Smitty's Tenderloin Shop is a street-food stop in South Side, Des Moines.
Editorially verified June 26, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Address: 1401 Army Post Rd, Des Moines, IA 50315
The soul of Des Moines' south-side Italian-American community, Graziano Brothers has been producing house-made Italian sausage, cured meats and Italian
Worth the queue: Italian sausage by the pound, Italian beef sandwich
One of Des Moines' most-loved taquerias, El Rodeo serves birria, al pastor and a full range of traditional street tacos to the south-side community that
Worth the queue: Birria tacos and al pastor street tacos
The original Des Moines-adjacent Maid-Rite, best visited via day trip to Ames, serves the loose-meat sandwich that is a uniquely Iowa street food
Worth the queue: Loose-meat sandwich (loose ground beef in a soft bun)
Des Moines institution since 1961: the local Tex-Mex fast food chain the city adopted as its own. Crispy hard-shell tacos and breakfast burritos citywide.
Worth the queue: Crispy Mex shell tacos and breakfast burritos
The Iowa State Fair food programme: 11 August days, 400+ vendors and hundreds of items on sticks. Pork chop on a stick and Iowa corn dog are the standards.
Worth the queue: Pork chop on a stick, deep-fried butter, Iowa corn dog
Operating on Saturday mornings from May through October across 12 city blocks in the Historic Court District, the Downtown Farmers' Market supports over
Worth the queue: Iowa sweet corn, local honey, breakfast burritos, kettle corn
The soul of Des Moines' south-side Italian-American community, Graziano Brothers has been producing house-made Italian sausage, cured meats and Italian
Worth the queue: Italian sausage by the pound, Italian beef sandwich
One of Des Moines' most-loved taquerias, El Rodeo serves birria, al pastor and a full range of traditional street tacos to the south-side community that
Worth the queue: Birria tacos and al pastor street tacos
