Reviews for Ankeny Diner in Ankeny, IA

Great service but the hashbrown's are a hit or miss. Maybe I need to ask for them to be well done? They were still hard in the... middle & the country fried steak could of been left in the fryer for about 2 more minute's. Otherwise no complaint's. Read more

This was my first time at Ankeny Diner. I've heard a lot of good things about this place and now I agree. Very good food and... awesome service! Read more

The menu is a bit overwhelming and there is work to do to find what to eat. However, I overheard the onion rings were done... in-house and good eats. I was not disappointed. They were a tad bit greasy, but great flavor. I ended up getting the WesternMelt...ham, cheese, bacon and bbq sauce. It was done perfect. This is not a deli ham sandwich. If I am back in the area andhave a chance to sit down, I'll be here again! SN: The house salad is to be expected, bagged lettuce and some touchups. Read more

Don't let the outside appearance fool you. This restaurant is a hidden gem. It's located in the Ramada Inn that is being... renovated. I ate there for lunch & dinner and they are consistent & wonderful. With a large menu, you might be concerned thatquality could suffer but everything is made to delicious perfection. First meal, I had the grilled tenderloin and a potatocake. It's a Midwest tradition and both were great. There were three of us and we ate light. Second meal, I brought four pickyeaters, hahaha! I had the country fried steak with eggs. I was impressed by the flexibility of the wait staff. For my secondmeal, they substituted a potato cake for my hash browns with no problems. The family all had breakfast foods, which are servedanytime. The sausage gravy is absolutely the best I've ever had. Highly recommended. Most restaurants I've been to, the eggsaren't great but Ankeny Restaurant made scrambled eggs that didn't get cold too fast and tasted great from the first to the lastbite. I salute the cook for that. Our waitress was extremely patient with 3 rowdy kids and did everything right the first time.Despite changes and substitutions, the check was precise. I'll be glad to eat here every time I stay in Des Moines in thefuture. Thank you for two wonderful meals and perfect service. Read more

A hidden gem. We visit the Des Moines area often and, although I have heard about this restaurant before, we have never had the... opportunity to stop. We stopped last night and are glad we did. The atmosphere was pretty cool and cozy. The prices were veryreasonable and the food was very good. It was also neat to see how much they make from scratch. The spaghetti sauce was madefrom scratch. This place is not gourmet by any means, but it is good, solid food that should please the whole family at a veryaffordable price. We will be back. Read more

Found the Ankeny Diner while on Yelp and this place was phenomenal. Located right next to our stellar Quality Inn hotel (not... really), the Ankeny Diner is only a stone throw away. When we got there, it was a little misleading; the "Open" neon sign wasoff, the window blinds were all closed, and we thought we weren't getting dinner tonight. Pleasantly, the door was open, and yougo down a long hallway. Hang a left, where there is a blue neon sign, that leads to another door. There's a giant gum-ballmachine in front, near the register and a vintage Coke machine on the right. The place has a lot of character. In regards totheir menu, they have a huge variety of foods, you would expect from a diner. They have of course breakfast items like frenchtoast, pancakes, and waffles, to name a few, to sandwiches, pastas, salads, shakes/malts, and hamburgers. I got the grilledblackened chicken, which was a chicken breast patty, a small roll, and steam veggies. The chicken breast was topped with cheeseand the order came with a side, which I picked fries. The chicken was cooked well, not too dry, and was seasoned really good.Overall, delicious. The fam loved their food too. My oldest got the grilled cheese burger, which were two grilled cheeses,sandwiching a meat patty, with thousand island sauce on the side. It was probably one of the best burger/sandwich I had. Thebread was nice and buttery and the meat was cooked to a perfect "medium". Phenomenal. Waitstaff was great, especiallyconsidering that they seemed to be short-staffed, but everyone was patient and kind. A really great dining experience! Read more

This place is amazing. I eat here almost every day since I discovered it. Every time I go I get something new off the menu, and... every time I love it. I know I'm posting a picture of my grilled cheeseburger but I don't know what's in that jalapeno saucethey make for their chicken tenders that makes it soooooo goood but oh wow. Read more

Got sat down & watch the waiter serving shots to a bunch of college kids at 7 am. Waited 5 minutes & didn't even get a hello or... coffee. Host acknowledged I wasn't getting taken care of asked for my order & proceeded to hunt down the waiter that blew meoff. I walked out cause if the service was this bad, I'm afraid to try the food. Which they have signs everywhere saying theycant serve hashbrowns & other items. Sad, it's a cute diner, that is barely staying alive. Your apology speaks for yourintegrity. Thank you for apologizing. Was expecting to read anger & instead you owned up & it truly sounded sincere. Itravel a lot so maybe I'll try again when I'm in the area. It really is a cute diner. Read more