Red Rossa

The restaurant does not look upscale with its booths and order-​at-​the-​counter layout but the pizza is a little bit on the higher side of the price scale. It felt weird having my mom order wine in a nice wine glads because the atmosphere was not very nice. They should think about a remodel.
Although the atmosphere does not seem to match up with the food, the pizza was delicious. We ordered half chicken and tomato with pesto sauce pizza and the other half was marinara sauce, spinach, jalapeño, pepperoni, tomato, and I believe green pepper. They were both great. I liked the pepperoni side a little bit more
Save the money and your taste buds by skipping the gelato. I honestly did not like any of the flavors, but wanting dessert, I settled for a hazelnut one. It was not worth eating and ruined the lovely pizza taste in my mouth.

I was pleasantly surprised by Red Rossa after picking this up for take-​out on a whim one night. I got the margherita and added chicken which was great. This place is a great option for authentic (ish) pizza in the area. Reasonable prices too!

Hello Mega City Des Moines. The Judge is back for a new review!
Mrs. Dredd and I tried this place out. First the food. 2 pie’s and a Salad. The salad did not look like a nice fresh salad. Looked more like a pre packaged salad to us. Aside from that. Mrs. Dredd liked it. The bread triangle were not freshly made. The Judge found that to be odd. The pizza… The crust was decent and nicely chewy. The Judge and Mrs. Dredd did find it to be just a touch salty, not bad but it was noticeable. The Margie pizza… well… it was very mediocre. There was hardly any of the fresh mozz on the pizza. There was only 1 leaf of basil used on the whole pizza. Each of the 6 slices should have a basil leaf. Sorry this pizza was not that good. Eatery A’s Margie pizza blows this out of the water. Also had was the Sausage bella Pizza. This one was very good. Plenty of toppings great taste! The Judge approved of this pie.
We phoned in a order we were asked to give them 15 min. No problem. we head out a few minutes after we called in the order. When the Judge arrived to pick up the order. There was a line to the door. OK no problem. Except it’s been over 15 min already. After waiting 10 min I get to the front to pickup my call in order. While there are 2 registers. There is no signage or second worker at this register. There is a big sign that says you cannot take a table till you place your pizza order. OK that is interesting. Could be a seating issue if eating in it seems.
They really need a pick up register and worker. I saw a large number of pizza’s ready for take out. By the time I left the line was out the door. The worker did tell me to just come up to the second register for pick up’s. But since there is no worker it’s kind of cutting the line and a bit rude in the Judge’s opinion. If they cannot afford another worker at the register on prime hours on a saturday night??? well I think you get the idea… Also by the time the Judge waited in line and picked up the pies and drove them to Police HQ. They were pretty much room temp by that time. :(Which was a real let down. If we return we may dine in. But order first before you sit down like the sign says! HA HA HA!
JUDGEMENT… The Judge was very fond of one of the pies. The other was a bit lack luster. 3 Stars for now. We will visit again in the future… But do go give it a try! Then YOU can be the Judge!
Till next time Citizen’s

Ordered the Italian pizza and a Caesar salad. I prefer to have a Caesar salad tossed in the dressed so the romaine lettuce is evenly coated. This was a pile spring greens with a drizzle of Caesar dressing. To me is not a Caesar salad! The Italian pizza was good but not great. Brick oven style pizza is my favorite and I when compare it to other pizza restaurants this fell a bit short but maybe my standard is too high? I did like that they do not over sauce the pizza and toppings were good. I would try Red Rossa again but might pass on the salad.

Great thin crust pizza. Pizza is flash cooked in a 625 degree wood fire oven. Limited beers by the bottle, but a good selection. They also have a limited selection of wine. It’s not the cheapest place in town but it is the best thin crust in town. The gelato rocks also.

There are a variety of signature pizzas or you can build your own. The highlight is the wood-​fired thin crust. The crust is actually slightly charred, which I found to be delicious. This is a nice lunch spot and since the crust is thin, you can order a lunch-​sized pizza and not get stuffed.

It was a Friday night and a few of my friends and I didn’t feel like tearing up the streets of Des Moines, so we decided to get pizza. We went to Red Rossa on University Ave in Clive around 8:30ish and it wasn’t busy at all. It is kind of like a fast food pizza place, since you order at the counter and sit down wherever you like. You also have to get your own drink, plates, and utensils, which I didn’t mind since my friend did all of that for me
They have a lot of signature pizzas, such as a 4 cheese pizza, a veggie, a wild mushroom, BBQ chicken, a 4 meat pizza, Chicken Alfredo, and several other ones. You can also create your own pizza, which starts at $ 6.75 if you don’t like any of their signature pizzas. They also have salads and alcoholic drinks available. If you like pizza for lunch, they offer a half pizza and side salad lunch special for under $ 7.
We ordered 3 pizzas, the 4 cheese, 4 meat, and the margherita. It didn’t take very long before our pizzas came out, so that was a plus. The pizzas looked quite appetizing when they came out. The crust had that wood fire look to it… a bit charred in some spots and there were some bubbles on the pizzas, which I’m a fan of. The pizzas were thin crust and didn’t have much sauce on it and there was just the right amount of mozzarella cheese on the pizza, so it wasn’t like one thing was overwhelming the pizza. I think it was just a good balance of ingredients. I would rank the 4 cheese first, and the 4 meat and margherita pizza in a tie for second. I tend to enjoy a pepperoni pizza more, instead of a pizza with a lot of different types of meat on it.
Overall, I enjoyed my first experience at Red Rossa. I’ll definitely go back and try their pepperoni pizza and another one of their signature pizzas in the near future.

Came here for dinner and was quite impressed by their pizza. Did not think I would find a pizza restaurant in iowa that would make my heart skip a beat. 5 stars for the cheese pizza and everything else is a 3, therefore I only give this place a 4.

Decided to give this place a try with my girlfriend last night. Didn’t have my hopes set too high since it’s pretty rare that I find amazing pizza. I was wrong. This pizza IS AMAZING.
Pizzas are all thin crust 11″. Made from scratch and baked in a stone over with real wood. The thing must be 1000 degrees because our 3 pizzas were done in 10 minutes with prep time included. We got three different kinds but the four cheese pizza was the one that stood out the most. It was loaded with cheese, and the crust was so delicate and burnt just the right way to make the whole experience fantastic. I had it last night. And guess what? Im drewling thinking about the next time I go back to have more. Its that good.
You seat yourself and get your own silverware and drinks. Which is nice because you dont have to wait for service or have to worry about tipping. And they have a wine and beer selection also. We ordered a whole bottle for $ 29. It was well worth it because we felt darn good after. :) I will definitely be back again and again. New favorite pizza place in town. :)

The food wasn’t good. It tasted like nothing. I ordered the sausage bella and it was bad. I didn’t finish, and I love pizza. The salads were basically from McDonald’s. I won’t go again; go to the OP down the street.
Here’s where I might draw some people in and hopefully I’m not being offensive, but this pizza place is fast and cheap and it’s really what turned me away. It’s obviously a family-​friendly restaurant; there are tons of loud kids running everywhere and multiple families. If that’s your thing, then this is you. This restaurant was not me; that’s not my type of atmosphere. I’m telling you, if you have lots of kids with you, that is seriously what they want here, they seemed to be having a good time. But do NOT take a date here.

I love some thin crust pizza with a light sauce and fresh mozzarella. The crust was crispy but chewy. Ambiance was not elegant, felt kind of like a bigger chain, but the pizza was the MVP of this experience.
When I’m looking for excellent thin crust pizza, this is the go-​to place in the Des Moines area.

This pizza was just outstanding for the price and speed. Authentic crust and quality cheese. The basil could have been better, but that’s holding the lily. Atmosphere is typical of quality fast casual eateries. Highly recommended.

Updated review.
We have gone on a regular basis for a long while now. Couple years at least. We kinda stick with the food we love. I’m regularly getting quick lunch or half Caesar salad. Mom is gluten free so is limited on her selection.
We believe there is new management for at least a few months now. He is normally at the counter taking orders and very friendly.
The thing we think had changed is the salads. The“mixed greens” in a salad had become mostly iceberg with a very small bit of the other greens. It’s not as nutritious and the size has seemed to be a little smaller for the same price. She mentioned something to him and yet it comes out almost all iceberg. So with the limited options for her we might have to look elsewhere. Really disappointing cause otherwise the food is really good. She really did love the salads.

Ordered the marguerita. Too bad my pizza came out under-​done. Others looked better, so maybe mine was the exception. Otherwise pizza had good wood fired flavor. Still no match for +39 in Ames.

The pizza has changed, very skimpy for the price. They also get very upset with you if you go and if someone gets a table why you order. which makes no sense to me at all, the manager actually walked up and told my daughter that she can’t do this again. but a group of boys from Dowling which were my daughter graduated from did the same thing and he didn’t say a word to them. actually there was four tables that did the same thing and the manager didn’t say anything to anybody besides the young girl which i think is horrible and very upsetting that a manager would pick on a young girl.

I love the concept of this restaurant. Very similar to Noodles and Company concept. You walk in, place an order at a counter, find a table and then the pizza is brought to you. Much better than a traditional sit-​down restaurant where it takes 15 minutes before a server takes your order and the kitchen begins cooking it. I walked in on a whim after getting a massage at Massage Envy next door and ordered my pizza to go, and the pizza was made and I was back in the car in under 15 minutes. Fantastic!
The Sausage Bella pizza is SO good. Better than 90% of pizzas I’ve tried in and around West Des Moines. I definitely recommend it!
I look forward to going back in the near future and trying out the rest of their pizza selection!

Two stars because they were very fast and because I ate the food. But I’ll pass on returning.
I’ve eaten here before, and it was good enough to try again, but not good enough to write my signature 5 star review.
This time, four tables were taken, and every other table was covered with dirty dishes. After we ordered a guy cleaned a table for us, but the dirty rag and haphazard wipedown left me unimpressed.
I frequent some dives do I wasn’t worried about it. But then we got our salad with browning lettuce, and our mediocre pizza. Decent crust, but overall pretty bland. So many great pizza joints in Des Moines, I’ll avoid this one.

Ordered both pizza and salad, and both were delicious! Great food, great price. Staff was friendly and service was quick. Will definitely go back soon!

Great place for a casual meal. Order at the counter, sit down and in a few minutes wood fired pizza. We like the variety and the flavor of Red Rossa. They also have some great salads they will serve with bread if you want to get a pizza and salad and share. It’s a good stop for a quick meal.
You may have to order at the counter, but after that it feels like a place you can sit and talk and not feel rushed either.

This is one of the only restaurants in Des Moines where my family and I eat and don’t feel nauseous afterwards! The staff is always super friendly, the food comes out in a reasonable amount of time, and the pizza is delicious!
One of our go-​to spots when my wife needs a break from cooking or we just want to spend some time together as a family outside of our house. Great spot, great wine, great pizza. Highly recommended!