801 Chophouse – Des Moines

They ruined the main dining room by packing in all the tables after they removed the booths. Constantly getting back of chair bumped and noise is now such that it is difficult to hear someone across from you when busy in there.
801, do something to fix what clearly was not well thought out.

The food was good, but for the price I didn’t find it , extraordinary.

Murphy the manager was great. The staff was amazing.

801 Chophouse is always the perfect experience for my husband and I when we want a night out. We know we are going to receive the best service, most delicious food, and perfect drinks from the bar. 801 Chophouse is where we go to relax and enjoy high quality food, and the entire staff makes that so easy for us to do!

This is the first time we have had a not great experience at 801. Server brought the wrong steak and didn't offer to adjust the price. The one we got was $11 more and was not very tender. The tomato/onion salad was mostly raw purple onions. The seafood pasta needed something...a cream sauce or more cheese. It didn't have a lot of flavor. The anniversary decorations and complimentary dessert were very nice. We have always loved 801 and will try again.

25th Anniversary

Great food and service! They made my son feel special for his birthday!

Out first time in Des Moines, Iowa, and 801 Chophouse was excellent. Excellent service, excellent food and great wine. We were lucky to have the Super Sunday special. What a great deal. The salad , the steak and dessert were delicious. Our server Skip was great,very nice and we had a great time.
Thank you again and I hope to see Des Moines and 801 again soon.
George

Really do love dining here. Food doesn't disappoint. Only down side is the price point. Try dinning Sunday evening for the Sunday special.

Our waitress and service was amazing!

It was great

Was good Unfortunately the soufflé had an issue so we didn’t get it and also my wife’s pasta she’s allergic to lobster and most shellfish and asked for just shrimp with her pasta dish and came out and said I had muscles in it which was not even listed as an ingredient on it so she didn’t have her meal on time with the rest of us always a great experience there just unfortunate what happened I will be coming back

You can always count on the food and service at 801 Chophouse in Des Moines to be exceptional. I love a good whiskey cocktail, and the Cat's Pajamas off of their extensive cocktail menu is one of my favorites. You can't go wrong with any of their sides, and their steaks are guaranteed one of the best you've had.

Always amazing food and service, we go every year for our anniversary and they treat us like royalty!

Excellent in every way with the exception of the noise level in the main dining area. Service and good top notch as always

Great service and the food as usual was outstanding. We had a party of 6 for a business dinner and tucking us away in the corner with a little separation was very appreciated.

I’ve been a big fan for years. 801 is a destination experience, but recent set up and menu changes have left me disappointed on more than one occasion. It’s extemely loud now with the booths gone. The menu changes have removed it from my list of options in Des Moines. Very disappointed they are leaning on their “corporate chef” who doesn’t seem to care about the original restaurant and it’s devoted clientele.

WE arrived about 15 minutes early for our reservation yet our table was ready and they were able to seat us immediately. The hostess and waitress were great. Our waitress, Jen, was attentive and made the experience fun and memorable.
Thank you 801, we will be back.

After 15 years of coming here regularly, the "specialness" has worn off. We have never had a problem with steak temperature but all 3 steaks were wrong, and the staff was argumentative with us because of their "we don't follow the standard doneness" process even though we DID ultimately order our streaks by color as they suggested. When we end up ordering it like YOU tell us to order it, then don't argue with us when it comes out wrong.

The server mentioned something about, "yeah, we have a corporate chef now so things have changed." That probably explains a few things, but not the overall experience being a complete letdown.

The food, besides the steaks, and drinks were great but the steak situation and the service ruined our dinner.

We went on a Saturday night and tried to make reservations a couple days in advance. At that time, the only options were the early and late times, but that's no big deal.

We got a ribeye, prime rib, a side of lobster mac and cheese, and a couple drinks. Everything tasted great! Portions were huge, so if we go again, we may just share an entree.

Service was very quick, and our waiter was very helpful since it was our first time there.

The ONLY downside was the price. We knew it would be pretty costly beforehand, so it wasn't a surprise. But if it were a little cheaper, we may be able to go there more often and not just for special occasions.

Overall, I do recommend eating here!

The waiter was fantastic, we had a great time. I took my son for a birthday dinner and it was memorable. Food was delicious. Thank you 801 chophouse!

One of my favorite restaurants! The food is INCREDIBLE! I always bring people to 801 for special occasions.

I would definitely recommend the restaurant for special events. Anniversary dinner came with complimentary dessert, decorated table, and a card. It was very nice.

Excellent food and great service. Our waiter was outstanding

We were celebrating our wedding anniversary and the staff acknowledged that with a nice table setting and card. We are frequent diners at 801, so we know what to expect. We generally start with a happy hour drink and appetizer before dinner during the week.

Best steakhouse in DSM. Came back the next day...........Thank you

Steak was done perfectly. The blue cheese potatoes were a bit hard. They needed to be cook a little longer. Service was superb.

The waitress was not happy. She stopped over to take plates away a lot and did not allow us to relax and enjoy our food. It was as if she wanted us to leave. I was not happy and will not return but will go back to Fleming’s.

The noise level was greater than its ever been .Some of the booths were gone.The open dining room contributed to the noise level
Everything else was excellent

As good of dining experience as you will find anywhere in the country...

Only drawback is that the wine list tends to be overpriced compared to others in the area and even similar type of restaurants in other cities. It is easily our finest restaurant in town — but reserved for special treats every 12 - 24 months because of the wine prices.

But has been and would always be my #1 choice for best restaurant in Des Moines!

A wonderful meal with outstanding service—- we would definitely go back again!

Filet with bone marrow butter was awesome. Truly exceptional steak. I would however pass on the lobster corn dogs. They were meh!

First time ever but the steak was horrible! Way under cooked and when it came back it was chewy and tough!

The ambience is good. It’s quite relaxing atmosphere however the meat is not the greatest. The fish was delightful and fresh, the lobster was amazing, But the steak was rather bland.

With great anticipation I went to 801 Chophouse with a friend who has it been very impressed by her visits there. We had reservations and after making my way past looming contruction inside of the building, I entered what seemed to be a very busy, exciting venue! We were seated right next to,apparently, the kitchen door. There were many waiters walking back and forth going past us. Very near us was a party of maybe 8 behind a curtain where there was an incredible, offensively loud growling noise going on. Along with the frequent blaring of this growl, there was a cacophony of metal slamming pretty consistently. Barely above the din was a slight roar of unidentifiable "dinner music".
The food was good. It was not freaking fantastic. It was good. Over priced, but good. I wouldn't recommend this dinning experience to anyone and it is too over priced for me to want to give them a second glance.

Great Food as always! Prepared perfectly!

Toughest prime rib I have ever had. You shouldn't have to saw away on prime rib. My friends steak was good probably not $50 good but good. Sides were awesome wait staff awesome insanely loud at dinner time tho

The only item that was a negative is the noise level gets a little loud and makes it difficult to carry a conversation and gives more of a bar like atmosphere compared to a premium establishment. The

Steak Tartar was poor chewy

We arrived, was seated in the back far corner for a private table for two. The menus had Happy Anniversary stamped on them, which was just perfect! We also had a card with heart confetti on the table, which was from the staff. That was absolutely amazing, as I wasn’t expecting any of this!
I ordered the lobster corn chowder in a cup- delicious as usual with fresh con and potatoes and this huge piece of a lobster claw on top! We received home made baked bread and butter as well. I also ordered the seafood pan roast, it came with one large crab leg- the chefs cut it down the middle and they give you metal crackers as well, two of each oversized shrimp and scallops, half of a lobster tail in an asparagus, tomato garlic butter broth- simply to die for!
He ordered a bone in Delmonico steak with aged cheddar hash browns and creamed corn, we also received a Grand Mariner soufflé with 3 sauces of raspberry cooli, chocolate ganache, and creme anglaise... we have never had a soufflé before- it was a pillow of heaven and I would order it and pay for it next time, our server was Ryan and most helpful with menu items. We will definitely be back!!