After 40 years as a mental health counselor, Mary Jankowski wanted to do something different, but wasn’t sure what. Then she saw an article about a cat cafe and thought it looked fun. So she partnered with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa and, in the summer of 2020, opened Coffee Cats, the first cat […]
Des Moines business
Posted inArts & Entertainment
As xBk expands, Tobi Parks is doubling down on her mission to uplift local talent
When Tobi Parks opened a 250-capacity music venue in Des Moines’ Drake neighborhood in 2019, she was enacting her plan B. “I think it always goes back to this idea: I was a musician [and] when I first started it was always like, yeah, you can be a musician but always have a plan B, […]
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Burgers, bologna and beer reign at Either/Or, a new restaurant from the crew behind Lua Brewing
Either/Or is the latest venture from the restaurant group behind Lua Brewing in the Sherman Hill neighborhood of downtown Des Moines. “Lua is about craft beer and food, and it was our first so [it’ll] always [be] our baby, but it’s small,” said co-owner Scott Selix. “Either/Or is bigger on just about every scale. We […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
LV Recommends: Des Moines’ new Monsterama Arcade & Pizzeria gets two enormous, dismembered thumbs up
Wednesday, 6:11 pm. Of course I’m at Monsterama. Where the hell are you? Monsterama Arcade & Pizzeria (located at 3108 SW 9th St, next to Lucky Gal) on Des Moines’ south side serves pizza, calzones, hot dogs and mocktails adjacent to a gaggle of games. If the tantalizing eats and creative concoctions don’t endear you […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Peace Tree — one of Iowa’s oldest breweries, with two locations — is up for sale
Peace Tree Brewing Co., one of the pillars of the Iowa craft beer scene, is up for sale. “Peace Tree is not closing its doors,” owner Megan McKay said in a news release on Thursday. “Normal operations will continue uninterrupted, and plans for 2024 are already in motion with some exciting new beers we think […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Essay: A Floridian encounters beauty, love, bad weather and discomforting deja vu in Iowa
I knew nothing about Iowa before I knew it was taking my partner away from me. The original plan was to break up at the end of the summer, before college; four years later, we’ve somehow made the long distance work. The first time I visited Billy in Iowa was fall 2019. Since then, I’ve […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Pole to pole: Visiting every Des Moines strip club in one night
The Des Moines metro is home to five adult entertainment venues, a.k.a. strip clubs, and as far as I can tell, no publication has attempted to visit and compare them all. Someone had to do it eventually, and who better than myself, a gay man who has never set foot in a strip club? And […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Sundara Tattoo owner Rayna Ross is a master of Mehndi — both henna and permanent ink
You may not find your path on your own time, if at all. Some give up, others find it later in life. Then you have those who’ve been on their own path since age 15, like Rayna Ross. Indian tattoo artist Ross has shaken the Central Iowa tattoo scene by utilizing her skill and background […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
The couple behind new shop Thistle’s Summit encourage Des Moines to eat, drink, be gay and get witchy
After bidding adieu to their Eastern Iowa bed and breakfast in 2020, partners Marti Payseur and Ash Bruxvoort are carrying its spirit forward in a new downtown Des Moines bakery/retail space. Payseur — the owner, recipe developer and baker for Thistle’s Summit — and Bruxvoort — an ancestral astrologist, earth intuitive and herbalist — have […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Mamma Oretha seeks to ‘unite the people’ by showcasing African cuisine and soul food in Des Moines
Alex Seakor has introduced a whole new kind of fusion restaurant to the Des Moines scene. Mamma Oretha, which officially opened its doors at at 1000 Army Post Rd on June 25, is pairing African food with soul food to give the ultimate cross-cultural experience. Come for the mac and cheese and fried chicken, stay […]
Posted inCentral Iowa Community/News
Five questions with Megan Casey and Jamie Lamb of Paws & Pints, a ‘doggy Disneyland’ in DSM
Des Moines dog-owners have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Paws & Pints, an indoor-outdoor dog park complete with a bar, grooming center, doggie daycare, and restaurant that serves food for both humans and pups. Little Village sat down with co-owner, Megan Casey, and marketing director, Jamie Lamb, ahead of the soft opening of the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
This Des Moines comic writer launched his own Afrocentric sci-fi/fantasy universe
In a few years, Des Moines music artist, model and writer Aniekan White went from writing stories here and there in “the comic realm” to entering the 2021 Web Toons digital comic contest. That success bloomed into one of the few Black-owned comic companies in the U.S. White is the owner and founder of Sensi’il […]
