For the love of food

Darcie is our expert on food. Yes, she loves to cook – she runs our cooking club. She loves to eat – she also heads Taste of Des Moines. And she has been with us for almost 4 years now, so she has a plethora of restaurant dining experience. So as you plan your Valentine’s Day dinners, remember to subscribe to Groupon or LivingSocial, scrape the papers for those discounts, and make a reservation at one of these restaurants! Des Moines has a lot to offer the palate, so don’t wait!

$ - Cheap

$$ - Middle

$$$ - Expensive

• Latin King – Italian, East side $$/$$$
• Appare – Asian (great sushi and other Asian dishes, love the spice tuna roll and the California roll), Urbandale $$
• Famous Dave’s $$
• Tasty Taco (If I could, I would eat here at least once a week) $
• Legends – American $/$$
• Hessen Haus – German $$
• Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Co – American $$
• Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery – American $$
• Palmer’s Deli – sandwiches $/$$
• Manhattan Deli – sandwiches (not open at night, ask for Saturday’s special), $
• Chips, Ankeny (like Applebee’s) American $/$$
• Granite City Food & Brewery – American $$
• Buffalo Wild Wings $$
• P.F. Chang’s – Asian $$
• Joe’s Crab Shack – Seafood $$
• Olive Garden – pasta $$
• Red Lobster – seafood $$
• The Machine Shed – American $/$$
• Cheesecake Factory – American $$
• Champs – American $/$$
• B-Bop’s (fast food) $
• Maid Rite (fast food) $
• Bakers Square – American $/$$
• China One International Buffet – Asian $
• Riccelli’s (hole in the wall, but fantastic food) $$/$$$
• Waterfront Seafood Market $$/$$$
• Cracker Barrel $ (one $ sign because of the amount of food you receive)
• Red Robbin (love the turkey burger) $/$$
• Breadeaux Pizza (great pizza and cheap) $
• Mi Mexico Restaurant (Dr. Mortensen suggested this place and it was fantastic) $ (a ton of food)
• A Dong – Asian $
• All Play – American$/$$
• Applebee’s $/$$
• Baby Boomers – American $
• Bennigan’s – American $/$$
• Brickhouse American Grill – American $/$$
• Fongs Pizza – Um Asian, Italian $
• Centro – Italian $$
• Dos Rios – Mexican $$
• China Moon – Asian $/$$
• Cool Basil – Asian $/$$
• Drake Diner – American $/$$
• 5 & Diner – American $
• Fuddruckers – American $
• Granite City – American $$
• Big Steer – American $$/$$$
• Jason’s Deli – sandwiches $/$$
• Uncle Wendell’s BBQ $
• Kin Folk Texas Style BBQ $$
• Coney Island – fast-food $
• Wellman’s Pub – American $$
• Zimm’s Food & Spirits – American $$
• Irina’s Restaurant & Bar – Russian $$/$$$
• Okoboji Grill – American $/$$
• Old Country Buffet $$
• Panera Bread – sandwiches $/$$

Cafe di Scala

Looking for the ultra romantic spot for an anniversary dinner or special date night? Cafe di Scala has the ambiance, the decor, the menu, and the wine list to meet your needs! Known as one of the most romantic restaurants in Des Moines, Scala is not really a cafe. Premiere Italian food from an ever evolving menu graces the tables of this century old Victorian mansion in the Hoyt-Sherman neighborhood. Though not inexpensive, the quality is worth the price. And the best thing, you are just a few blocks from Smokey Row for dessert!

Dubuque - Masterpiece on the Mississippi

This is a Mississippi river town with a long and rich history of trade and commerce from the early days of the country. Those of you from parts of the country with more interesting terrain would happily note that Dubuque is much hillier than Des Moines, due to the fact that it was mostly untouched by glaciers like the Great Plains, and because of the might Mississippi’s carving effect. It’s a small city of 50k people with a lot of charm. If you are looking for a long day trip or short overnighter, this might be a good destination.

This town has the typical things to do in cities this size, with a good mix of restaurants, shops, etc. There’s the river where you can catch an old fashioned riverboat, or visit one of the scenic overlooks, or the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. There’s an opera house and theater if you’d like to catch a show. For those who like gambling and that sort of thing, there’s a fairly good casino with all the typical games and amenities (including a huge bowling alley).

If you decide to stay a few days, then you might want to venture out from Dubuque and checkout the sites nearby. Across the river on the Illinois side is the town of Galena, a famous Illinois resort area, complete with the best ski slopes you can find in an area without real mountains. In Wisconsin, you could go to House On the Rock, a famous, beautiful house built on a column of rock in the middle of Iowa County (coincidentally). On the Iowa side of the border, Dyersville, IA is home to Field of Dreams, the actual location of the filming of that famous movie, and a mecca for baseball lovers.

Feed the Students - December

December was a busy month for everyone, as it is the time of shopping and holiday cooking. We took advantage of that last part by hosting our 2nd Feed the Students event for the end of the semester exams.

This was on the Thursday just before the break, and the 1st years were about to take their final anatomy exam and others. It was a pretty hectic schedule for everyone, but many of our SOS members found time to make a quick dish and help serve any students at DMU that evening. We only advertised by word of mouth, but we fed over 100 students that night.

It’s a great feeling to give a meal to a hungry student who doesn’t have time to feed himself. We had a lot of very grateful students that night, and I heard a lot of Thank You’s. I also want to extend a thank you to everyone who helped that night. People made food, helped setup and serve, and ultimately cleanup after the event was over.

These Feed the Student events have been wildly successful and satisfying, so we plan on continuing them. Next time, we’ve already decided we’ll do a huge spaghetti dinner! There’s nothing like a carb feast right before an exam! Tell your student!

Is it time for coffee yet?

Are you the kind of person who starts each day with a cup of joe? Do you feel incomplete without it, like half a person, half asleep with half a functioning brain? Do you long to feel the coursing of caffeinated beverage pulsing through your veins?

I like a good cup of coffee, even more so in the winter, but I also like a little ambiance. Des Moines has many flavors of coffee and coffee house, with a taste that will fit any palate.

Of course we have many of the standard chains with which you might be familiar like Starbucks and Caribou. You can always count on the quality and familiar taste of the coffee in those places. But then you have some more local flavors. Downtown offers Amici’s (with 2 other Des Moines locations as well), the Village Bean (in the East Village) and Java Joe’s. Java Joe’s in particular has that very Northwest US beatnik feel.

Near Drake, you have Mars Cafe, which has tons more than just coffee, including music and events and a good college crowd. On Ingersoll near DMU campus, you have Zanzibar - who roasts all their own beans - and Java B Good - which has odd hours and is in a flower shop, making it very interesting.

Venturing out a little you can find Grounds for Celebration, another small Des Moines chain, and Smokey Row, my personal favorite. Smokey Row is excellent because of their food, soda bar, large floorspace, good staff, and overall atmosphere. No doubt there are a lot of good options in town, and I’ve only scratched the surface. Let us know if you find any great coffee shops you would like to share with others.

One last footnote: If you are a tea drinker, look no further than Gong Fu Tea in the East Village!

American Eagle

My wife was rotating with a Doctor here in Des Moines one month, and during some long day of seeing patients, he started telling her about some pictures he took of local wildlife. When he showed her those pictures, she was amazed to find these stunning snapshots of bald eagles. Having seen our country’s famous bird in Yellowstone a few years ago, we were surprised to learn that they can also be found in Iowa. How wickedly awesome is that?

Apparently they come here during the cold winter months to nest. They tend to nest along the rivers, especially near dams as this is a natural congregation place for their food source - fish. Pella is a great location for this, just off the dam on the Red Rock Lake.

After we learned about this, we took a trip there ourselves. The dam is operated by the Army Corp of Engineers, and they have a station on one side the dam. They gave us all kinds of information on where to go to see the birds. We were a little early to see many eagles yet, but we might see some, and we’d also see pelicans. Seriously, pelicans in Iowa? We were again floored.

Grab some binoculars and head over to the broken bridge. This is the best spot. We were lucky and saw one bird, but January is the best month, and you can spot over 40 if you come in the early morning. The best part of eagle watching in Pella is stopping in town afterwards for a nice cup of coffee, and a Dutch letter at one of the amazing Dutch bakeries! Enjoy!!

SOS Volunteers

We ended up not having a volunteer activity for November, so we are trying to make up for that by having a couple in December.

First up though is a little get together! We don't have meetings every month anymore, so we thought it would be nice to have a Potluck on 12/8 in the Munroe building. Bring any dish you like and share with others. Bring the family, because we‟ll have babysitting supported by the DMU Peds club.

We‟re working with the Homeless Camp Outreach to help bring stockings full of much needed supplies to homeless people downtown. We need people to stuff the stockings on 12/9, and to bring them downtown on 12/12. The Outreach program is a great club with both DMU students and faculty involved.

Then on 12/16, we'll be doing a Feed the Students event at DMU in the atrium. Just like last time, we ask people to signup to bring a dish they are willing to give to hungry students. We timed this specifically to coincide with busy exam schedules. For those who participated in the last one, we'll remember that students are just as voracious with their thanks as they are with their appetites. They absolutely love us for this, and really aren‟t we all here to support our students anyway?

We‟ve sent out email about all of these events, so you should find them in your inbox. Please reply to that email or send one to dmusos@gmail.com and let us know what you would like to participate in. We really need you to help out, and if you have suggestions for more volunteer activities or for how to make these events more relevant to you, then let us know!