Reviews of Aposto at the Scala House (Restaurant)

Chip Burkle

Best dinner we've had in years! Delicious food in a perfect setting.

Jerry Van Horne

Great food and service!

Kyle Johnson

Great service and excellent food

ovie palmer

Fantastic dinner starting with our waiter Joseph and ending with our waiter Joseph. His wine suggestion was great, answered all our questions and in the middle was fantastic food.

Priscilla Arthur

My dinner was absolutely delicious, starting with Carrot Bisque with lavender and honey. Then an entree of Mushroom Risotto, ending with Walnut Cake for dessert. My husband's dinner, Seafood Stew, was extremely salty and disappointing. Our waitress was excellent. We would certainly visit again.

Joey Patino

Cafe Di Scala is the most best restaurant ever. I love everything on the menu, the staff is super friendly, and the decor is cozy. I love sitting out on their patio. On Thursday there is NO CORKAGE FEE, the best.

Mitch Coluzzi

Overall excellent experience! Nice ambience, friendly staff, and delicious food. I would recommend for date night, maybe not as business meeting though as the acoustics of the old house made it difficult to hear at times.

Troll Troll

Wonderful ambience and service. We went on a limited menu night and were still spoiled for good choices. All in all a great experience!

Dara Teno

Tony is a great guy! So friendly and great chief. I love the atmosphere and the food. The pasta is amazing. It is one of my favorite places in Des Moines ❤️

Olivia Samples

We had a fantastic date night here. It is in a beautiful home that is inviting and warm. It's meant to be a there course meal; which I would highly recommend. Everything was delicious and made with quality ingredients. The food is simple, but unique. We will 100% return.

Amy Benton

I have dreams about this pasta! The texture, the taste, the sauce. . . You name it, the pasta has it. Plus the atmosphere; it feels like you have been invited in yo this little Italian home to have dinner with friends. From the staff to the owner, I just loved everyone there. And did I mention the food?!!! You gotta go there!! Only down fall is that you can't make a reservation online. Hopefully that's coming soon!

Gustavo Bosoli

Service was phenomenal!

anthonybrown221

Such a magical place! Amazing food, great service, and excellent drinks!

John Fiedler

Service was excellent, food was excellent. Take the server's recommendations.

Matt Nasir

Fennel Soup, Lamb Shank & Panna Cotta all superb. Highly recommend.

Sean Courtney

One of my favorite restaurants in Des Moines. Beautiful environment, excellent service, and consistently amazing food.

Sam Gastineau

Expensive but good food

Dean Haaland

Good food & service. Nice setting in an older large house.

Joseph Mcconville

Creative food, high quality great experience

TJ Tollakson

Aposto is essentially the same as the former Cafe di Scala but with a slightly different menu. Same cozy feel and atmosphere in a century old Victorian mansion in Sherman Hill Neighborhood.

Sean Gannon

Fantastic! Chef Tony knows what he’s doing. Everything we ordered was perfectly prepared and presented, an amazing blending of flavors. Delightful ambience. Prices were quite reasonable given the quality and atmosphere. Highly recommended!

Brian Blankenburg

The table was a little cramped. The food tasted fresh and was well seasoned. Would definitely recommend.

John Garvey

Is there a better restaurant? Best date restaurant I can find.

Jade Monahan

Owner is a Dick

Miriam Hager

One of the finest meals I've had. Handmade pasta, seasonal dishes, exquisite options.

TGP P

The food is amazing. It was six of us and we had different menu items and we had the most delicious meals. Maybe a little less salt would be the only negative.

Wendy Way

Holy Cow! I just did a trade show out there. Who could have known Des Moines would have the best food ever!!! Great service, inspired food, great atmosphere... I got big "bonus points" bringing my employees here!

Jimmy Prueter

Great food. Nice atmosphere. Amazing veiws

Ruben Gonzales

Very nice and cozy place...beautiful from outside and inside....downside is the parking hard to get in and out because your parking on side streets there is no parking lot!

Dana McGinnis

Great food, great service. No prices on menu. If ya gotta ask, ya can't afford

Amedeo Rossi

Great service, ambiance and food. Aposto is a real treat and a gem in our culinary offerings.

tery russell

Splash still does a great job. I have been here several times over the years and have never been disappointed. The oysters, on the half shell or fried, or always great. Try the cheese/ meat board also. Any fish dish has been great.

Theodore W Mathews III

Wonderful ambiance very high end cuisine and presentation. One of the best in Des Moines.

Jaclyn Zimmerman

When you go to an expensive restaurant I think you expect great food and service- we had neither. We went there to celebrate a special occasion. We wanted to love it- the old house atmosphere is very charming. Ultimately, we were very disappointed. The food was decent but, when it's expensive you expect it to be great. The appetizer, salad, and entrees we had were nothing special. Service was mediocre. I would have rated the restaurant as "okay" but, when I found a caterpillar in my salad our server apologized and removed the salad and did nothing else to improve our dining experience. They didn't charge us for the salad but, they never even offered to replace it, or to provide us dessert, etc. I was pretty irritated.

Jim Cossitt

Very good food, quality ingredients, tasteful presentation. Wait time from order to meal served just a tad long.

Niegel Phelps

Amazing place. The atmosphere is wonderful and the staff are friendly. The food was incredible as was the wine we had.

Eric Lambert

Went with family, great food and ambiance

Phillip Owen

I went here for a wedding and the food was glorious. Easily one of the best places to eat in Des Moines.

Brian Koppe

I enjoyed the Beatles Brunch while visiting friends in Des Moines and would certainly go back for more.

Phillip Kinnison

This place is in Des Moines' historic Sherman Hill neighborhood. Great atmosphere for a romantic candle light dinner. The food was excellent! The pasta is handmade and they have great wine selections! Highly recommend!

Allan Merz-Rosendale

Good food but nothing particularly challenging or creative. Pretty standard Italian and chophouse faire. Can make good cocktails on request but does not have a dedicated menu for them. This is more of a wine place for those who like to imbibe. Service was very good.

Joe Carney

The food was wonderful.

Maren Smith

What a treat!!

Jessica Echterling

Private atmosphere and fancy food. Great spot for a date! Sound is muffled throughout, so that's just something to consider if you have any hard of hearing guests. Starters and entrees were yummy and full of flavor. For dessert, the chocolate torte and wedding cake were absolutely delicious. Coffee was just okay which was a bit of a bummer. Super easy to make reservations and we were seated promptly! Not crazy expensive for how unique the dishes are.

Nick Canney

Went for restsursnt week and had a great experience! We weren't sure which wine to get so the waitress let us try a couple to help decide. Had one of the best ceasar dressings I've ever tasted. Both our entres were on point, especially the home made cavatelli noodles. Desert and coffee were also very good! I'll be going back soon to try out their full menu!

Dan Gray

food and wine was perfect

Jeffrey Daniel

Fantastic experience with exceptional food. Overnight this has become our favorite place to eat. I know I cannot adaquately describe how good the food was, but in short, it took all the will power and self control both my wife and I could muster not to lick the plates clean. The flavors were on point and everything tasted fresh. Atmosphere and service were great, but again, the food is what sets this place apart.

MD K

Food was amazing, but seating maybe be too close for comfortable conversation. Cavatelli was really good as well as the pork belly so soft and delicious. Everything looked great!

Angelika Merz-Rosendale

Great food! Mediocre bar.

sue kenny

Excellent food and ambiance!

Anthony Inbody

Steak and potatoes aligot were good. The shrimp was ok.

Ana Dixit

The service was great and the ambiance was really nice. The food was really expensive and my crab dish was more of a tasting portion than a dinner portion. I probably won't be back.

Ryan Moorman

Awesome food and even better setting.

Clint Harvey

Great place for parties 6 and under. Over that and your going to be waiting for food for quite a while. Not a knock against them. They're just a smaller scale kitchen. You can bring a larger party and still get amazing food, you'll just wait a bit longer than normal.

Carrie Woerdeman

Amazing food and incredible service. Our new favorite restaurant!

Katie Morrison

Hadn't been here since it was Cafe Di Scala. Was glad to return. The restaurant was busier than I remember and thus, a little nosier. Food was still excellent and service good. Definitely a great place for a special occasion. Already looking forward to the next time we visit.

Rose Ann Morrison

Romantic, unusual menu, good wine

Tareq Rabadi

As the other reviews say, it's a very nice restaurant for a date, it has a great ambiance for a romantic setting, with a friendly service... however I think the food is very overrated and overpriced. The beet salad was life-less, although its description on the menu gives the sense of a sophisticated taste, but it's really bland, try the beet salad at the Cheesecake Factory, and you'll know the difference. The Cappellacci was a doozy... the nutmeg was way too much and overpowering the other flavors, although the dish was stimulating, only visually unfortunately. we also got the Pork Osso buco and the Calabrian Chicken dishes, which were ok (The chicken was too salty), but definitely overpriced; there wasn't something special about how they tasted in a way that justifies the price...and in comparison to other restaurants in Des Moines, I've had better food (flavor wise) for much less money. The one item that made sense to me was the ice cream. It just seemed that the flavor just wasn't there, and that most people praise their experience because of the nice atmosphere, and not for the dinning experience itself. The restaurant seems to do a perfect job at making everything "look" like it's a high end, but once I started tasting the food, I found it very mediocre. I think it would be a good choice if you only care about the atmosphere a lot more than experiencing good flavors.

Jeff Gass

delicious fun had by all

Design Todd

Always a delight!

Phil Kacmarynski

Great food and service. Nice atmosphere.

April Oakes

Great service, wine, and food. Dessert was amazing! Would recommend to anyone looking for a special date night or just wanting to spice things up for the night. Will be going again for sure!

Jacob Burkhart

My wife and I have dined here many times. The atmosphere is great. The food is fabulous and the staff are very accommodating! This is one of Des Moines best kept secrets IMO! Its always a wonderful experience and we can't wait to go back!!

Karl Stratemeyer

Wonderful Experience

Don Cue

You must pre-purchase tickets in advance for this resturant! The food is great, service is superb. Bistro style dining in an elegant old mansion.

billsparks25

I am not understanding these other reviewers' opinions of the food quality at Cafe Di Scala. We had a table of six. The entrees appear to be purchased at Costco or Sams and just reheated. The atmosphere was pretty good. We had a room that was quiet. Service was average, just average. I spent $90 on wine that was barely drinkable. This place was soooooooo overpriced. Did I mention the food???? Kind of a joke. I will never go back.

Garrett Harris

Tried this place during restaurant week and can't say enough about it. Food and service are fantastic. I will be back again.

Joy Schultz

Lovely setting. Great menu choices! Highly recommend.

dwight lin

Great food, great ambiance, and great parking.

Joanni Smith

Really enjoyed the food, service, and atmosphere.

Freya Gaynor

Honestly some of the best food I've ever tasted. The waiter was extremely friendly and helpful, and it's absolutely a place to go for a date night if you want something a little more formal. Beautiful aesthetic, phenomenal food, and a great experience.

Ashley Woodworth

Went here for the first time to celebrate Valentines day - the food is spectacular! Great service and a slower, very enjoyable paced dining experience! We will definitely be going back!

Alec Swanstrom

Fantastic, northern Italian style Italian food. Would eat here every night if I could.

Laverne Greenfield

Tonight's pop up dinner was a great experience.

Chad Nagel

The absolute best! Simple food done right. Delicious! There is no parking on site. So streetside parking could be a challenge at certain times.

Thomas Selgrade

We just celebrated our anniversary at Aposto. The waitstaff was top notch. The ambiance was ideal and the food was divine. We had the mussels, the pizza and the tomato salad for appetizers. All three were excellent. The New York strip and the pork cheek were both great entrees. We left satisfied and can't wait to go back.

Carter Chapman

A hidden gem in the Sherman Hill neighborhood. Set in a historic home, Aposto is a great place for dinner with friends or a fancy date night. My girlfriend and I went here for our anniversary and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I had the pork cheeks and she got their made in house pasta. By the end of the meal, we both agreed it was well worth what we spent.

Tom Clutter

Went here for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed every bit. Welcoming and gracious service, excellent menu and warm cozy setting. The charcuterie board to start was a great selection and the house paté on point, scrumptious. The main Pork Osso Bucco with polenta and porcini tomato ragu was fantastic. Great flavors and tender falling right off the bone. To finish the carrot cake topped off a wonderful dining experience. Looking forward to coming back next time I'm in Des Moines.

David Hogan

Great food, wonderful service. Arrived early of our reservation and were promptly seated at the bar, each person meeting us used our names. Ordered a bottle of wine and met the owner, Tony. Great time overall. Very romantic mini getaway for a date night. Prices great.

Kealy EICHENBERGER

The food was outstanding!!

Thomas Zoumaras

Perfect for the romantic and quality dining experience we sought to celebrate Valentine's Day. Located near downtown Des Moines in a Victorian home that exudes ambiance. The decor is perfect, conversation is easy-even the music is perfection. Our server was personable, attentive, well informed. The insalada and mussels kicked off a great meal. Both of us opted for a to die for risotto. One way to improve the menu is to add more vegetarian options.

Jim Quilty

excellent as always. great service, friendly staff and the food is great.

michael thompson

Not too bad actually, though to locate, I did not see a sign and my car's concierge service was unable to locate

Michele

Best food in town

Adriana Ferreira

Has been 2h and we are still waiting for the main dish.

Shane Twogood

Great food. Nice quaint romantic restaurant.

Mindi Garcia

Excellent food. High prices but worth it. Loved the ambiance of the restaurant.

Russ Stigler

Good service Nice atmosphere. Great place for a date night.

DeAnna Page

What a terrific atmosphere...Tony is welcoming and the food is delicious..

Andrew Hughes

Great atmosphere. Great food. Great wait staff.

Alex Schlepphorst

Great food amazing service!