The Best Steakhouse in Des Moines, and the Dish to Order

You put on the shirt with the actual buttons. The reservation is booked, the sitter is sorted, and you have been quietly thinking about a ribeye since roughly the moment you made the plan. There is a particular kind of hunger that builds before a steak dinner, slow and dignified, like a dog that has learned the sound of the treat drawer. If you are figuring out the best steakhouse in Des Moines before all that anticipation goes to waste, relax: this is a genuine steak town, and it has the white-linen rooms, the old-guard institutions, and one dish it has quietly made its own.

Short version: Des Moines takes its beef seriously. You have a few top-tier downtown and West Des Moines rooms for a special night, plus a local signature dish worth ordering at least once.

Still reading? Good. A steak dinner is worth getting right, so here is the full table, from the big rooms to the dish you should not leave town without trying.

The best steakhouse in Des Moines for a special night

When the occasion calls for tablecloths and a wine list with weight, Des Moines has the rooms. 801 Chophouse, tucked into the landmark 801 Grand tower downtown, is the city's best-known white-linen steakhouse, the place locals name first when someone says "take me somewhere nice." Big flavors, deep bar, the whole classic chophouse experience.

Out in West Des Moines, Prime & Providence has pulled national attention, landing on a USA TODAY list of the best steakhouses in America. It cooks over coal and runs the cuts you want, from Delmonicos to New York strips. And if you want the dependable name-brand experience, Ruth's Chris Steak House in West Des Moines delivers the sizzling-plate USDA Prime ritual exactly as advertised. If you are staying out toward Altoona for the races or the casino, AJ's Steakhouse at Prairie Meadows gets pointed to for prime rib, so you do not have to drive all the way downtown for a proper cut.

• 801 Chophouse for the classic downtown chophouse night out.
• Prime & Providence for a coal-fired, nationally recognized room in West Des Moines.
• Ruth's Chris Steak House for the reliable, no-surprises USDA Prime experience.

A good steakhouse is one of the few restaurants where paying more actually buys you something you can taste. This is not the night to chase a bargain. It is the night to order the thing you have been thinking about and let the room do its job.

Steak de Burgo: the Des Moines dish you have to order

Here is the inside knowledge that turns a visitor into someone who knows the city. Des Moines has quietly claimed steak de Burgo as its own, a tenderloin finished in butter, garlic, and herbs that you will struggle to find done the same way anywhere else in the country. It is the hometown signature, and ordering it is a small act of local citizenship.

The old-guard rooms are where to try it. Jesse's Embers, cooking over open flame on Ingersoll Avenue since 1963, is one of the classic spots people point to for the dish. It is not fancy. It is better than fancy, which is to say it knows exactly what it is and has zero interest in changing.

Every city thinks it invented a dish. Most are lying. Des Moines actually has steak de Burgo, and the fact that half the country has never heard of it is exactly why you should order it while you are here. Some secrets are worth being let in on.

How to pick the right cut

Standing in front of a steakhouse menu with no plan is how you end up overthinking it and under-ordering. A quick field guide so you walk in knowing what you want.

• Ribeye: the most marbled, most flavorful cut. If you want the richest bite, start here.
• Filet mignon: the leanest and most tender. Buttery texture, milder flavor. This is also your steak de Burgo base.
• New York strip: the middle ground, firm and flavorful, a safe and satisfying pick.
• Prime rib: the big, slow-roasted special-occasion cut, when you want volume and comfort.

Order it a touch less done than you think you want. You can always cook a steak more. You cannot un-cook it, and a good kitchen will have words for you if you drown a Prime ribeye past medium.

Making it a proper night out

A steak dinner is the anchor, not the whole evening. Downtown and Court Avenue put you steps from a drink before and a walk after, which is the way to do it. Reserve ahead, especially on weekends and around downtown events, because the good rooms fill up and a steakhouse is not a walk-in-and-wait kind of plan.

If this is the centerpiece of a romantic evening, our date night ideas in Des Moines rounds out the hours on either side of dinner. And if you are feeding a bigger group or want to compare the city's dining districts first, the best restaurants in Des Moines guide lays out the whole map.

One honest heads-up: steakhouse names, hours, and even whole rooms turn over faster than any blog can track. Treat the spots here as a starting lineup, not gospel, and pull up current hours and reservations before you commit the good shirt to a drive.

What you are really paying for at a steakhouse

A good steak dinner is not cheap, and people sometimes flinch at the number. Here is the honest case for it. At a real steakhouse, the price buys things you cannot fake at home: better beef than the grocery sells, a broiler hot enough to put a proper crust on it, and a kitchen that has cooked ten thousand ribeyes and knows exactly when to pull yours.

You are also paying for the night itself. The unhurried pace, the second glass of wine, the fact that nobody at your table is doing dishes after. For a date or a celebration, that is most of the point. A burger is a meal. A steakhouse is an evening, and the two are not trying to do the same job.

A few ways to get the most out of it without overthinking the bill:

• Go for the occasion, not the Tuesday. This is a special-night room. Treat it like one and the price makes sense.
• Split the sides. Steakhouse sides are built to share and usually enormous. Two people rarely need three.
• Ask about the cut of the day. The kitchen often has a special worth hearing about before you default to the menu.
• Try the local dish. If steak de Burgo is on the menu, order it. You came to Des Moines, eat what Des Moines made.

Spend the money once, order well, and you will remember the meal long after you have forgotten what it cost. That is the whole trade.

Where you stay sets the tone

Here is the part the restaurant lists skip. In a spread-out city, your home base quietly decides how the night flows. Stay central and downtown's steakhouses are a short stroll or quick ride away, so a glass of wine does not turn into a designated-driver negotiation. Stay out by the interstate and the whole evening gets a commute bolted onto it.

A whole-home rental also gives a couple or a group room to get ready, land a sitter comfortably, and come home to somewhere nicer than a hotel hallway. You own the itinerary. The city sears the steak.

The bottom line

The best steakhouse in Des Moines depends on the night. 801 Chophouse for the downtown classic, Prime & Providence for the nationally ranked room, Ruth's Chris for the dependable standby, and an old-guard spot like Jesse's Embers for steak de Burgo, the dish you should not leave town without. Reserve ahead, check today's hours, and order the ribeye you have been thinking about.

Want to land somewhere central, with room to make a night of it? Book a Stay-A-While home in the Des Moines area and let the city handle dinner.