The gold dome of the Iowa state Capitol in Des Moines overlooks a surprisingly urban downtown that’s grown up quite a bit in the past decade. But with Iowa’s economy thriving, $2.8 billion in new construction completed downtown, state government anchoring the local economy and regional traffic passing through via two interstates and an international airport, all Des Moines needed to raise its profile was a cultural hub.
That hub has emerged in the past few years in the form of the East Village dining and entertainment mecca centered around the state Capitol, says Greg Edwards, president and CEO at the Greater Des Moines CVB.
“Des Moines is also a big culture hub for the state and in the Midwest,” he says. “The East Village has numerous great new restaurants that are all privately owned and run, arts shops, craft shops, unique stores like Sticks Furniture, a lot of eclectic-type things.”
While government buildings are notorious for killing off nightlife in most other states, the reverse has been true here. The East Village area seems to have gotten its start circa 2000 as the result of opposition to a planned demolition of some historic buildings. The attention and interest this movement generated—and the decision not to tear down those buildings after all—helped kick-start the East Village, whose attractions now embrace everything from the Capitol and high-culture venues such as the State Historical Museum to a dynamic international dining scene and nightlife that’s exceptional for a modest-sized urban area.
“It’s hard for some people to imagine that we’re a population of a bit over a half million, so we’re a decent-size metro area but not a huge one, yet we still can offer a lot of things large metro areas do, from restaurants and shopping to sports on a minor-league basis,” Edwards says. “We’re big enough yet small enough that we can really take care of the customer.”
One of the ways that comes out is in Des Moines’ restaurant scene, which ranges from sushi at Miyabi 9 and white-tablecloth Greek dining at Olympic Flame to tapas at The Continental or Italian at Lucca Restaurant & Bar.
And don’t forget that you are, after all, in Iowa, where your next steak or pork chop didn’t have to travel far from the farm to your plate.
“When people come to Iowa they think, ‘This is where most of our food comes from; great steak, pork and barbecue,’” Edwards says, adding a few of his favorite places for turf or surf. “There’s Tursi’s Latin King, which is a very popular Italian restaurant in town, while downtown there’s 801 Steak and Chop House, which [many] put on the same level as a Ruth’s Chris. Another great place downtown is Splash Seafood Restaurant.”
Des Moines has also put some thought into getting people around downtown, especially when it comes to connecting the east and west sides of the city, for the low, low price of zero, Edwards says.
“We just started the downtown trolley, the D-Line, that runs in a perpetual loop around the city all day long,” he says. “People can stand on a corner and catch a trolley every 10 minutes from the west side all the way to the state Capitol. And it’s free.”
