.  I was totally stuffed after my fajitas so I didn't get a chance to sample more, but I'll update you when I do!  I'll be back.

Fall Festival - WDM UMC

While Mandi was having a great time at The Great Pumpkin Party, we were having a great time at The Annual Fall Festival at The West Des Moines United Methodist Church at the corner of 8th and Grand in WDM.

This FREE event features inflatables (weather permitting), trunk-or-treating, a fire truck who throws candy, face painting and free food!  

The community is not only invited to attend, but to include decorated trunks to show off!  My son's favorite was the fortune-telling trunk.  

The fortune-teller told him he would grow up to be a gym teacher, I guess we'll find out if she was right in about 15 years =)

Another highlight was the fire-truck demonstration where the firefighter threw candy from stories above the kids.  Very cool.

Round out the night with hot dogs, chips, cookies and lemonade, all for just a free-will donation and you have a fun party!

What a great event.  Great to know our communities are offering such fun events in a safe environment and at a price that everyone can afford.

Great job WDM UMC!  Follow them on FB to keep updated on dates for next year's Fall Festival and other events that they hold throughout the year.

The Great Pumpkin Party

We are so lucky to have so many fun, free or inexpensive Fall and Halloween events around the metro.  We of course just can't make it to all of them (though we try!)! Luckily, I have super friends, like my friend Mandi (who is also the Des Moines Dishcrawl Coordinator) who loves to take her kids to do cool stuff.

Mandi had a great time at The Great Pumpkin Party at The Valley Church this week and was nice enough to share about her experience!

This was my first year going, and let me say I am disappointed that I haven’t taken my son every year! I walked in and was instantly in shock, I didn't know which way to go.

 I was as excited at my son was. We ran to the first bright and shinning thing, which happened to be a hall lined with tables of "hands on" chemistry things for the kids to get into.  Very cool. 

Thankfully in our front door goody bag there was a map. We began to come up with some organized plan to try to make it to everything. 

So many inflatables, games, face painting stations and crafts. They had two photo booths which I managed to drag my son to and get great photos at both. 

The lines where long for everything but well worth the wait. Across the street in the brand new community center, they had more inflatables and a petting zoo along with pony rides. 

As hard as we tried, we couldn't make it to everything, but the event runs for a few days so you could always go to the next night to enjoy anything your kid-o might not of enjoyed the first night. 


We especially love this event because they have a special evening just for special needs kids.  It's the same awesome party, but they understand that big crowds aren't always conducive to to some kids needs and they make it happen just for them.


And did we mention this event was all FREE?! Great job Valley Church!

Abelardo's

 

So I had a chance to stop in to the Abelardo's on Ingersol the other day.  I knew there were a few locations around the area, two in WDM and one in DSM.  I didn't realize they had locations in Nebraska, Kansas and Washington as well.

Abelardo's is basically a fast(er)-food version of the sit-down Mexican restaurants we have all over the area like Monterrey and Cabo Sol.

It was pretty neat to just walk up and order and then hit the salsa bar before picking a seat and then being called up (in a matter of minutes) to get my food.

Combo choices included tacos, burritos, chimichangas, fajitas, etc.  I ordered the combo fajitas and was really impressed with the fresh, house-made tortilla that came with my meal.
The size of the meal was impressive but I was a little disappointed with the quality of the chicken.  It was mostly thigh meat and I'm a white meat only kinda gal.  The shrimp was tasty and the veggies were a-plenty.

While I wouldn't say I'd pass up a trip to Tamale's Industry, Tequila or Dos Rios to come to Abelardo's.  It was certainly a good stop for a quick, filling meal that wasn't anywhere as low on the totem pole as a Taco Bell or Taco Johns, but even has a drive-thru and really quick service.

The drive-thru is open 24 hours a day and the prices are good.  Drive-thru for a midnight snack or anytime you need a quick Mexican fix and don't have time for a sit-down full-service joint.

Sakari

I'm officially on a Bento Box kick.  I love the boxes at Miyabi 9 and recently had a great one a Sakura Sushi in West Des Moines and Wasabi Chi on Douglas near Merle Hay Mall, so I decided to go for it at Sakari Sushi Lounge on Ingersol.



 The first photo is someone else's meal  I just had to snap a shot of since they were making it right in front of me at the sushi bar and it looked cool.

This place was busy!  Definitely a fun atmosphere and the chefs were were having a great time behind the bar.

The bento box was $12 which is a little more expensive than the other restaurants in town, but instead of the standard 1/2 roll you usually get, this included your choice of any of the special rolls they offer.

The menu said you could get a salad or miso soup, but I didn't specify and it came with a house salad which was fine.

While I prefer all white meat, the chicken teriyaki was very tasty and a good portion.  The highlight of the box though was the dynamite shrimp.  I have found a new addiction.   These are shrimp and cream cheese lightly tempura battered and fried.  OMG.  Amazing!


All-in-all I loved the fun atmosphere here.  I can see having a great time with friends eating sushi and drinking some cocktails.  The bento box portions were slightly larger than others, which was good because of the increased price and the dynamite shrimp was worth every calorie!  The sushi was beautifully presented and fresh.  Great meal!  And if I had any room left I would have went for the green tea cheesecake.  Next visit.

Goodsons-Beaverdale

 I had a chance to catch up with my good friend who lives in Beaverdale over lunch at GoodSons, a popular Beaverdale restaurant.  


I had only been there for drinks and appetizers before and enjoyed the hummus plate and friendly service.


They offer a selection of panini's, salads, cold sandwiches and desserts.  Appetizers are only $5 on Monday's.



The restaurant was pretty empty at lunchtime on a Wednesday afternoon, but half of the parties there had kids along.  GodSons doesn't offer a kids menu but a grilled cheese panini is on the menu and if your kiddo isn't picky could easily share.  The tables are actually chalk boards and they have chalk available to go to town on the tables with. That really helped to keep my friend's kiddos entertained while we ate.  They also didn't mind that we brought along some snacks from home for the kids.  


While it took a little longer than we hope for our meals to arrive, it was worth the wait since they both came out hot and fresh.  My vegetarian friend was impressed by the uniqueness of the veggie panini. Lots of fresh roasted veggies with a good amount of heat (spicy) and very filling.  I really liked the cheeseburger panini with lots of gooey cheese.  The crunchy panini crust was a welcome change from a normal bun.  The potato salad wasn't particularly noteworthy, but it was cold and tasty and went well with our panini's.  At around $8 for a panini it was nice lunch and would make a great dinner as well.   Check it out and don't be afraid to bring the kiddos along for lunch.

The Hub

Pick up a pastry and coffee, eat lunch or have a glass of wine and dinner at an ultra-casual spot with some of the best views in town.

The Hub is located at 215 Water Street, just overlooking the Riverwalk downtown.  There is outside seating as well as inside and the views are lovely.  When we stopped in last week, they said they'd stay open during the winter months, but with reduced hours. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for changes.

The lunch menu wasn't super extensive, but offered a nice selection of South Union Bakery sandwiches for about $6.50 and meat and cheese plates also reasonably priced at $6 for the cheese plate (shown in the photo below) and $9 for a meat and cheese plate.

The tomato bruschetta on the cheese plate was exceptionally good.  They were offering salmon, turkey and Italian sandwiches the day we were there.

Hope you can make it down to enjoy the patio and the views before the weather stops cooperating!

The Club Car

It's been a while since we visited The Club Car in Clive.  I saw that they revamped their gluten-free menu and I had to try it out.  I brought my gluten-free mom and anything-eating husband along too for lunch last week.

The restaurant is cozy and inviting and the staff was really friendly.  The gluten-free menu was really impressive.  They have everything on the gf menu from boursin stuffed mushrooms to spinach and artichoke dip and entrees from steak and shrimp scampi to macaroni and cheese.  Yum.  You can view the gluten-free menu here.

The regular menu is also nicely varied with a selections of pastas, salads, steaks, etc.  You can view the regular lunch and dinner menu here.

My mom got a nice steak salad.  The hubby ordered the Black and Bleu flat bread pizza which he enjoyed. And the highlight of the meal was my mac & cheese with bacon and peas.  This was quite heavy but comfort food at its finest.  Perfectly cooked gluten-free pasta and the flavor pops of the peas made this dish really good.

They also have 1/2 prices appetizers during happy hour at 3pm on Monday thru Friday, kids eat free Mondays and Tuesdays and a lunch club where they give you a punch card and after you've purchased 5 lunches you get one free.

The Club Car is a great lunch spot for a business lunch, but casual enough for families.  Go there for American favorites and cozy atmosphere.  We appreciate their attention to special diets and would highly recommend giving them a shot.

Ritual Cafe

I had a great experience hanging out at Ritual Cafe the other morning.  I had some blogging to do, so I brought my computer, grabbed a few (gluten-free, woohoo) snacks and did some work.

Located downtown, right near Proof restaurant, Ritual Cafe serves up coffee, smoothies and even vegetarian food.  They had an awesome selection of vegan and gluten free pastries at the front counter and I was super impressed with my gluten-free banana-chocolate chip bread and apple cider cupcake. Yes, I had to try both.  And they were out of pumpkin spice syrup, so I got a gingerbread-flavored iced coffee and it was really good! 

They also offer a full menu of breakfast items like bagels, oatmeal, and a breakfast plate with eggs and toast.  For lunch they have panini's, quiche, hummus plates and more.  They even have a kids grilled cheese sandwich meal available for kids.  

What a cool place to hang out.  Of course it's a great place for Vegans, but anyone can enjoy these healthy menu items and casual atmosphere.  I'll be back to chat with a friend over coffee or use the free wi-fi to get some work done.  

They also offer live music many nights of the week.  You can check the schedule here. Very cool.