Maxie's Restaurant and Lounge

Recently Jeffrey and I decided to to indulge a craving for steak.  It's WAY too hot to barbecue, and we were already in West Des Moines on an errand. I wanted to go to the excellent El Chisme, but Jeffrey reminded me that Thursday is Farmer's Market Day in Valley Junction, and that we'd have to fight crowds of people to get there.

So we went to another West Des Moines favorite, Maxie's Restaurant.  I've taken my son there plenty of times, but it was Jeffrey's first visit.  Usually I just have a hamburger steak meal, but this time we went a little more upscale.  I ordered the Steak De Burgo, and Jeffrey got a Surf/Turf plate.

We got salad to start.  Lettuce is just iceberg, but the ranch dressing is thick and very good. 

The bread was warm, but the butter was so cold as to be unspreadable.  Can't really fault them for that in this heat, and the pats melted quickly enough on the warm bread to make that just a very small inconvenience.



Most entrees come with a spaghetti side, which we thought was nothing special.

We both ordered our steaks medium rare.  Jeffrey though his was TOO rare.  Mine was likewise more rare than I would have preferred, but the meat quality was so high that I didn't even think about returning it to the kitchen.  I'm wondering if maybe restaurant's rareness scales have changed?  It seems like the current "medium rare" is more like what I would have called "rare" in years past.  This isn't the first restaurant that this has happened at, so probably I'll have to start asking for "medium" rather than "medium rare".



Jeffrey's meal



I enjoyed my Steak De Burgo, although I would have liked it much better had the chef used fresh herbs rather than dried.  The onion rings were excellent, as always.



My meal



In short, this was an okay meal, and I was glad not to have to help cook at home or wash dishes in our overheated kitchen.  I would much rather be eating Jeffrey's cooking, though.  I am so ready for cooler weather!

Note from Jeffrey:

Although my steak was more rare than I requested, one can't fault the quality of their meat, which is excellent.

Maxie's is located at 1311 Grand Avenue, West Des Moines, IA.  Their hours are 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-10 p.m. Friday; and 4:30-10 p.m. Saturday.  They are closed Sundays.  Their number is (515) 223-1463.  They get busy sometimes, so you might wish to call for a reservation.