7/11/25 Des Moines Food News: Ew Gross Edition
Between flies and MAGA, I'd pick flies, Des Moines.
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
New: Banh May’s Food Truck, Vietnamese sandwiches and more
New: JD’s hospitality, Clive, bar-style food
New: Antojitos Ojilvia, Latine food truck
Something about the Iowa State Fair and their new food offerings. The Fair is dead to me. But because I still get a kick out of the list, have a link.
Donuts: Hy-Vee Donuts Are Gross
Programming note: From August 1st through August 28th, we will pause billing and will not have new content.
I’m not entertaining arguments about Hy-Vee donuts.
Did You Know This Exists? SweetDude Coffee Shop
It’s easy to ignore whatever’s at the corner of Valley West Drive and University. There’s the bank, a Target, the mall, and a strip mall. Meh. It’s a busy intersection, so paying attention to anything but the traffic is tricky. But the strip mall contains one of the most underrated coffeeshops in the metro.
SweetDude is Asian owned, adorable, and delicious. I’m upset that it’s been over a year since I’ve been, which I’m gonna correct before July is over. In addition to the standard lattes, SweetDude also has crepes, waffles, Thai tea and Thai coffee, croissants, and Italian sodas. They’re also one of the four or five places that carries savory pies from Pie Mates (see below in The Chai).
Plus, there’s choux du craquelin at SweetDude, and I’ve got a pic of that goodness.