Pepp's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Grimes

Disappointing Experience Despite a Promising Start

When I first walked into Pepp's Pizzeria, I was impressed by the welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff. It felt like the kind of place you'd want to come back to. Unfortunately, the service experience that followed was incredibly disappointing.

I placed an order for three pizzas and was told they’d be ready in an hour. When I returned, I was informed that my order had been mistakenly given to someone else with the same first name. The staff apologized and said they would remake the pizzas and reimburse me, but it would take another hour.

After waiting again and returning, I was told that while my meal had been refunded, they were now unable to make my pizzas at all and that I’d have to come back another time. Frustrated, I sat in my car and watched other customers walk in and place orders without issue.

When I went back in to ask why others could order but I couldn’t, I was told I could place my order again—but only if I waited yet another hour. They offered a discount, but by that point, the experience had already soured.

This visit was a major letdown. I understand that mistakes happen, but the lack of follow-through and inconsistent communication made it worse. I hope they improve their order management and customer service in the future.

Update: the pizza was really good. They made it right. Since then, we’ve been back two more times. And my kids have absolutely loved the pizza. I will do another update about the customer service and my experience at this time. It was...

We love pizza so when my son asked to try Pepps for his birthday I was excited to try a place we haven't been.

They don't take delivery orders on Fridays so I was told I had to pick it up. Fine, but when I asked to schedule the pizza for a couple hours out they told me they couldn't do that either. I was told it would be ready within 20 minutes of placing the order.

I waited until I was ready for the pizza, ordered, and got a message that it was going to be ready in 45 minutes to an hour.

Went and got the pizza, got home with it and one of the pizzas was really burnt. My camera actually makes it look better than was.

Since this was a new place for us, I probably should have looked at the pizza before I took it. That's my mistake.

The pizza itself was okay. The pepperoni on the pizza is super salty!

The yellow peppers were dry and chewy.

Also, I don't know what they do to their ranch, but I don't recommend it! I paid for three extra ranch cups on top of the one they give you and it was absolutely horrible! It tasted like some type of watered down celery dip.

Not even exaggerating. We ended up throwing it away.

It wasn't the worst pizza we've had but definitely not the best. Definitely not as good as Dough Co. or even Casey's.

I'm giving it 3/5 because the the cheesy bread was amazing, the restaurant is small but clean, and the kid who handed me my order was...

If there's anything my friends know about me it's that I'm an absolute glutton for pizza and pepps, at least to me, is some of the absolute best you can get in and around Des Moines at the time of writing. Their crust is just to die for and their toppings are fresh. I'm especially fond of their White Pie which isn't the most popular choice but honestly I've tried a lot now and I haven't yet had one that I didn't like or found underwhelming.

Do note they don't have seating, they're take out only as their restaurant is small. They also tightly control the number of pizzas they make each day to keep their excellent quality so high so be sure to place your order early before they run out or stop by for lunch to purchase some by the slice while available.

I'd love to see them include calorie information on their menu or website in the future. It's handy for people on a more tightly controlled diet but besides that I really have nothing bad to say. I will be back because they really are...