The Kitchen You Want To Be In

1903 Beaver Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310

Mrs. Red: "Hello everyone! Mr. Red and I are back with another culinary adventure to share with you. As I'm sure you know we've often reached out for suggestions of places to visit and since today's review was a little last minute, we were really interested in finding something unexpected. Thanks to my cousin, Carol, we found ourselves headed to Chef's Kitchen."

Mr. Red: "To tell you the truth, I wasn't really sure what to expect when going in there. I didn't know what kind of food they were going to have, but from what Carol and my coworkers had told me, it was a very good place to visit. But no one could tell me what kind of food they served."

Mrs. Red: "What he means to say, is that Chef's Kitchen doesn't really fit into any kind of genre that we were able to find in the brief time we had investigating beforehand. I think part of what made this place so amazing is that we went in without any expectations, and they really just blew us away with - well - everything."

What We Ordered: 

Mr. Red: Baked Canneloni

Mrs. Red: Steak Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries

Our Take:

Mrs. Red: "Yummy! Really, truly, that is the best descriptor I can come up with for how good this steak sandwich was. I had a very tough time figuring out what I was going to order because of how diverse the menu was. I don't mean that in a negative way either. Unlike some restaurants where they give you a small novel filled with all their selections, Chef's Kitchen had a nice assortment on a front and back laminated menu. I normally don't order anything lower in quality than a filet mignon, but I was not disappointed in the least by this dish. It was served open faced with pickles and lettuce. Delicious! The bread had some really great flavor, and who doesn't love sweet potato fries? I mean really. Crispy bread, mouth watering steak, crunchy sweet fries. Perfect!"

Lovin' that sammich!

Mr. Red: "I had a chance to steal some of the fries. NOM!"

Mrs. Red: "Wait, when was this?!"

Mr. Red: "ANNNNYWAYS! Going into my dish. Can anyone say, Italian Enchilada? Ooey, gooey, cheese melted all over the top of these slow cooked meats wrapped in - things."

Mrs. Red: "Really? Things? You mean crepes?"

Mr. Red: "Mm, delicious things. My one and only complaint about this meal was the texture. If you're a big texture person you are probably not going to like this. It was just above the consistency of mashed potatoes all the way through. Other than that, everything about this meal was perfect, even the smell of it was delicious. It looked, smelled, and tasted great."

Mrs. Red: "Did you notice the hostess mention they pick their own rosemary fresh in the morning? You could definitely tell. In the bite of his that I had, those herbs really permeated the meal. When - not if - we come back, I will be ordering this item for myself. Chef's Kitchen also had a full bar and some really fantastic desserts. I'll let you in on a little secret though - you can generally pick out the biggest flaws in a restaurant in their simplest items. For me, I test places on their Creme Brulee." 

Mr. Red: "For those of you who don't speak multiple languages, it literally means - 'burnt cream.'

Mrs. Red: "I love this stuff! It's this light vanilla creamy custard topped with a layer of sugar that is caramelized with - get this - a blow torch. When I worked at a winery, we served creme brulee, and that was probably my favorite part, and the part that got me addicted to this stuff. I wasn't disappointed this time around either. In fact, I was really surprised at how deep their dish was filled with this wonderful yummy concoction. Plus, they served it with plate scrapers of chocolate, fresh fruit, and whipped cream. Boy am I glad I bike upwards of 5 miles every day now. I'll need it to work this wonderful dessert back off. Totally. Worth. It." 

Mr. Red: "I don't normally like creme brulee. The burnt part just destroys the whole flavor of it. All you taste is the burning. In this case I still tasted the carmelization of the sugar, but the cream is what really stuck out in it. I actually really enjoyed it. My dessert on the other hand, was two ears of delicious, Iowa, sweet corn, smothered in butter and salt. NOMNOMNOM."

Mrs. Red: "You are SUCH an Iowan."

Mr. Red: "Sorry, what's that? I can't hear you over how AWESOME THE SWEET CORN WAS."

Mrs. Red: "I realize this is likely not going to be a normal everyday occurrence, but Chef's Kitchen had a special on sweet corn. It was complimentary. That's right, free. Not only have I never been to an eatery that serves Iowa Sweet corn, but definitely not one that serves it for free. It just makes me love this time of year all the more. Now don't think that means you can go in and expect to get like 10 ears of corn or anything and not pay for them, but I thought it was a very neat added touch. Way to go!"

Our Waiter/Waitress:

Mr. Red: "Our waitress was very friendly and personable. She immediately treated us like we were her friends rather than customers, which is both a good and bad thing. For us, it worked, because we tend to joke around, but it wasn't very professional. I can see people calling this a downside. Might I stress, it wasn't a downside for me at least. I'm sure, Mrs. Red will speak for herself."

Mrs. Red: "I thought she was fantastic. Probably because she helped me gang up on Mr. Red. I see what he's saying though, and how some people might view this as a negative rather than a positive. Truthfully, there is nothing that gets under my skin more than the fake pleasantries, and the false happiness. Our waitress really seemed like she enjoyed what she did. She was not only helpful but she was funny. Her little added personal touch really made the night special for us."

Mr. Red: "I'm a little disappointed in myself, because of how surprised I was when the moment I walked in there I was greeted by somebody who wanted to impress me and show me a great dining experience.  I've never had that before, then again I can honestly say I've never been seated by the owner of a restaurant before. The hostess was none other than one other than one of the owners herself. I wish I could remember her name. Please, if any of the reader's out there recall the owner's names, leave a comment."

Mrs. Red: "You seemed to recognize she was more than just a regular hostess though, right away. She came back to our table often - 2 or 3 times, to ask us about the food and about our time there. She even brought us cookies and suggested we eat it with the creme brulee. It may sound silly, but as a consumer I was touched by their effort to make the experience a great one, and it really, truly was."

Observations:

Mr. Red:  Let me just make a list-

Clean

Cozy

Friendly

Fun

Mrs. Red: "Yeah, that just about covers it really. I couldn't believe of all the times I've driven by this place that I never realized it was here. Sure it's small, and the tables are close together, but you have a group of people that want to eat at this place. The lights were dim, but it wasn't too dark. Plus, there was live entertainment - on a Thursday! We ate to some awesome old blues music from a guy who really seems to enjoy what he does. It was an unexpected surprise."

Mr. Red: "This is the kind of place you can bring your mom, best friend, mistress - "

Mrs. Red: *Glare*

Mr. Red: "-I mean literally. Anyone you bring here will find something they love about it. You can bet on it."

Overall:

Mrs. Red: "In the overall, I just want to thank Carol for directing us to this location, because it's definitely a new favorite for us. We even signed up for the rewards program they have because I anticipate we will be back to try all the wonderful assortment of foods they offer."

Review:

On a scale of 1-10

Food: 9

Service: 10

Cleanliness: 9

Atmosphere: 10

Until next time! Happy Eating!

- Pocket Red Heads

The tasty mile - on JETHRO!

3100 Forest Ave, Des Moines, IA 50311

Welcome to the best BBQ that Des Moines has to offer!

Mrs. Red: "Hello everyone! Back with another review, and I'm going to be really honest with you - I'm super excited for this one. Mr. Red and I have been visiting some really unique types of restaurants lately. From Greek/Bosnian to the less rare Italian, we've had some really great experiences. This time around though, we wanted to bring it home, BBQ style. There was only one place I could think to go: Jethro's BBQ.

Mr. Red: "American food as always been dear to my heart since, well, I'm an American. I kind of grew up  on the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and fried chicken sorts of eats. I have had Jethro's before, when some good friends of ours brought it to their house carry out style. We liked it there, but taking it home is just NOT the same thing as eating it AT Jethro's. 

Mrs. Red: "While I'm sure it's not new news that Jethro's has multiple locations, featuring a variety of cuisine from Jambalaya to Steaks, we wanted to go back to where Jethro's began because that is really where the attention started. This place has kept the locals coming back religiously, and has even attracted some television highlights for their featured GIANORMOUS SAMMICH - "The Adam Emmenecker." If you're interested in seeing it for yourself - since we weren't brave enough to conquer this monstrous mountain of mouthwatering madness - feel free to visit here for a look at Man vs. Food's visit to the good old Drake Area."

Mr. Red: "Enough of a history lesson! Let's get to the MEAT of this review!"

What We Ordered:

Mr. and Mrs. Red: 

Appetizer: Boneless Chicken Wings - BBQ Rub

Half Slab & Two Meat Dinner

Our Take:

Mrs. Red: "In the past, Mr. Red and I haven't usually ordered appetizers, because realistically we know that chances are we aren't going to be able to finish them with our meal. This time, however, we made an exception because our waitress advised how good their wings are. Before ordering, I like to ask the wait staff what they like about their restaurant. It helps me to find the hidden secrets. Am I glad we did."

Mr. Red: "I wasn't too thrilled when the concept of getting the appetizer came in. I knwo anytime I eat an appetizer, I never eat my entire main dish and I wind up having to pay extra for it anyways-"

Mrs. Red: "-coughcheapcough..."

Mr. Red: "I may be cheap, but a lot of people out there would agree with me that an appetizer tends to be a waste of money. In this case, I could have made this appetizer the main course.  They reminded me more of chicken fingers than wings, but with the sauce it was INCREDIBLY delicious."

Mrs. Red: "When I looked over the kinds of sauces that they had available for the winds, I didn't see any kind of honey BBQ flavor, since neither Mr. Red nor I are big fans of big and spicy things. Our waitress expertly suggested the BBQ rub. She brought us the rub on the side to be sure we were going to like it, and wow did we ever. It was sweet! Which really surprised me. I was expecting a very savory herb sauce, and this just blew my mind with how much flavor it had in there. If you like your wings sweet - BBQ rub is the way to go hands down."

                                              Mr. Red: "It made no sense that they called it a rub considering it was a wet sauce. Into the main dish! First we'll start off with the ribs- delicious. They were perfectly cooked, not dry, and peeled right off the bone."

Mrs. Red: "I don't pretend to be a rib expert, but I've watched enough Food Network to be dangerous when it comes to how the end product should be. A nice moisty, meaty center with a flavorful crunchy bark - these were perfect!

  

"Bark? Like a dog?"

"RUFF RUFF!

Mrs. Red: "Not that kind of bark!"

                                                       Mr. Red: "By bark, I assume you mean the char on the outside, which does just lock in the juice that's closer to the bone."

Mrs. Red: "We also ordered the pulled chicken for Mr. Red and the brisket for me. Everything turned out great where I was concerned and as if the three choices of meat weren't enough, we were given four sides on which we chose green beans, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and macaroni and cheese. Yummy! I don't even like coleslaw and theirs was fantastic. As far as food is concerned, I can see why this place is causing such a riot." 

                    Mr. Red: "I want to talk about the pulled chicken. This was quite tasty, especially with the BBQ sauce that we were provided on the table. Another A+ for the chefs."

Mrs. Red: "I agree. I stole some of the chicken for myself since the portion\ sizes were quite impressive. It was really nice and juicy, and very flavorful. I am a huge brisket fan, which made ordering it absolutely necessary. I've eaten tons of the stuff, but this put everything else to shame. It was cut very thin, which I really enjoyed, and we were given several long strips of it. Brisket tends to be really dry, but this wasn't so much. It was still holding all of that wonderful juice, likely from a brine of some kind and was coated in their signature spices. Nothing that they seasoned their food with covered up the flavor of the meat, as can often happen when enjoying BBQ. Thank you, Jethros for keeping it simple and completely delicious!" 

                               Mr. Red: "I don't eat brisket, and I thought it was dry, but that doesn't change the fact that it was very good. It's just not one of my favorite things to eat."

Waiter/Waitress:

Mrs. Red: "Our waitress was Alisha, and something should be said about the fact that I am calling her by name. I really liked Alisha, not just because she brought me great volumes of wonderful delicious Mimosa and BBQ goodness. Alicia was really helpful and to the point. Not only did she help give me some really great suggestions for our meal since we hadn't ever been at the restaurant for ourselves, but she paid attention."

                                               Mr. Red: "That is one thing I have to say I really wish more people in the service industry did. If it's one thing that I've learned in the sales field is that the most important thing you can do for a customer is to listen to them."

Mrs. Red: "We arrived around 5:47PM to a full house of patrons already enjoying dinner. Alisha was at our table within five minutes of us sitting down and was ready to take our drink orders. Every time I looked up, I could see Alisha visiting tables, ours included to be sure that everything was running smoothly. Despite the fact that there wasn't an empty seat in the house, we were in and out in just over an hour. Their wait staff was on it, friendly and fast!"

Observations:

Mr. Red: "As those of you who have been following up may have caught on, I don't like big crowds. This happened to be a really crowded place that had more people in it than they probably have room for. Which on one side is saying they are doing great business, but on the other it says they might want to look into expansion. The floors really needed to be swept but it was really busy, so I understand why there was some delay."

Mrs. Red: "That and the tables were so close together that it was tough for customers and the wait staff to really move around. On the upside though, since it was so nice out, people were able to take advantage of the patio and not bake in the 100 degree weather we've had recently. Jethro's has a very relaxed atmosphere and features a number of flat screens to watch the game and chill with your friends and family. I personally loved the little fun details that might not be noticed unless you're really looking around."

Hanging out!

Mr. Red: "Thaaaanks for noticing me."

Mrs. Red: *Facepalm*

Overall:

                                          Mr. Red:  "Really great, really fun. Service was great, atmosphere was crowded but great.  Food was -"

Mrs. Red: "Let me guess, great?"

Mr. Red: "No...superb!"

Mrs. Red: "What he said. If you want some of the best BBQ that Des Moines has to offer, get over to Jethro's. You won't be disappointed."

Review:

On a scale of 1-10

Food: 9

Service: 10

Cleanliness: 7
Atmosphere: 8

Until next time! Happy Eating!

-Pocket Redheads