Aura Restaurant & Lounge

Perfect for relaxed weeknight dining

Great for casual lunches or intimate dinners

Perfect for fans of fresh, honest food with regional roots

Lovely and quiet atmosphere with very friendly staff. We loved the fried cauliflower and glazed Brussels sprouts followed by the salmon and filet. The Smoked peach mocktail was especially delicious & served in beautiful glassware. Overall a fantastic evening.

Went for our wedding anniversary and it was amazing! Friendly staff, cozy atmosphere and amazing food. Highly recommend the pork dumplings!

Our neighborhood group visited Auea last evening and we were all raving about our experience! The food was great, and Grace did an awesome job serving us!

Went on a Saturday night without reservation. Very few customers… drinks were not good and food that we ordered was subpar. Waitress was very good. Would not recommend.

Excellent experience. Service was prompt and attentive yet never intrusive. Food is at a premium however absolutely delicious and in perfect portions. Atmosphere is warm and trendy. Wonderful for a first date.

Amazing experience!

Great expertise and quick, nice service!

Don't mess with my boy

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

I was excited to try this place for dinner last night. The decor and ambiance were excellent. After being seated, nobody came to our booth until I waived them down. The Korean barbecue cauliflower dish was great. My wife’s salmon was overcooked and dry. Her food was lukewarm. My red snapper was just above room temperature. The polenta was the texture of oatmeal that had set and was not soft and freshly plated. It was room temperature. My plate/bowl was itself cool to the touch.The snapper was oddly tough, not like it was freshly cooked or a good piece of fish. I would try this place for small plates. And happy hour and give that a shot. They did not know how to serve food fresh and hot last night, or how to prepare fish, so I would give them 3 stars only because of the appetizer, the smoked old-fashioned, and the decor. I hope they improve.

Being an out-of-town guest to Des Moines I was interested in eating some of the best food the city has to offer and after doing some research I had high hopes for Aura. I left very disappointed and stopping for fast food on the way back to my hotel because I was still very hungry due to the lack of edible options I was presented with at the restaurant.
The pork ginger dumplings were decent and tasty. However, the tomahawk pork chop entrée that I ordered came out very poor. The first try was a lukewarm pork chop served on ice cold mashed potatoes. I was polite in sending it back and agreed that they would make it better . It came back out about 10 minutes later with an almost raw pork chop while definitely improved mashed potatoes. I do not eat raw pork chops. I ordered a medium preparation . It came out very rare. I’m assuming they threw it in the broiler for about five minutes and didn’t bother to check the temperature. I don’t know, but it was horrible for a supposedly upscale restaurant. I was sitting at the bar, the bartender was very friendly and accommodating and so was the server that served my food but whatever they’ve got going on back there in the kitchen is absurd. I wasn’t even going to write a review because I just really don’t write reviews but to add insult to injury I barely made it back to my room which is only 10 minutes away before I began having stomach sickness. Do better Aura.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 4

Old fashioned was great, and the food we ended up getting was good - but they were out of literally 50% of their tapas menu at 7p on a Friday. Disappointing to have to play Battleship when attempting to order.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 5

Hands down my favorite place to eat. A little on the pricier side for my budget, but well worth it. Management is friendly and attentive, and Nick, one of the servers, is a delight. The atmosphere is great, music is on point and not obtrusive, food is amazing, especially the chocolate bomb cake. I just hope they rotate the menu. I try something different each time I go, and I'm running out of things to try!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Tuxedo Cake, Shrimp Diablo, Chocolate Lava Cake