Paula's Cafe — Restaurant in West Des Moines

I have been in Valley Junction working remotely lately and needed a change in lunch venues. I have been in Paula's before and everyone is always so friendly. The decor is simple and gives you the small town diner feel.

Today I tried the Friday Special and while the picture doesn't look that appetizing, especially since it is in a to-go container, don't be mistaken this meatloaf is awesome. For 9 bucks you this thick cut of meatloaf, a big mound of mashed potatoes smothered in beef gravy and a soda. It was a large portion and now I am ready for a nap. It was just just good comfort food.

Yesterday, I had their Thursday special, essentially maid-rite loose meat mixed with Graziano's sausage on a hoagie bun, fries and drink for $9. The Graziano's sausage gives it a great flavor with just a little kick to spice up the flavor of the normal maid-rites.

This place is a great value for your money, the food is freshly made, and the staff are pretty aweaome! Definitely worth checking out!

Update Friday December 7th. I have been looking forward all week to be able to stop in for the meatloaf special, to find out the Friday special alternates. To say I was extremely disappointed would be an understatement. The only saving grace was today's Friday special was an amazing chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. The chicken was fried to prefection and everything smothered in gravy, the way it should be. I guess I will just have to come back...

Paula's must be The destination for Maid Rite sandwiches. Everyone ordered them & is obviously the local favorite. Not being from the area, the entire experience was endearing, from standing under sign at the lunch counter to order & pay (cash only) then you select your table while your sandwich is made fresh & brought to you. Very interesting sandwich, similar to a Sloppy Joe with No sauce. Watching the regulars, you bus your own dishes to help keep overhead low & your delicious food affordable. A...

Love this place so much. I work down the street and stop in almost every Saturday to pick up lunch for me and/or my coworkers. The ladies that work Saturdays are always overly nice and understanding. The service they provide is exactly the service I hope our/(my) customers are met with. And the food is always delicious -their fried pickle fries are heavenly-. I have yet to be disappointed and can't anticipate being such any time soon. Edit 7 months later: still in love with this place! So laid back...