Des Moines lost one of the metro area's best restaurants with the closure of Clive's Table 128, but now has three restaurants run by chef/owner Lynn Pritchard.
His 503 Cocktail Lounge & Tasting Room opened in a long, narrow space in the East Village in 2022 with an ever-changing menu and crafty cocktails, and Table 128 re-emerged in a chicer space with a seasonally changing menu in Gray's Landing in downtown Des Moines, south of MLK Parkway.
Now Pritchard has completed the hat trick with a new restaurant, Hugo's Wood-Fired Kitchen, which opened on the Wesley Life campus near Des Moines' Drake neighborhood. Named after Pritchard's son, the restaurant serves Mediterranean cuisine cooked in a wood-fired oven in an open kitchen.
Open for lunch and dinner, the restaurant serves up a selection of crunchy pizzas, soups, salads and shareable appetizers, as well as lunch entrees like burgers and salmon, in addition to Chef Daniel Gonzalez's sweet potato and shrimp skewers, which are also available for dinner.
Diners can choose to sit inside in the casual dining room or on the patio, which is the same size as the indoor seating area. The open kitchen overlooks the wood-burning oven, and a discreet bar off the side of the dining room feels like a secret nook.
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more:27 Must-Try Restaurants in the Des Moines Metropolitan Area: 2024 Edition
Hugo's Wood-Fired Kitchen Location
position: 3206 University Avenue, Des Moines
contact: 515-674-2690
time: They're open Tuesday to Thursday from 11am to 9pm, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 10pm, and Sunday from 11am to 4pm, with half-price pizzas from 2pm to 4pm.
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and food reporter for the Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook. twitterfollow us on Instagram, or send us a message at sstapleton@gannett.com..
