Best Vegan Restaurants in Des Moines

Great place to eat after a movie. The service and portions were great. Lots of families and small groups. My husband is eager to return to try all the chowders.

I chose this restaurant simply because the description sounded interesting to me. We wanted to eat out for Thanksgiving and the more traditional places were either closed or closed to further reservations. There were some TG-ish options available, but we decided to go Asian for the meal. We had the Seven Elements soup (a Thai take on chicken noodle soup with a curry flavor and crunchy noodles on top) as the starter, the Green Curry Chicken, and the Assam Prawns. Everything was delicious! I was impressed that the last section of the shell had been removed from the prawn while leaving the tail in place. The restaurant sits on the corner of 3rd and Union, but the entrance is farther down 3rd Ave than I expected. Signage on the sidewalk or hanging above the sidewalk would be helpful. We found a parking lot about a half-block away; evening parking rate was $10.

Our server, Haylie, was great. She was very professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. The ribs, sides, and carrot cake were delicious.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving buffet there with my family. It was very easy to make reservations through OpenTable. Copperleaf is location in the Cedarbrook Lodge. Beautiful location... Even though there were a number of people dining there at the same time, Everything was organized and well planned. Lots of food options available at the buffet. I particularly liked all the salad options they had. The Thanksgiving turkey was perfect. Our table was in a quiet dining area close to windows that overlooked the hotel grounds. The staff were very helpful. They would be the main reason I would return. It felt like a very special place.

This was my second visit and while very good, not quite as enjoyable as my first visit which was in the early summer. I will definitely be back, but may take a while longer. I deeply appreciate the experience and what they are trying to do to elevate vegan cuisine. Sadly, this visit was a bit underwhelming. A couple of the dishes were a swing and a miss, in my opinion, in terms of both flavor and preparation. Just kind of basic, boring, or in one case, rather poorly prepared. The wine pairings were very good, however. Service was a little off this evening too. One issue in particular: My partner REALLY did not like the main course. After they placed it, it was obvious she was no enjoying it, but no one visited to inquire (at this price point, for a single-seating event where everyone is getting the same dish served at the same time, this is not really acceptable). When we later mentioned this, instead of offering to make amends (they had earlier served a soup that required no real prep which she loved, which they could have served her), we were told "Oh next time you can tell us things you don't like and we'll make sure to make something else for you". Nice offer, but they don't publish their menu, so there is no way to really know. Tasting menus can be tricky this way, and we have done MANY, but my main gripe was that they didn't make any attempt, nor make monetary compensation. "Too bad". Kind of made the experience far less "magical".