Maybe it is American style (I’m Japanese), but the pasta was too soft and the source did not have any deep flavor. It was the worst pasta I’ve ever had in my life. But, the atmosphere and the restaurant staffs are very nice! I strongly recommend you to avoid this restaurant to go if you are foreigners.
Tierra Hogan
Location - goodAesthetic - cuteCleanliness - poor, from the sticky floors to the dried pasta bits in our booth, I was hesitant to trust what the kitchen may have looked like.Greeted by host an old McDonald’s bag on the host stand rather than a person, I wondered if the staff isn’t eating the food why should I?Service - poor, our waitress was nice but I watched other staff drudge a large garbage bag through the dining room. The salad bar was dark af, and there were no plates leaving customers standing around. Once I asked for a plate they were brought out nice and wet….Food - gross, the pasta was clearly old and dry. The alfredo sauce was chunky and not in a good way. It and also cold and tasteless except for a slight tang…. We really could’ve ran to Walmart and bought a best choice jar of sauce and been much more pleased.
TDxDefence
Stopped here with a larger (12+) work group. We had made reservations to make sure we would be able to get in. On first entering the restaurant I noticed a very foul smell. In looking at other reviews this seems to not have been the only night this happened. However, that is where the bad stoped and the great started. We had a fantastic waitress that took great care of us all. The food came out quick and was very good. For many of us it was - amazing. I can saw the salad bar was good and had many options- the salad bar plate was as tiny of a plate I’ve seen- but the size of the entrees more than made up for it. If I am even close to this city again- I will be stopping back in for sure.
Tonia S.
We'd ordered take out while we had a little in the hospital. I love pasta but didn't have real high expectations for quality. It was packed so well it was still very warm when it arrived. Amazing flavor and oh my goodness you must have the meatballs!! I wish I could order more than three at a time! Love it and forgot how good it was. Must try.
Helen C.
I came to Spaghetti works on a Sunday am. The salad bar was good, but I ordered spaghetti and when it arrived it was cold. The bread seemed like it was from the night before hard and dry. My waiter could have cared less if he checked on me or not. My last visit to this place.
Kim B (Flipping your Palate)
This location needs some updating and cleaning.1st there us a smell as you walk in from the salad bar drain.2nd We had a large group. So we were placed in the private room which had a smell from the carpet as well.Now let's talk about the food.Crab cakes are gummie and made of imitation crab meat... should not be called a crab cake.Chicken and mushroom bake was just okLobster sensation. I had lobster something but the lobster may not have been lobster. More like a crumbled reminent of one.Bread came out after the meal. And so many other disappointments.I gave it 2 stars for the service as they were friendly
Sheri Helman
On this day (Jul 13th) 3 years ago (2019), I came inside from the rain to rest and get a quick lunch. The staff were very nice and of course I had to try the traditional spaghetti and meatballs ? along with a salad from their salad bar ?. Both were delicious and fairly priced. I hope to go back if I'm ever in Des moines again.
Fishguy 487
Amazing!! The adult meal in total was $15 for eggplant pasta and salad. Yummy food great service! And gf options for people with celiac disease
rick b.
Spaghetti Works has always been my family's favorite downtown restaurant. But that changed yesterday. My wife and I went there yesterday and we were greeted by the waitress at the entrance. She took my name and phone number and said it was a 10 minute wait. She told us we could sit on some chairs just inside the restaurant. We sat and noticed that only about 1/3rd of the tables were in use. I've been there when the place was full before and they always got people sat down with no problem. The staff were busy walking around and talking to each other but we never got a second look. After a half hour I went to the front desk area and nobody was there to ask how much longer we would wait. A waiter asked if we were being helped and I told him that I wanted to know how much longer we would have to wait. He said "we're short staffed today" and walked away. He was the only one who would even talk to me. The rest of the staff were standing around and just avoided us. After trying to get help for another 10 minutes I just told my wife we're leaving. We went to The Royal Mile and had a great meal. Spaghetti Works is no longer staffed by people who care to work or care about the customer and it shows. It's a sad situation when my favorite place treats me and my wife like unwanted intruders.
Nicole L.
A classic in downtown Des Moines. This is definitely a place to go for nostalgia and experience and not necessarily the food. The food is okay, but nothing to phone home about. Overall this is a try it once type of place.
I am glade employee kids are more important than guest. My friend had a cane an employee's walked away and was gone for a good 5 min so I took the chair to have my friend sit down. Of course he was stubborn because he told me to sit down which I kindly declined and while I was waiting to see if he would sit down Desmond came and that was his kids chair and I asked if she was guest and he said no and that it was his kids chair. I was getting ready to sit down because we had an hour half wait and he just took it from me. I ended up standing the entire time and a friend ended up giving up their chair for our friend I still don't think it was right especially since we had to wait an hour and half.
Ann L.
Took a long time for our waiter to come by but when she did, she was great. Had to ask twice for silverware. The crab cakes and toasted ravioli were great. My mom and I ordered angle hair and white clam sauce. When it came out, the sauce had the consistency of cream gravy. There were no clams in it at all and it had no flavor. We sent it back and got regular spaghetti meat sauce instead, which was ok. We are in town for a wedding this weekend so we probably won't have an opportunity to go back.
Michael
This seemed promising. I was sat right away and the server was in the table fast!! Gave me no time to even sit before she was requesting my drink order. I just spouted out Coke, and that even seemed to take too long for her. She came back took my order and after a minute to look at the menu adjusted my drink order and asked for the Works Pasta. All the sauce choices were abundant and this gave me a sample of each. I got fettuccine noodles. The food came out before I even got back from the salad bar. For a pasta place the noodles were blah! Served less than warm and stuck together. Some of the sauces had nice flavor but were VERY greasy. The server did bring one refill with the bill. She was very absent from my table and the gentleman at the table besides me had to go find her in order to place his order, which was odd since she was on me so fast. When she finally came back for my card I asked for a to go drink and she said no rather fast, then the excuse they had no to go cups. I shoo-in y head and said alright, all the whole looking at another table with kids that all had beverages in paper cups with lids.Over all I would say skip this place unless you just really need pasta.
Adam J R.
Got the angel hair pasta Hot naked and they added a sausage( I didn't even ask.) And of course I got garlic bread with it and a drink.
Janelle Elizabeth
I had never visited Des Moines before and was there for the first time over the weekend. My family and I ate there on Saturday, and we had the BEST service! Our server was Alaina and she was one of the best servers I have ever had in a restaurant. And I’ll always remember her. She was great with customers, but also genuinely personable. Being a server myself, recognition goes a long way, and I hope she gets praised for this. She deserves it ??
Maybe it is American style (I’m Japanese), but the pasta was too soft and the source did not have any deep flavor. It was the worst pasta I’ve ever had in my life. But, the atmosphere and the restaurant staffs are very nice! I strongly recommend you to avoid this restaurant to go if you are foreigners.
Location - goodAesthetic - cuteCleanliness - poor, from the sticky floors to the dried pasta bits in our booth, I was hesitant to trust what the kitchen may have looked like.Greeted by host an old McDonald’s bag on the host stand rather than a person, I wondered if the staff isn’t eating the food why should I?Service - poor, our waitress was nice but I watched other staff drudge a large garbage bag through the dining room. The salad bar was dark af, and there were no plates leaving customers standing around. Once I asked for a plate they were brought out nice and wet….Food - gross, the pasta was clearly old and dry. The alfredo sauce was chunky and not in a good way. It and also cold and tasteless except for a slight tang…. We really could’ve ran to Walmart and bought a best choice jar of sauce and been much more pleased.
Stopped here with a larger (12+) work group. We had made reservations to make sure we would be able to get in. On first entering the restaurant I noticed a very foul smell. In looking at other reviews this seems to not have been the only night this happened. However, that is where the bad stoped and the great started. We had a fantastic waitress that took great care of us all. The food came out quick and was very good. For many of us it was - amazing. I can saw the salad bar was good and had many options- the salad bar plate was as tiny of a plate I’ve seen- but the size of the entrees more than made up for it. If I am even close to this city again- I will be stopping back in for sure.
We'd ordered take out while we had a little in the hospital. I love pasta but didn't have real high expectations for quality. It was packed so well it was still very warm when it arrived. Amazing flavor and oh my goodness you must have the meatballs!! I wish I could order more than three at a time! Love it and forgot how good it was. Must try.
I came to Spaghetti works on a Sunday am. The salad bar was good, but I ordered spaghetti and when it arrived it was cold. The bread seemed like it was from the night before hard and dry. My waiter could have cared less if he checked on me or not. My last visit to this place.
This location needs some updating and cleaning.1st there us a smell as you walk in from the salad bar drain.2nd We had a large group. So we were placed in the private room which had a smell from the carpet as well.Now let's talk about the food.Crab cakes are gummie and made of imitation crab meat... should not be called a crab cake.Chicken and mushroom bake was just okLobster sensation. I had lobster something but the lobster may not have been lobster. More like a crumbled reminent of one.Bread came out after the meal. And so many other disappointments.I gave it 2 stars for the service as they were friendly
On this day (Jul 13th) 3 years ago (2019), I came inside from the rain to rest and get a quick lunch. The staff were very nice and of course I had to try the traditional spaghetti and meatballs ? along with a salad from their salad bar ?. Both were delicious and fairly priced. I hope to go back if I'm ever in Des moines again.
Amazing!! The adult meal in total was $15 for eggplant pasta and salad. Yummy food great service! And gf options for people with celiac disease
Spaghetti Works has always been my family's favorite downtown restaurant. But that changed yesterday. My wife and I went there yesterday and we were greeted by the waitress at the entrance. She took my name and phone number and said it was a 10 minute wait. She told us we could sit on some chairs just inside the restaurant. We sat and noticed that only about 1/3rd of the tables were in use. I've been there when the place was full before and they always got people sat down with no problem. The staff were busy walking around and talking to each other but we never got a second look. After a half hour I went to the front desk area and nobody was there to ask how much longer we would wait. A waiter asked if we were being helped and I told him that I wanted to know how much longer we would have to wait. He said "we're short staffed today" and walked away. He was the only one who would even talk to me. The rest of the staff were standing around and just avoided us. After trying to get help for another 10 minutes I just told my wife we're leaving. We went to The Royal Mile and had a great meal. Spaghetti Works is no longer staffed by people who care to work or care about the customer and it shows. It's a sad situation when my favorite place treats me and my wife like unwanted intruders.
A classic in downtown Des Moines. This is definitely a place to go for nostalgia and experience and not necessarily the food. The food is okay, but nothing to phone home about. Overall this is a try it once type of place.
Restaurantji Recommends
I am glade employee kids are more important than guest. My friend had a cane an employee's walked away and was gone for a good 5 min so I took the chair to have my friend sit down. Of course he was stubborn because he told me to sit down which I kindly declined and while I was waiting to see if he would sit down Desmond came and that was his kids chair and I asked if she was guest and he said no and that it was his kids chair. I was getting ready to sit down because we had an hour half wait and he just took it from me. I ended up standing the entire time and a friend ended up giving up their chair for our friend I still don't think it was right especially since we had to wait an hour and half.
Took a long time for our waiter to come by but when she did, she was great. Had to ask twice for silverware. The crab cakes and toasted ravioli were great. My mom and I ordered angle hair and white clam sauce. When it came out, the sauce had the consistency of cream gravy. There were no clams in it at all and it had no flavor. We sent it back and got regular spaghetti meat sauce instead, which was ok. We are in town for a wedding this weekend so we probably won't have an opportunity to go back.
This seemed promising. I was sat right away and the server was in the table fast!! Gave me no time to even sit before she was requesting my drink order. I just spouted out Coke, and that even seemed to take too long for her. She came back took my order and after a minute to look at the menu adjusted my drink order and asked for the Works Pasta. All the sauce choices were abundant and this gave me a sample of each. I got fettuccine noodles. The food came out before I even got back from the salad bar. For a pasta place the noodles were blah! Served less than warm and stuck together. Some of the sauces had nice flavor but were VERY greasy. The server did bring one refill with the bill. She was very absent from my table and the gentleman at the table besides me had to go find her in order to place his order, which was odd since she was on me so fast. When she finally came back for my card I asked for a to go drink and she said no rather fast, then the excuse they had no to go cups. I shoo-in y head and said alright, all the whole looking at another table with kids that all had beverages in paper cups with lids.Over all I would say skip this place unless you just really need pasta.
Got the angel hair pasta Hot naked and they added a sausage( I didn't even ask.) And of course I got garlic bread with it and a drink.
I had never visited Des Moines before and was there for the first time over the weekend. My family and I ate there on Saturday, and we had the BEST service! Our server was Alaina and she was one of the best servers I have ever had in a restaurant. And I’ll always remember her. She was great with customers, but also genuinely personable. Being a server myself, recognition goes a long way, and I hope she gets praised for this. She deserves it ??