Open Sesame — Restaurant in Des Moines

I want to echo Hassan's accurate review of this restaurant... their review perfectly describes the experience we had. Both food and service were unsatisfactory.

Regarding the service, or lack thereof as the case is: A server should smile and greet a customer. A server should offer offer water. A server should ask if the meal is satisfactory, and if anything else is needed during the meal. A server should ask if additional drinks or dessert are wanted (I mean, don't you want to sell product and make money?). When placing the bill on the table, a thank you would be the usual thing a server would offer. And during the meal, a server should stop by and check on the customer... it wasn't even busy, so I don't know what you were doing back there, but all the customers appeared to be largely ignored and under-served.

Regarding the food: dry thin small pieces of gyro meat that didn't look like any gyro meat I've ever been served before. It looked and tasted like beef jerkey, and left me really wondering what had happened with it. The rice was unusually dry. The drinks tasted good, but were overpriced for the tiny size... just the same, I would have put up with the price and had another if the server would have offered that, or anything.

If it were just the food, I would have skipped leaving the feedback. But with server's angry face and lack of service or appreciation,...

Beautifully decorated little place. We were the first ones the arrive on Saturday night. There was only one server/bartender/cashier, so service got a little slow as more and more people came in. We were just in Des Moines to see a show, and we chose this tiny restaurant based on reviews. It did not disappoint. The sharbat (lemonade with rose water) was wonderful, and so was the basmati rice. My husband really enjoyed his gyro plate, but my kafta was okay--not really special. The tomatoes in the salad were excellent. They must have been fresh and local, because I'm very picky about my tomatoes. Most of the entrees seem to come with hummus. I don't even like hummus, but I ate it anyway, so I guess it must be good? The pistachio baklava was the absolute best, though. I have had only store-bought baklava in the past, and it was always soaked with honey, which made the pastry hard to chew and the whole confection too sweet. The baklava at Open Sesame is nothing like that. It's light while still full of the good stuff and has an amazing subtle flavor. Next time I'm in Des Moines I might go just...

Don't let my three star rating put you off of this little gem. Open Sesame is a beautiful restaurant with a lovely menu. However, after a handful of visits where we were treated almost like royalty, our last visit left us feeling jilted: bad service combined with an appetizer that never made its way to the table...but we were charged for...left us leery to return. I'm not sure if they were just having an off day, but we decided our money was better spent somewhere our patronage was appreciated.

With that out of the way, Open Sesame is just outside the heart of the East Village, and dining just outside this locale (a cafe-style table and chairs sits just outside the front door) lets you truly admire the artwork of the downtown area, with murals and sculptures in its vicinity. The menu is a treasure; the appetizers and main dishes are varied, and everything we ever tried was delicious. The prices, however, are a bit steep, and some of the items are just not worth the price. That fact, paired with our terrible experience, has kept us from returning for some seriously amazing falafel....