Smitty's Tenderloin Shop — Restaurant in Des Moines

We were in town to buy a car, and the dealership suggested Smitty's as our lunch option. We had passed it on the way and commented about the tenderloin advertised on the front of the restaurant. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the delicious scent of fried food. We both ordered the breaded queen tenderloin sandwich and split an order of onion rings. There was an option for unbreaded as well. The server asked if we wanted the sandwiches "with everything" and not knowing what that meant, we both agreed. I figured it would be lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and mayo, but it was not. Our server returned with our tenderloin sandwiches, which were placed before us directly on the table on a piece of red and white checkered sandwich paper. The onion rings came in a basket. Upon examination, the tenderloin had ketchup, mustard, pickles, and diced onion. The meat exceeded the size of the bun considerably. I needed to add salt and pepper to mine, as I found the breading a bit bland. I didn't much enjoy the mustard and ketchup and would have preferred mayo, lettuce, and tomato, but I should have asked when I placed the order. All in all, I'm happy to support a local family owned business over a fast food place. If we ever come back to that area, I'd try it again, unbreaded and with my preferred toppings. Unfortunately, we took no pictures, but the ones online are representative...

This was our first trip to smittys. I love a good tenderloin and I was told they have one of the best. Upon pulling it you can tell it has been in the community for a long time and the building is old and run down. That did not detour me because sometimes some of the best food I have ever had has been from an old run down joint that turned out to be amazing. When walking in the inside is bigger then you think it would be. The menu is full of what you would expect. Burgers and tenderloins with some classic dinner sides and appetizers. I ordered the half tenderloin and my wife got the cheese burger. The food came out quick. The tenderloin was hot and fresh it had a great crispy breading even the half was overflowing the bun it was served with. This was all around a great trip. The whole experience had a great small town feel even while in the big city. I will for sure be back to try more then just the half tenderloin. I'm not sure if it is the best in town but it is one of the best I have...

I rarely do Google reviews, but after attempting to eat what I just purchased from here, I absolutely had to.

Horrible. That's the only way I can describe my first and only time eating food from Smitty's. I ordered a king tenderloin and onion rings. As you can see from the picture of the tenderloin, it's nothing but a ton of breading and a sliver of pink meat. I had to bite into the center of the sandwich before I actually got to this shred of meat. On top of selling me a bread, with a sliver of tenderloin sandwich, it was incredibly bland. It tasted exactly like the onion rings I ordered: bread. Not an ounce of seasoning to be found. Honestly, I could've went to the nearest gas station and got a better meal.

I was really hoping for the best considering all the reviews this place gets, and maybe this was a one off thing, but I'll never know because no way in hell will I take the chance on paying 8 bucks for a meal...