Noodle Zoo

Good sandwiches, soup, salad café. Quiet on Black Friday, nice to sit and enjoy a break. Quick service; order at counter, the food is brought to your table.

This is my favorite guilty, delicious, pleasure of a lunch. Love this East side treasure.
I don’t get to that part of town very often in time for lunch. Once in a great while I get the pleasure to stop in and I order the house salad and I get it to go. This takes only moments as it’s always a quick meal to prepare.
I have been coming to this place for a long long while. Maybe not just this location but the other delicious locations they used to have.
The ambiance is fun and fancy together. Very chic decorations. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if they are open but if the doors are wide open you ate in for some good food.
Walk up to the counter and the menus are fun and easy to ready. Once you put in the order you have a seat and have a short wait.
I am never disappointed with the food and never ever disappointed with portion size. Even on the orders to go there is so much food. You will not go hungry.
I am stuck on the house salad. I just can’t get enough. The focaccia bread is delicious and served warm with just the perfect crunch to go with any meal or for their sandwich. This family owned place is a great Des Moines gem.

In my experience thus far, Noodle Zoo has proven to be a solid lunch spot with the potential to become one of my favorites. The side salads that come with both noodles and sandwiches are actually pretty good — more than just lettuce and dressing.
The focaccia bread is great. Was served warm, very soft, and had just a slight crunch to it. I’m honestly not sure how it could have been better. Having had both a noodle dish and a pretty great sandwich, I would recommend both.
The chicken here is way better than at someplace like Noodles and Company. Way better. I have but two complaints: 1. The prices (everything is a buck or so more than it should be) and I guess the management (?).
I have seen the employees get overwhelmed during a particularly busy period; one of them straight up admitted that. It is also so damn dark from the outside that it is hard to ever tell whether or not they are actually open.
It is not like I could do better but if those in charge could get things more figured out, then that would elevate things for themselves and for their customers.

Was not sure what to expect here but was delighted! Came for a late lunch with family and had the Thai chicken pasta. It was delicious. Spicy though, which I like. Priced at just under $ 10 and MUCH more impressive than someplace like Noodles and Company. Pasta is a generous portion and came with a small side salad and very soft and cheesy focaccia bread on the side. Will be back and highly recommend. Only complaint is all the tables are chronically sticky.

Still don’t understand the Noodle Zoo hype. It is an OK option for lunch, but there are so many other great options just blocks away.
It’s a pretty pricey spot as well and their menu is just kind of ‘blah’.

Walk by this place everyday on my lunch break and finally decided to try it.
Food was decent however packaged to go badly. My salad was so warm I couldn’t tell if it was suppose to be that way or not. The pasta was excellent except cooler than the salad and a bit greasey but I didn’t mind.
The wife had a sandwich and salad with same observation of her salad as me. The sandwich was ok nothing special.
The smell of this place every time we walked by was deceiving we may need to give it another try and eat in.

Love the sun-​dried tomato chicken grill sandwich with house salad (awesome salad with noodles and croutons mixed in). One of my favorite restaurants in Des Moines!

Lunch time in east village and where to go? Check out Noodle zoo. Their sandwiches are fantastic. Pair it with a house salad and you are good to go.

Had lunch here for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by the ambiance of the place as well as the quality of food! The name of this place didn’t quite appeal to me when my coworker suggested it, but I changed my mind the moment I stepped in here. They offer various types of noodles and sandwiches which many of them sounds rather interesting. I ordered the shrimp and roasted red pepper pasta and it was delicious! The side of caesar salad was a little too pepper-​ish but the foccacia bread was excellent. It’s a great lunch spot and I’ll definitely be back!

The sun dried tomato chicken sandwich is amazing. I wish I was in the downtown area more to enjoy this place. May have to take a long lunch more often.

I’ll be honest — the name «Noodle Zoo» conjured up images akin to Fazolis or Noodles & Co. with spaghetti flung on the walls and ceiling fans. My first visit far exceeded my initial expectations. This place has a very Mediterranean refined feel. Lunch deals come with a delicious side Caesar salad and really fresh grilled bread. Portions aren’t small, but they won’t have you in a food coma afterwards either.
I’m going back another time.

Never had a bad meal here. Ordered the special. Cavatelli with Parmesan crusted chicken in a pesto sauce. The dish was covered by a layer of baked crunchy parmesan. Served with tasty cheesy bread and a Caesar salad it made for a filling lunch. Live the Noodle Zoo.

Such a great place for lunch.
The Szechuan noodles were surprisingly pretty good though more on the spicy side.
Greek Chicken Focaccia was amazing. House salad was fine.
Service was good. Décor was fine.

Nice downtown place to catch lunch. Nice variety in the menu. Staff are very nice. We had a group of 10 – 11 people and we sat at 3 different tables, but amazingly our food all arrived almost at the same time.

I was so sad when the West Des Moines location closed as both this and the Ankeny location are a decent drive away. I have been able to stop in at this one a couple of times. I like the look of the interior of this place more than the WDM location. It seems more simple and welcoming.
Both times I have gone, there has been a decent line and unfortunately, that line does not move too quickly. Even waiting for the food took a while and I have gotten it to go both times. I have always thought the wait is worth it as I love the food, especially the House Salad with chicken. Their garlic bread is delicious as well.
I really wish there was one closer to my work and/​or home but I guess I will have to make special trips instead.

Best lunch place in Des Moines by far. I go here at least once a week and every time is fantastic. The house salad is a must, and their soups are also great. My mom is in love with the fajita salad, and I’ve also enjoyed the thai salad wrap. The staff is very friendly. I just wish they were open more hours. Definitely worth a try!