This is a fun little restaurant that may not be what you expect. We tried it out for the first time for our anniversary. We like to check out new restaurants, and we were in the mood for some Italian fare. Even though it's right next/attached to Dairy Queen in Ankeny, it has a lovely atmosphere, and you don't even think about what's next door. Surprisingly, there is an African sampler on the appetizer menu, and we gave it a try, along with the complimentary garlic knots. The rice was excellent, as were the meat skewers, but the other, usual option wasn't available that night, so we were given a sample of the chicken Marsala. It was fantastic, and I may choose that as my entree next time.
I just ordered a simple fettuccine Alfredo, which is a good way to gauge a chef's knowledge of basic Italian food (pasta dishes were also on special for happy hour when we went, so- bonus!). The Alfredo was a little thin, but there was parmesan on the table, so I was able to thicken it up to my taste. The menu also didn't mention that it came with chicken, but I was pleasantly surprised that it did. (Vegetarians may not be so pleasantly surprised that it does.) My wife had the chicken parmigiano, which was delightful. We had so much to eat, with the appetizers and salad bar, that we took half of our meals home and traded the next day. We look forward to going back and trying more of the menu. We went on a Thursday evening, and it wasn't super busy, so the lady who greeted us seemed very happy to see us, and was very attentive. She was one of the brightest points of the experience, which was great because the whole time was wonderful. Glad we found this gem!
Went with my significant other. Got in, server sat us, rushed us to order, when we ordered, one of us got the salad bar, the salad was wilted and turning, after that we got our ordered food 8 minutes apart from one another, got a chicken parm sandwich, I mean it very genuinely when I say it was the single most disappointing sandwich I have ever gotten from a resturant, to describe the flavor, it tasted like a flavorless blob. After that, tried some of my partners pasta, which was serviceable at best. The craziest part is that the server side eyed, rolled her eyes, and didn't refill our water once. I mean it very genuinely I feel we did nothing wrong as customers to deserve the treatment we recieved, but it felt like straight from the get-go it was bound to be a disappointing experience. We went in with high hopes seeing as it was one of our anniversary spots in times past, I don't think we'll go again.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Elizabeth Knickerbocker
The first clue should have been nobody else dining there. Girls and I wanted to try somewhere new. The server really didn’t want to be there. She didn’t even know what a Shirley Temple is. The drinks were flat the garlic knots had way to much garlic which for me being a garlic lover says something. My daughter wanted the onion rings. We weren’t impressed. The salad bar was not good. The lettuce was going bad. Out comes our entrees. The chicken piccata was horrible. Not sure the chicken was properly done so O didn’t eat much. The meatballs for my kids were cold. The sauces were very watery and not amazing. Will not be returning. I struggled to even want to pay the bill! Not worth $50!!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Chloe Imming
We had a great experience here! Good atmosphere, service, and food. We had the gyro, steak and shrimp, and the chocolate cake.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Barbara Winkelman
It wasn't open and there was no signage stating that. Google of course said it was open.
Hiroshi Canawina
I loved it! Food was great and my server brooke was so kind and attentive.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Tammy Saunders
So disappointed. Booths and seats are very uncomfortable. Our table was so much lower than our seats it felt awkard and our table was wobbly with tears in the seats. Pop tasted like straight soda water. They are supposed to bring out complimentary garlic knots, which we didn't even know about until we ordered the sampler appetizer plate which included those and our waitress mentioned that they normally have those complimentary but they hadn't been able to get them out of the oven yet. Mind you, we had already been seated for at least 15 min. at this point. She ended up bringing them to us about 5 min. later and they were not even cooked all the way through, in fact they were dough. We then waited for another 10 min for our appetizers, which were actually not bad. We had ordered their "famous gyros", and waited another 20-25 min for those. They were nothing more than the gyro kit that you can buy at the store. The lettuce on top had brown spots and seemed like it had been frozen at one time. Just awful. Will never go back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Ginger Moyer
Waited forever for our food. It was cold when we finally got it. Door dash orders take priority over people dining in. I had to get up and get my own silverware. Had to ask for a refill in water. Won't be going back!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Rick Holland
I had lunch there and ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken and it was really good. Also enjoyed the little bread rolls too. The salad bar included was good too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
jeff palmer
Food was very good with large portions. Service was polite, friendly and attentive. Reasonable prices. Nice atmosphere. Worth checking out!
This is a fun little restaurant that may not be what you expect. We tried it out for the first time for our anniversary. We like to check out new restaurants, and we were in the mood for some Italian fare. Even though it's right next/attached to Dairy Queen in Ankeny, it has a lovely atmosphere, and you don't even think about what's next door.
Surprisingly, there is an African sampler on the appetizer menu, and we gave it a try, along with the complimentary garlic knots. The rice was excellent, as were the meat skewers, but the other, usual option wasn't available that night, so we were given a sample of the chicken Marsala. It was fantastic, and I may choose that as my entree next time.
I just ordered a simple fettuccine Alfredo, which is a good way to gauge a chef's knowledge of basic Italian food (pasta dishes were also on special for happy hour when we went, so- bonus!). The Alfredo was a little thin, but there was parmesan on the table, so I was able to thicken it up to my taste. The menu also didn't mention that it came with chicken, but I was pleasantly surprised that it did. (Vegetarians may not be so pleasantly surprised that it does.)
My wife had the chicken parmigiano, which was delightful. We had so much to eat, with the appetizers and salad bar, that we took half of our meals home and traded the next day.
We look forward to going back and trying more of the menu.
We went on a Thursday evening, and it wasn't super busy, so the lady who greeted us seemed very happy to see us, and was very attentive. She was one of the brightest points of the experience, which was great because the whole time was wonderful.
Glad we found this gem!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: African Sampler, Chicken Parmigiano
Went with my significant other. Got in, server sat us, rushed us to order, when we ordered, one of us got the salad bar, the salad was wilted and turning, after that we got our ordered food 8 minutes apart from one another, got a chicken parm sandwich, I mean it very genuinely when I say it was the single most disappointing sandwich I have ever gotten from a resturant, to describe the flavor, it tasted like a flavorless blob. After that, tried some of my partners pasta, which was serviceable at best. The craziest part is that the server side eyed, rolled her eyes, and didn't refill our water once. I mean it very genuinely I feel we did nothing wrong as customers to deserve the treatment we recieved, but it felt like straight from the get-go it was bound to be a disappointing experience. We went in with high hopes seeing as it was one of our anniversary spots in times past, I don't think we'll go again.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
The first clue should have been nobody else dining there. Girls and I wanted to try somewhere new. The server really didn’t want to be there. She didn’t even know what a Shirley Temple is. The drinks were flat the garlic knots had way to much garlic which for me being a garlic lover says something. My daughter wanted the onion rings. We weren’t impressed. The salad bar was not good. The lettuce was going bad. Out comes our entrees. The chicken piccata was horrible. Not sure the chicken was properly done so O didn’t eat much. The meatballs for my kids were cold. The sauces were very watery and not amazing. Will not be returning. I struggled to even want to pay the bill! Not worth $50!!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
We had a great experience here! Good atmosphere, service, and food. We had the gyro, steak and shrimp, and the chocolate cake.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It wasn't open and there was no signage stating that. Google of course said it was open.
I loved it! Food was great and my server brooke was so kind and attentive.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
So disappointed. Booths and seats are very uncomfortable. Our table was so much lower than our seats it felt awkard and our table was wobbly with tears in the seats. Pop tasted like straight soda water. They are supposed to bring out complimentary garlic knots, which we didn't even know about until we ordered the sampler appetizer plate which included those and our waitress mentioned that they normally have those complimentary but they hadn't been able to get them out of the oven yet. Mind you, we had already been seated for at least 15 min. at this point. She ended up bringing them to us about 5 min. later and they were not even cooked all the way through, in fact they were dough. We then waited for another 10 min for our appetizers, which were actually not bad. We had ordered their "famous gyros", and waited another 20-25 min for those. They were nothing more than the gyro kit that you can buy at the store. The lettuce on top had brown spots and seemed like it had been frozen at one time.
Just awful. Will never go back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Waited forever for our food. It was cold when we finally got it. Door dash orders take priority over people dining in. I had to get up and get my own silverware. Had to ask for a refill in water. Won't be going back!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
I had lunch there and ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken and it was really good. Also enjoyed the little bread rolls too. The salad bar included was good too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was very good with large portions. Service was polite, friendly and attentive. Reasonable prices. Nice atmosphere. Worth checking out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Terrible food choices. One of the male servers was very rude.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 5
Nice ambience. The bang bang shrimp was great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Salad Bar is awesome. I highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I had the salad bar and it was really good. I highly recommend getting the salad bar. Yum!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
The shrimp was amazing! First date I’ve had with my wife in a long time great first impression
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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