Tuscany At Des Moines Creek

me and my wife go here all the time for breakfast and nothing has ever been bad here. Great food, great service, and great prices!

We were in the general area one recent evening and decided to stop in – mainly because we have an Entertainment Book and there was a coupon for this place in the book.
Granted, we were pretty early — about 5:00 PM – but the place was nearly completely empty; only one other table was occupied. That probably should have told us something.
The menu is pretty extensive — with Italian and Greek and American offerings. But, that also should have told us something. Sometimes, when a place has too much on its menu, they’re not really doing anything particularly well.
And, that pretty much turned out to be the case. The final verdict on the food:
Bread (both in the initial basket put out and the garlic bread that accompanied our pasta dinners) was mediocre. Starter salads were actually quite good — full of crisp, fresh veggies; I had the Catalina dressing — not a choice found at most restaurants — and it was fine. Main courses left much to be desired. It was clear everything was prepared in advance and just kinda slopped together when ordered. Nothing tasted particularly fresh. I had the «singing shrimp» tossed with fettuccine. I was somehow expecting prawns, but got baby shrimp. Not a huge biggie. (Is that an oxymoron?) You have your choice of sauces and I went for the «pink» (a marinara mixed with some cream). I got the feeling they just threw cold cream into the warm sauce as my food was lukewarm. Initially, I was less-​than-​overwhelmed. The more I thought about it, though, the more I could not believe how bad the food really was. Husband felt much the same about his chicken and fettuccine. (We both brought home leftovers, but ended up tossing them.)
Oh, and our two-​for-​one Entertainment coupon turned into «up to $ 10 off» a meal, which turned into $ 10 off the post-​tax total. So, instead of saving $ 14, which a true two-​for-​one-​would have done, we saved about half that. Legal, I guess (different places interpret the Entertainment deal differently), but still kinda lame.
Overall, there was clearly nothing about our experience that would entice to return. And, so, we shan’t.

We have been coming here for their holiday Sunday brunch for years. While it has changed a little recently, the food in the buffet is still very good and the staff is always nice.

I’m so sad that the food was really bad, it taste spoiled an old like it was cooked days before ordered. Nothing was fresh… But I give 1 star because I think she can tell I didn’t like my food because I didn’t eat it at all. She gave me a free pie, 1star for effort. The place was nice. Ps, we ordered the special for st pattys day. You would think the special would be amazing but it wasn’t, it was corn beef, and shearpards pie. We ordered both… My shearpards pie… Taste like old meat with peas and carrots and instant mash potatoes on top … And the corn beef was old and dry… The soup that came with chicken Apple curry soup, base was ok, umm… The chicken came from a can, it was dry like tuna in a can, same texture, the clam chowder was decent, the free bread that came out in the beginning taste like a load of wheat bread, and the free Irish bread smelt amazing but you can tell it was raw in the inside, or it was old and moldy… This is my honest review and I feel really bad for having a bad experience… :(… Overall, food is disgusting

Awesome place! We’ve only been here for breakfast and have been extremely pleased both times. Rhey have a brunch buffet with lots of choices. Today I ordered off their breakfast menu and had an amazing omelette with delicious crisy home fries.

I wouldn’t come back. The food is so so and the décor is outdated. The carpet is just dirty and grimy and gives the whole restaurant a down trodden feel. Blah!

This place… To be honest, we have only eaten dinner here twice, and last night was only because I insisted we give it another try. The good– Staff is very friendly, very attentive, and the pies are SOOO good. But unfortunately that’s probably the only thjng we would ever go back for after last night… So now the bad– We have had 3 dishes here that just weren’t very good. The Macadamia crusted halibut was ok, except for the fact that the chunks of nuts were so large I had a pile in my plate buy the time I was done. The manicotti was SO salty my husband couldn’t eat it, and last night I ordered a rib eye med-​rare. I like my steak pink. I want it tender, but the one that came out was literally raw inside. They took it back and basically seared he outside some more, cooking half of it to well-​done and leaving the other half rare. At that point the server offered to replace it with a top sirloin (apparently it was «easier to cook»?) and since I was pretty much done with everything else on my plate I agreed. Again, raw. The chef did the same thjng as before but I had given up and just are what I could. In the end, the awesome service from our server and the omg yummy FREE Hawaiian cream pie is the reason I didn’t make a deal about it when we left, and he only reason I’m still curious about trying brunch sometime since that gets he beat reviews.

(Oops. Had this restaurant confused with another one!)
This is a nice breakfast place.
I got the omelette here which you can choose to get hash browns or potatoes, toast or biscuits.
The omelette was delicious. :) really enjoyed the cheese melted on top.
The waitress was very caring and serviced us well.
She asked for preference of seats, the window or booth which was nice.
She was constantly checking on us to see if we needed anything else,
and it was really nice because she asked if I wanted something such as ketchup and tabasco sauce before I had to ask.
If I needed something, I know she would be right by our table and that I didn’t have to raise and wave my arm to get her attention like at some restaurants where the servers are so busy.
I felt my toast was too burnt so I asked to get it less toasted and they were very kind in providing me with that.
The waitress gave us refills of coffee often so the coffee was kept warm.
Nice windows where the lights come in.
I like that they are open early. A pretty big restaurant.
The proportion of the food is just right.
Makes you feel content.
Will cost about 13 for total of food + tip per person, a good once in a while dining. :)
A nice and wide parking lot where you can see your car out the windows.

Very nice people, fast service, and delicious food! PTL!
I came in, was seated quickly, given a choice where to sit, moved by the waitress because it was windy by the fire place and didn’t even have to ask someone because they noticed it was starting to get windy, provided my tea quickly, assisted with menu options, nicely done meal with no time at all, asked me to refill my hot water, and even shared a little bit about the area. Overall it was a very nice experience and breakfast.

Good diner experience with a very friendly staff. I first visited this place probably 15 years ago, and their American diner fare for breakfast and lunch has pretty much stayed the same — standard stuff, really. Where this place shines, though, is with their baker who has been making amazing pies and specialty breads for 20+ years. That’s what bumps this place up to 4-​star for me!

I would’ve given the place one star were it not for the fact that the server did try to do her best. Let me start from the beginning.
We came in to the Tuscany with an Entertainment book coupon figuring it would be nice to try out a Mediterranean place in the area, given that we had just moved here recently from north Seattle and had yet to have found our favorite restaurants yet. When we took a moment to look over the menu, one of the first things we noticed was how few Mediterranean items were actually on the menu. When we asked the waitress what she would recommend in the way of Mediterranean items, she recommended we just get a hamburger. We both felt fairly insulted by this.
I ended up getting a seafood pasta dish that included shrimp which was fresh off the docks according to the menu. My husband got a lamb dish. The waitress took our menus and walked away, and we proceeded to… wait. For about 45 minutes. We were the only people in the restaurant so we noticed this and the time was grating. That, and the music, which was a country gospel CD stuck on a loop of half of one of the songs, which we pointed out to the waitress when she brought our food so that we could have blessed silence.
The dish itself had a greasy feel to it and the shrimp had the taste and texture of frozen cocktail shrimp and my husband’s meat was overcooked. All and all, not worth the experience, we decided we wouldn’t be coming back.

Nice atmosphere, slow service and food is nothing to write home about. There are better choices.

Friendly place! Better than Denny’s for breakfast. Food was good, but i thought the sliced luncheon meat corned beef hash was… interesting. I don’t think I would seek out this place for lunch or dinner.

I went to lunch there yesterday after a coworker said it was a a good place for all day breakfast dishes.
I ordered an eggs and potato dish that arrived cold. I didn’t complain because I was with three coworkers and we couldn’t have afforded the time it would’ve taken to make it right.
The restaurant only had about six other customers so it wasn’t like they were overwhelmed. I won’t be back.

I ate at this place when it was under different ownership and have eaten there a few times since the new owners have taken over and I truly can’t tell the difference. It is still great food for a great price. I have ate their half sandwich with soup lunch special, Halibut sandwich and Sovlaki and loved them all. I like the way that they have your traditional american fair, steak, seafood, burgers and Tuscan food too. Pies are still the same and great too.
The ambiance is still that of your middle class family style dining establishment.
This is where you go when you want to go when you have picky eaters and need alot of choices.

Service was good, food was ok, pie was great. Seemed to be lots of locals having lunch which is always a good sign. The place is a bit shabby inside. Our experience was fine but I’ll probably try somewhere else next time.

Being in Des Moines this is geared for a quieter crowd ;), but Tuscany at Des Moines Creek is a lovely nicer dining experience that’s fairly easy on the wallet. They have a «Happy Hour» in the afternoon where you get EXCELLENTcoffee and a slice of pie for $ 5.
The regular menu portions are quite large and an average eater like me will have enough for lunch the next day, but their senior menu is actually a «lighter portions» menu and available to anyone. I got a generous «light» serving of lasagna, garlic bread, a salad and rolls for $ 10. My mom got the «light» prawns (with salad, rolls and vegies) for around $ 12 and it was quite generous as well. I also got a to-​go order of a regular portion of lasagna (which turned out to be twice the lighter size) minus the salad for my boyfriend and it was only $ 12 including tax. The seafood is pricier, but still a good value and the Italian items are very reasonable indeed. And delicious! We had a beautiful and conscientious server and the food came quickly with the entrees arriving just as we finished our salads.
I had to give it two dollar signs for price as it’s not a cheapie joint, but it’s definitely in the lower range and is an excellent value for the food and experience.
The only con was that the place could use some new carpet-​it was pretty worn and slightly detracted from the otherwise wonderful experience. But I’m picky and if that’s the only thing I can find wrong that’s pretty good. :D

Pros: Inside was quaint– kind of like an old fashioned diner, the servers were really friendly and full of smiles, chicken fried steak was tender and moist with the right amount of crunch, my kid gobbled up his entire place of fettucine alfredo
Cons: Hard to spot from the street in the dark, some kind of fibers in the clam chowder– like a big fuzzy had dropped into the pot, really salty mashed potatoes
Overall we would go back to try some of their other entrees. They have daily specials and a happy hour (15% off a list of appys). Entrees run between $ 11 — 18 and kids meals are approx. $ 5. Their pies looked tasty but we were too full so we’ll have to factor that in next time. They also have a coupon in the 2010 Entertainment Book.