801 Chophouse — Restaurant in Des Moines

We reserved a table for 2 for today at 7pm. We arrived around 6:40 and within a few minutes was being seated, which was great! We got a booth which was great for two people, great tablecloths. It took around 10 minutes to get water and initial drink order. We noticed that the entire place was filled with succulent aroma's from the various foods being cooked, mainly steak! The room had a haze over it with searing smoke which wasn't bad until later on when our eyes started burning.. NOT a big deal really as we were also tired from a long day but wanted to include if there are those with any eye issues.

Once our waitress arrived, we didn't realize it until later that they were about business only, very little small talk, i.e. how are you today, enjoying the day etc.. NOT a big deal for us really as people are just different and have different levels of customer service. This was this way throughout the evening, which again wasn't BAD service just not very personable. The entire place was filled with people and we could tell it was very busy, but it was very loud with people's voices carrying across the room, again NOT a big deal to us, but for those looking for a quiet vibe, this would not be it when busy. We had several folks coming around to fill up water, bringing us bread and the like and they were on top of things, except for the following:

As it was my wife's birthday and we had other things planned for after this we were thinking we would be out of there by 8 pm at the latest and even let the waitress know this. She proceeded to ask if, since it was my wife's birthday if she wanted the souffle. She said it would take about 40 minutes, at the time it was 7:08.. We stated were were on a time schedule and at first said no, that's okay.. She then told us that she could make the smaller one which only take 25 minutes! We were like that's great, lets do that, but I did ask "when will that order go in?" She said as soon as your meal order goes in or shortly after and said it would be done well in time, we said that's great, lets do it! Fast forward to after our meal was over and the clean up, to go boxes, she told us upon taking the food back to wrap up, that it was going to be another 20 minutes for the souffle, it was now 8:12 and what could we say.. Long story short we left finally around 8:35 which was past the time we had planned... We're not upset by it at all, but the expectation was set on our end about the timing, but not by our waitress as we were over 30 minutes past the time we stated we would like to be done.

At the end of the day and through all that, we will go back here in a heartbeat! The steaks, her Filet, me Ribeye, were both succulent and perfectly cooked (Kudos to the chef's). We also had the Mac and Cheese with lobster and it was freaking out of this world.. The bread, the steaks, the mac and cheese and the asparagus were some of the best we have ever had in our lives.. It's the best in Des Moines hands down.. Now the cost is as expected and we walked out after tip just under $300 (special occasion only for us) but will plan on coming back 100% without a doubt the BEST! By the way all other staff were very attentive and great but improvements could be made in that area for our waitress. I wish I could have given all all area's 5 stars, I really wanted to.

We will be...

A friend recommended this restaurant for dinner last night, and we're glad we took their advice! The atmosphere was nice. Kindof formal, but not uptight formal like some restaurants we've been to, which was nice, as we had had a hot workday, and weren't dressed formally. Our server, Skip, was a very pleasant and friendly guy. His enthusiasm over the success of my jalapeño martini was fabulous, and reflected how I felt about it. His knowledge of the menu was top notch, and I liked how he told us about the various dishes, as well as sharing his personal feelings about a few, instead of the run-of-the-mill "everything here is great" tactic some servers take. I appreciate the honesty. He's genuine, not pandering. More servers could take a lesson from his example, in my opinion. The food was amazing! We had the roasted marrow bones and prime beef carpaccio for appetizers, and I thought they were delicious. I'd never had straight marrow like that before and, combined with the toast points and a bit of lemon juice, I was smiling. My husband had the bone-in ribeye, which was so juicy and tender that he could've cut it with an unfinished butter knife and eaten it with bare gums if he didn't have his natural teeth! I've had hamburgers tougher than that! I enjoyed the double-cut lambchops, which were also quite juicy and tender. The flavor was such that I enjoyed eating them slowly, savoring every bite! One of our sides was the rare potatoes, which were so rich in flavor that I also ate those slowly! For people who don't like Bleu cheese, these potatoes may not be great, but for us Bleu cheese lovers, these were a taste of heaven! We also had the lobster Mac and, I was impressed that I didn't need to add any salt! It was creamy and the macaroni was the perfect tenderness! We took our desserts to go, but we got the turtle tart and the pineapple coconut cheesecake. The turtle tart was a symphony of flavor and pleasant crunch! I don't know that I've had anything quite like it, and I'm glad I got to have some! The cheesecake was nice and creamy, and the diced pineapple pieces with the coconut went with it beautifully! Overall, I have to congratulate the kitchen staff for delivering such rich flavors and excellent textures, and to thank Skip for warming us up with his friendly banter and knowledge of the food. We will definitely eat here again, next time we're in the...

I'm writing this review 2weeks after my birthday dinner at the 801. So you know I am not a pissed off customer venting :) I hardly ever write negative reviews.

I used to be a huge fan and we would make reservations for special occasions. However, my last trip took this restaurant off my radar. My husband made reservations for my birthday. We arrived 10min early and were told to wait at the bar although it was quiet that time of the evening. Regardless, the bartender was amazing. We had an appetizer and drinks. He was just great.

Then our table was ready so we moved and were put in a booth right by the kitchen, which I should have asked immediately to be moved to another open booth because it was very loud.

The service was not great as we seemed to be overlooked the entire time. They never asked if it was a special occasion and after the food was delivered we didn't see the server for long enough for me to have drank BOTH glasses of water on the table and have to flag down someone else to fill our glasses.

The biggest issue was I ordered a pasta dish and it was not good nor how it was described on the menu. By the time a manager stopped to ask how everything was my food was cold and our server was still nowhere in site. I told him I did not like it and apologized but I needed to see a menu again.

He seemed completely put off that I didn't like the food and seemed to talk down to me like I was a stupid child and not a successful business woman in my 30s. I honestly felt like I didn't belong in there. I won't go into detail but it was bad enough that my husband started to get upset.

He then spent 5 minutes talking 'at me' saying he would bring me a steak. I told him I don't eat beef but he kept pushing the steaks onto me anyway. He only heard it when I husband said it to him very clearly. Then he basically told me that if I didn't eat beef then I shouldn't be visiting their restaurant.

I decided to skip dinner at that point and just ordered desert - which came as a confused combination of flavors that was not described on the menu. I don't want to go into too much detail about the experience because then it would seem that I am venting. However, I will say we spent over 100 for the 2 of us to 'eat' and we left unhappy and with a VERY different opinion...