Up-Down Vintage Arcade-bar

The newest addition to the ever-growing East Village area in downtown Des Moines, Up-Down, is best described as a playground for adults.  It's located at 500 E. Locust St.

You must be 21+ to enter this "Barcade" that boasts just about every video game from your youth that you can think of like Mortal Combat, PacMan and The Simpsons.

Life-sized Jenga games and Connect-four can keep you busy for hours as you enjoy the wide craft beer selection as well as retro-inspired drinks like "Princess Punch" and "Super Mario-garitas".

Play some Skee-ball or see how your pin-ball machine skills are holding up.  I have faith that I was much better at Street Fighter when I was 15 than I am now.  But it's looks like I'll get to practice a lot more now that Up-down is open.

Games are all a quarter except for a corner where a Super-Nintendo has a spot in a complete living room set-up with coffee-table and all, where you can choose your game and play your heart out for free.  Jenga and Connect four are also free.

Drink prices are reasonable and that's a total plus since I can see a lot of young professionals spending many evenings getting reacquainted with the games of their childhood here.

The "Barcade" will be open 5pm to 2am every day starting Friday, October 11th.  On the 11th they'll hold a grand opening where the first 50 customers will get 10 free tokens each to play.

Check out Up-down for your next date-night, girls night out, or send the guys out for an evening of bonding.  You're sure to have some fun and most likely take a trip down memory lane.

Battledish

Ramen Noodles by
Tacopocalypse

Argentinian Beef Tenderloin
by Dos Rios

It's safe to say that one of the most successful Dishcrawl events in Des Moines so far has been the latest competition....Battledish.  Seven local Chefs represented their restaurants by entering one dish and one drink into competition.

Smoked Chicken Tostada
by Liberty's

Participants got to be the judges after eating and drinking merrily at every restaurant and then voting for their favorites.  


Chef Joe Tripp from Alba took home the Gold with his pork belly dish.  It really was spectacular.  You can see the full list of results including runners-up here.

Surf & Turf by BOS

If you missed Battledish, you can still get in on one of the next Dishcrawl events in Des Moines by checking out their website here.  While every event is not a competition, they are hosting a Beaverdale Dishcrawl this month as well as a mixology competition coming up soon!  Keep your eye on the website for more info on that event coming soon.

Pizza by Gusto

Pork with Sweet Corn Cake
by Proof

You can read more about all of the judges in the Battledish Competition here.  A big thanks to Alba, Proof, Liberty's, BOS, Gusto, Tacopocalypse and Dos Rios for entering some fantastic dishes and drinks, what an awesome event DIshcrawl Des Moines.

Pork Belly by Alba

Night Eyes

Take your kids trick-or-treating at the zoo this year!

After 22 years, Night Eyes at Blank Park Zoo has become the sweetest Halloween fun in Central Iowa, and this year’s 23rd annual event is sure to continue the tradition! A big thank you to our presenting partner, Dahl’s and to our many, many supports and volunteers for making this merry, not scary, event possible for everyone to enjoy!

Children and adults will go on a treat safari, travel along the yellow brick road, explore Fareway Food Stores Spooky Forest, and travel past the sea of orange at the Dahl’s Pumpkin Patch.  Don’t miss this sweet and enchanting tradition.  Inflatables and games are available.

Night Eyes is taking place on October 17-20 & 24-27

Thursday & Fridays: 5:30pm-8:00pm

Saturday & Sundays: 1:00pm-8:00pm
Gate Tickets: $5
Zoo Member: $4
Children under 12 months old are free
Children under 12 months old are free

Advance Tickets: $3 (purchased on or before October 16)  Ticket info here.

*Night Eyes admission supports the many programs and opportunities that are brought to our community and ensures quality care for our many animal friends.

Interested in volunteering during Night Eyes?  

For more information on this sweet event, please call 515-285-4722 or e-mail events@blankparkzoo.org.

 *All info from Blank Park Zoo Website

Living History Farms Halloween Info

Family Halloween Tickets on sale now!

October 17-20, 24-27  |  5:30-8:30 pm

Family Halloween is presented by Bob Brown Chevrolet/Buick & GMC

Horse-drawn wagon rides, marshmallow roasts, storytellers, scarecrow and jack-o-lantern displays

delight all during this non-scary family event. Children aged 12 and under can trick or treat through town, and we'll have free pop and popcorn for all!

 

Get advanced tickets and save!

Advanced tickets:
(on sale through October 16)
$4.50/member
$5.00/non-member 

 

Purchase tickets >

 

Tickets at the door:

$5.00/member
$6.00/non-member

*All info direct from LHF website.

Varsity Theater

There are a few movie theaters in the area that are a little different from the rest.  One is Fleur Cinema & Cafe which is a little different from The Varsity Theater which is located at 1207 25th St., Des Moines, but along the same lines.  Both show independent films rather than mainstream movies, but Fleur Cinema's appeal is the "hip" feel and upscale snacks.  The Varsity Theater has a, well, college feel since it is located on the Drake campus and offers cheap snacks and while the amenities aren't the latest edition, it is comfortable and clean.


The theater has a lot of history to it as it's been around since the 1930's and was quite modern at that time.  I think it's great that it's stayed open and continues to serve college students as well as the entire community.

Check the theater's website for shows and times and come support this local gem.  Make sure you bring cash or a check though since they don't take credit cards.

Admission prices are as follows:
Evening Admission: Adults $7.50
Seniors (65+) $6.00Students (with ID, Sun.-Thurs.) $6.00
Matinees $5.00

Snack prices are also very inexpensive so check out The Varsity Theater for you next date-night.  It will be less expensive and you might just see a film that you really like that you've never heard of!

TNT...it's dynamite

I drove by TNT Restaurant on MLK Parkway many times and said to myself that I should stop in and check it out.  I'd heard some great things about it and love Vietnamese food so I was glad that we finally got a chance to stop in.

The restaurant is a good size and there was no problem getting a table on a Friday evening.  Our waiter was very nice and attentive.

As with a lot of Vietnamese Restaurants the menu is very expansive and can be overwhelming, but don't be afraid to ask them to explain the dishes to you.  For the most part, most dishes are variations of rice dishes, Pho (rice noodle soup), and other noodle dishes.  Each one is available with different proteins such as meatballs, chicken, shrimp, pork, etc. so Each is listed with the protein option under it's Vietnamese name, while there are hundreds of menu items, a lot are the same dishes with different meats.

Anyway,  we started out with summer rolls and and a Cafe Sau Da (Thai Iced Coffee) which is my hubby's favorite.  He said it was really good and I really enjoyed the rolls.  Very fresh.

We ordered the combo fried rice and a large Pho to share.  It was HUGE.  We could have ordered the small to share and it would have been plenty.

We enjoyed everything and would definitely return.  I'm not sure that I loved it more than A Dong, but we also ordered different dishes than we usually do there, so it's hard to compare.  I liked the summer rolls a bit better, but Josh enjoyed A Dong's Pho a bit more. I also really enjoyed my meal at Vietnam Cafe so we'll just be lucky to have so many great options for Vietnamese food in Des Moines.  For now I'll just add TNT to my list of good restaurants in Des Moines and be back soon!

The Continental

The Continental is on E. Locust street in the East Village.  I've heard some great things about it and when I got word that they had Taco Tuesday's where tacos are $1.75 and margaritas are $4.  My mom and I ran down for lunch to check it out.  They don't have a blender so the margaritas were on the rocks which was OK because they were very tasty.  

We had a choice between pork and tilapia for the tacos and I ordered two pork and a tilapia because fish isn't my favorite, but I wanted to try it.  The tilapia one was actually awesome!  They were topped with a mango salsa and were really good.  The pork were good too, but I was really impressed with the tilapia.

They also had sangria on the menu for $5 so I decided to try one of those too. Love.


This was my first meal of the day, so at this point I was getting a little drunk, and a little nervous since I had to pick up my son from school soon and they usually frown upon drunk parents at pick-up.  So I decided to cut myself off.  

Seriously though, this was a satisfying lunch for a Tuesday afternoon special.  We'll come back soon to try some of the other menu items.  They had an impressive list of tapas and small plate items which I'm excited to try because I hate to just order one meal, I like to sample it all.  

My biggest complaint was just how dark it was in the restaurant.  I mean beyond ambient, we were literally sitting in the dark since the only open seat when we got there was in the way back of the restaurant near the bathrooms.  Up front near the window would have been just fine, but literally my mom and I couldn't see each other, but maybe it's a good thing it you are perhaps on a first date....