The Other Place

We waited a while to try this place because all new restaurants need time to work out the kinks. Our strategy didn't work this time. We had lunch there today and the pizza dough had absolutely no flavor and was under cooked. The service was slow even though the place was only about half full. Our order wasn't correct either. Hold the tomatoes isn't a difficult request, is it?!? This place was a huge disappointment after all the hype by their original Eastern Iowa groupies. However, I always challenge myself to find one good thing when writing a bad review so I will say this...the OP is clean and has tons of nice TV's. So if you are going out to have enough drinks during the game to not notice the poor quality of food and service then you might enjoy this place. And remember to take a cab home, please!

As a Waverly native, I was excited to see an OP here in Des Moines! They have totally awesome pizza that was a special treat when I was a kid.

On this visit, BF & I opted to split too smaller pizzas, the BBQ Chicken, which has red onion and cilantro on it (YUM!) and the classic House Special. Honestly I would eat any pizza that came out of that kitchen. SO GOOD.

Dining room was clean, service was friendly. Something I noticed that I thought was a very smart idea was there are LOTS of 6-top tables. If you have a bigger group, you should be able to find a place to sit. I just know a lot of places have mostly 4-top tables and that can mean long waits for seating if you have more than 4. Definitely a plus to see so many group tables!

They don't have a beer list, so from what our server rattled off, the selection was decent. But I'd say if you're more of a craft beer person, you're choices are probably slim.

The Other Place is loud. I don't know it's only because we were there on a Friday during happy hour, but the music was so loud that we practically had to shout to each other. They could turn it down a notch.

I had a Cajun chicken pepperjack something wrap that was really quite delicious, along with seasoned fries. It might have been conflicting seasoning for me between my wrap and the fries, but to me the fries were a little overseasoned. Our kid said they were the best French fries he'd ever tasted! So what do I know?

The pizza at the OP is awesome, though, and I was more than happy to help my boyfriend eat his after I'd had a taste. I'm a thin crust gal but as far as hand tossed pizza goes, this crust takes the cake. It's perfection. The toppings are pretty great, too.

Even though the place was packed because of happy hour, our server was still super attentive, enthusiastic, and very fast. A+ service - and I don't say that very often.