6/27/25 Des Moines Food News: Too Hot Edition
Des Moines, my sweat is sweating.
Des Moines Gems, Guides, and Goodies (G3) is the weekly food and restaurant resource for the Des Moines, Iowa metro.
Love: Openings, Closings, Updates, & Events
Cancun Grill and Cantina Waukee is now open.
Mullets Norwalk is now open.
New food truck Ortega’s Tacos rolls out in Altoona.
Chef Sean Wilson (formerly Proof) is doing a pop-up (Reg).
Here’s the culinary section (a.k.a. food vendors) for the DM Arts Festival.
Chain News
I think Zenshi Sushi is now available at Gateway Market.
☕ Spilling the Chai: Wrecks and Recs ☕
Wrecks: Inspections
Iowa Capital Dispatch’s Clark Kauffman returns with the monthly recap of restaurant inspections. The title alone inspires vomiting: “cockroaches, rodents, moldy salmon.” The good news is the most extreme cases were not in central Iowa. The bad news? Don’t eat out in Davenport, I guess.
Recs: Hugo’s
I met up with a friend for lunch at Hugo’s, making it my third visit since their opening in May of last year. This meal was easily the best. We had a lovely table beside the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the patio, which was empty because it’s summer in Iowa. Even Hugo’s patio—which is covered and has ceiling fans—is a no for me.
As always with any Chef Lynn Pritchard establishment, the service was outstanding with an almost obsessive concern for quality.
The prices are on par. Given that I’ll have at least four meals from this order, I’m extremely happy with how much I paid.
Before I get to my order, I want to share my friend’s meal. She ordered a salad, beet hummus, and the soup of the day, which was butternut squash with a hint of bacon. More on that soup in a moment.
Because garlic hates me, I merely sampled the beet hummus. Sure, the flavors were rich and made me rethink my attitude toward beets, but I couldn’t stop staring at it. What an utterly gorgeous color! Better though was the accompanying pita bread (not pictured because I was stealing it from my friend A LOT), which was warm and delicious. I could’ve noshed on that all day.
I ordered the featured pizza, an asparagus ricotta with alfredo sauce, sausage, fennel, and a hint of lemon. It wasn’t a pretty pizza in terms of color, but that hit of lemon made me so happy. Even as I ate leftovers afterward, I wiggled at my first bite and the lemony pop. The distribution of ingredients could’ve been a little better, but that’s such a minor complaint considering these cheesy depths.
The soup, my friends, might as well have been candied crack. My endlessly generous friend told me to feel free to try it, and I’m not one to pass up a sample of nearly any soup. I dipped my butter knife in and watched how perfectly it coated the knife. No runniness. Just thick, creamy yum.
So, I sampled it and felt like Halloween politely jizzed in my mouth. It was autumnal without being heavy, warming without making me want to sweat anymore than I already was, and at the risk of sounding repetitive, the flavors kept fucking giving. I practically abandoned my pizza to keep dipping the warm pita bread in my friend’s soup, which is not a euphemism but should be.
After an hour and some of chatting, we were both still using the soup as a dip, and my friend asked for a second bowl of pita bread. At one point, she said about the soup, “It’s even better cold,” and I was like, “IT IS!”
I am a hashtag Sassy Soup Slut, and I am not ashamed.
I ordered a bowl to-go.
Donuts: What Would Donut Dumplings Be Like?
Programming note: From August 1st through August 28th, we will pause billing and will not have new content.
Last week’s Where’s This was Scoops Udder Place. That’s it for that segment!
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Did You Know Dumpling House Exists?
Dumpling House is definitely worth a try: Super easy advance online ordering, quick pick up and go, well-packaged, great prices. If you’ve not tried it, they do pop-ups at Kitchen Spaces on Sunday nights from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
This was my $36.17 (pre-tip) order back in May, which fed me for like five meals:
6 chicken dumplings, potsticker style
6 beef dumplings steamed
6 vegetable dumplings, steamed
6 pork dumplings, potsticker style
But I need you to know this is neither a review nor a recommendation.
My issue is I’m not sure I’m qualified to share any opinion on the quality of their food. I am woefully lacking dumpling knowledge, so any observations I share might be off base. Plus, my memory feels hazy on the flavors, which makes me think I was either dealing with brain fog, a weird mood, or medication side effects. Thus, I have zero useful feedback for you.
It’s a small, local, Asian-owned business serving food that’s not necessarily easy to find in Des Moines, so I want y’all to know it exists. If nothing else, have some pics, then go try it and tell me what you thought of Dumpling House.
Until next week . . .
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