Best Casual Restaurants in Iowa

From the second we walked in in the doors, it was fantastic. Ambience, service, food was top tier. Something we’d never experienced before, so we decided to treat ourselves on our 5th anniversary! Like our waitress literally folded my husband’s napkin again all fancy, as he went to the bathroom. So many little things that made it perfect. We had fried calamari and king crab, filet mignon, asparagus and baked potato. They gifted us the most decadent soufflé for our occasion. Definitely worth it!

Downtown Des Moines @ 6th & Mulberry Streets = the fabulous Surety Hotel, which includes Mulberry Street Tavern ... the name sounds casual, but the cuisine is well-studied and so enjoyed! We were warmly greeted by Brianna Luck and served beyond expectation by Andrea Humbert. Many thanks to the entire time @ Mulberry Street Tavern for extending a warm welcome and unforgettable menu to your community on Christmas Day 2025. Thank you for the gift of a wonderful dining experience; we plan to return often!

Honestly the wait staff was great and kind, they just didn’t have many food options left and they kept bringing wrong drinks to the table. With as busy as it was and how large our party was I felt they did do a fantastic job and that aside, everything else was exceptional.

Food was excellent, great service. A great place to go but especially over the holidays. We’ve been to Fresko before and will return.

Great bar! Only thing is we saw it was happy hour between 5-7pm but we got there at 645pm and was told it was over. Drinks were still great!